Post Reading Questions for Week 6

Intersectionality definitely plays a role in domestic violence in the sense those certain categories, if not multiple ones put you in a more vulnerable situation.  In the first article, Kimberlee Crenshaw talks about how the intersecting of racism and sexism play into domestic violence. We can also see how that plays into the traditional view of domestic violence, in terms of the women being abused and the men being the abuser; this shows the example of sexism.  Then, when it comes to racism, we often see differences in punishment when it comes to who the abuser was and who the victim was. For example, if a black man abused a white women, you know that man would be immediately put in jail vice versa, if a white man abused a woman of color, it seems as though more justifications would be made. Another thing, I also thought about this was the idea of status and how, if you are an immigrant man or woman, you probably would not even say anything because of the fear of being deported. It just goes back to another intersectional, and how the idea of status can put you at a more vulnerable area for domestic violence to occur.

I think in comparison to the traditional views of domestic violence, the views of today have changed or I guess altered over time. Now, I feel that even though the man is often blamed most times for abusing the woman, we see that it is in fact both ways, woman are also abusive towards men. Before, I feel like that was a hidden topic, but not so much anymore. For example, at the beginning of the year I remember hearing a story about a female teacher hitting one of her students that was in second grade.  Overall though, I think what surprised me the most was Kibria’s article when it talks about how in some cultures domestic violence is accepted. I’m trying to process this one, in a way; I think it is like the issue of hitting your child for discipline. At one time, that is what people did, hit their children with belts or shoes and no one said anything, but now it’s like CPS gets involved and at times it can turn into a huge misunderstanding.  In retrospect, I think in either situation it can become violent quickly and unacceptable, as someone will always end up hurt. I think those cultures that do accept domestic violence do not talk about it because they know other cultures will think differently about them.

Word Count: 428

Post Reading Questions for Week 6

To me, intersectional theory is a theory about how different categories intersect within one another to make up a whole picture. For example, like often times in math, the idea of a pie being cut up into pieces, regardless if people take a slice of the pie or even a sliver, the pie is not whole unless it has all its parts. Taking it a step further though, when you cut a pie there are different things to look at like the crust, what flavor is it, was it fresh or was it baked a while ago? All these different factors play into how the pie taste, and if you would eat it, right? Well I feel like it is the same concept with the intersectional theory; race, ability, education, etc. make up the whole you. What makes this theory different than understanding racial, gender, or class oppression, is that those are looked at on individual levels, whereas this theory is based on all those combined. In a way, I feel like it can either complicate situations or make them more understandable. Learning this for the first time, I feel the theory of intersectionality to be confusing because you won’t really know what strikes are against you. For example, when applying to college, say you are a good student with a good gpa, good test scores, Latina, and are graduating from a public high school, but you don’t get into the school you want. It’s natural to wonder why you didn’t get in, so with intersectionality, you think was it because I’m latina and they hit their quota, maybe it is because I went to a public high school that is not ranked so high, or maybe my scores weren’t as great as I thought, and finally it could be a combination of all of those.  See before, I used to just think “ok I did not get in,” now it is like “ok I did not get in, but was it because of a,b, or c, or all the above reasons. In retrospect though, another way you could look at intersectionality is that it is better that you look at the overall picture versus pick at the small flaws. I would hate to know that one of the several categories looked at during the college process out weighted all my other achievements, when it came to making that decision of accepting or rejecting me.  

Word Count: 412

Post Reading Week 5

We study colorblind racism in ethnic studies because it is important to realize that racism still exists today, despite what some people might think. Even though it might not be as obvious as it once was and we do have our first African American president, racism has not gone away, but has transformed. From the time of race riots and lynchings, society has changed that into the idea of colorblind racism, an idea basically saying that people do not look at race as a factor when deciding on who should get the job or who should get into college. We all know that is not the truth, and that there is still white privilege going on. As for the social justice of people of color, it is important to discuss the idea of colorblind racism so that people become more aware that racism is still alive and that there are reasons and justifications behind everything.


Learning about colorblind racism is a very useful tool in understanding race in the United States today because of how society keeps changing. I think if you just look at the world in a birds eye view, you may not see racism existing. But then, when you watch any TV show, movie, or even go shopping and see who your sale associates are, you may see a different story. On TV or movies, most of the time the people who start the conflicts or have the conflicts are people of color and the white people are the saviors. When you go shopping, depending on what store you are in, it may be obvious who the target audience is by the associates or how they look. Nobody is saying these are racists things, but this just how things are, which is what colorblind racism does, it hides these facts.

I think after reading the two articles, and having the discussions in class have made me more aware of the realities of today. Before, I knew racism still existed, but to the extent in which it did not some much. I feel like I have fallen into the justifications that colorblind racism has provided, the idea of this how the world is, when in reality everything clearly has an underlying meaning. Something that has really resonated with me throughout the discussions were the amount of scholarships for people of color. How that is just a way for white people to feel like they are contributing to something. Overall, this week has provided me with examples of life experiences that seemed to have double meanings, but at the time were not that clear.