I took a Quiz and I simply thought it was difficult because I have never thought famous people’s ethnicities. I found a White male group is the easiest for me to come up with and a White female group followed it. Next groups were Hispanic groups and Asian groups. Then, Middle East male group came up easily. I found difficulties for Black groups before 1800s. Any Middle East female name came up with my mind. All male groups were easier to be acknowledged than female groups. These results show “Who tell the histories”. I suppose histories of the United States are made by White Americans. First, America is based on European cultures and most of early immigrants were from European countries. Next, from the historical point of view, people had an idea of white supremacy. African immigrants were definitely in America when the United States was established, however, they never showed up a surface of the American history until they fought to get their freedoms. Third, the American culture’s main stream is white American culture. Thus, the minorities such as Hispanic, Middle Eastern, and Asian histories were tended to be ignored. For example, the successive presidents of the United States used Bible at their public speeches. In the Unites States, many people believe Christianity, but there are also people who believe Islam, Buddhist, Jewry, and other religions. It clearly shows the fact that majorities ignore minorities. Then, what does it mean one of the quotes in the Declaration of Independence “All men are created by equal”? It is a contradiction in American history.
Gender affects histories. In American history, less number of women’s name appeared than men’s. It is because woman’s right was just established in the United States. It was hard for ordinal women to stand up and to do something against less women’s right, except for those who had political powers before the women’s liberation movement.
It was difficult to think about historical figures whose ethnicity were Middle East and who were female. I think their cultures deeply connected with this. For example, in some cultures in the Middle East areas, women hide their faces and bodies for religious reasons. Also, people who adapt this culture think women must not show their faces to other people. If you believe in and adapt this culture, it might be difficult to leave your name in the history because you believe that showing up in public is a shame.
We have to remember that histories were always created by authorities. Often, they controlled information and hid the information which was not beneficial for them, and told civilians wrong or changed information or sometimes erased the fact from the history books.
History tells the truth but sometimes does not. Many histories were controlled by its ruler, and it happened all over the world.
I was not educated on American history or ethnic history. If you were, how was that, and what did you learn from them? Also, if you belonged to a minority group, what would you want to tell majority of people?
What we learned was probably the same stuff that you learned about yours. We learned how the United States was founded and the major wars. We learned about the founding fathers and presidents. also about slavery and the conflicts with the Native Americans.
返信削除In school, we mostly learned the political history of the United States. We learned about famous presidents, wars, and famous events, such as the Civil Rights Movements. Since the presidents and famous generals were white men, I know more famous white men than any other ethnic category. We also learned about slavery, the abolitionist movement, the civil war, and the civil rights movements. These events all involved blacks, so this was the second easiest ethnic category for me to list famous people from.
返信削除History class was mainly focused on how the United States was founded and the events that followed this. We learned about the founding fathers, the Revolutionary War, the Declaration of Independence, a lot about the Civil Rights Movement and slavery along with Native American history and war. We also learned about the Holocaust and Pearl Harbor. From all of these historical events, I was able to understand how far our country has come since we were founded and why some things are they way they are these days.
返信削除Hmm, what would I want to tell the majority….when I will soon belong the group that is the majority? I would like to remind them that fear is their own worst enemy and that they should not judge the behavior of other groups based on their own past behavior. I would also like to tell them that Mexican’s as a people are not lazy as so often is implied, but are hard working, easy going, and forgiving people.
返信削除I never learned about Mexican’s in history with the exception of the mention of the Alamo, at least not in high school. In college you have an option to learn about others, so it is more an individual choice. In the fall I’m taking a class on Muslim’s; I think it’s important to try and understand other cultures. It can make all the difference in establishing rapport and relationships.
I would also like to tell them that as a Mexican I find black beans offensive to my palate and believe true Mexican’s eat pinto beans! White rice with cilantro is Americanized quasi Mexican food, to be true to the culture it should be Spanish rice…yum! One last thing on food, just because it is “Mexican” food doesn’t mean it must be hot! Everything should not be hot, you should put hot sauce on your food so you can spice to your own taste. When the entrée is hot, the rice is hot, and the beans are hot, what is left to cool off your mouth? Not beer, doesn’t work as well as a nice flour tortilla.
A final comment, Mexican’s have a great sense of humor and many consider it a privilege to be an American, full or part time!