Giddy Multitude

In Takaki Chapter three the main heading of it is The "Giddy Multitude". The Giddy Multitude were a discontented class of indentured servants, slaves, and landless freemen who led revolts against the ruling class. The revolts they led were very volatile. Also it delves into the competing social class structure during that time period.
The government in Virginia tried to create wedges between white and black indentured servants in order to suppress any rebellion they wanted to iniate. The government enacted laws that put restrictions on the freedoms of blacks. They did this to squash any rebellion or threat of one they saw. White indentured servants weren't treated any better but there sentences were much more light compared to black slaves who would get far more longer sentences than white slaves.
One of the most famous conflicts between indentured servants and the Virginia government was the Bacon's Rebellion. Nathaniel Bacon who was a landholder and a member of the Virginia council saw danger from the Indians and raised an army with the giddy multitude. That angered Governor William Berkeley who was more worried about the giddy multitude than the Indians. Berkeley charged Bacon with treason. Bacon then led his rebellion against Berkeley. It was extremely bloody and after some early successes the rebels were defeated. After this the Virginia government made some transitions. They increased the number of black indentured servants and decreased the white servants, that way there would be less tension and less up risings. Even though white elites saw white lower class as a bothersome problem. It was a very delicate balance the government in Virginia had to decide. On the one hand they needed the work of lower class whites, but on the other hand they did not want to give them too much power or more rights because then the government could see their authority slipping away. Even powerful leaders of that time period were conflicted about the issue of slavery. The governor of Virginia during the Revolution, Thomas Jefferson felt torn about the actions he was doing. He wanted to create more opportunity for white men to be farmers because this would lead to less conflict among the social classes. Jefferson benefited from slavery very much , but he wanted sometime in his lifetime to abolish slavery after he paid off his debts. This was often contradictory of what he would do though. He would treat his slaves extremely cruel, and would often be unmerciful if they disobeyed him. The conflict many individuals faced in this era was extraordinary.
Would people like Thomas Jefferson have abolished slavery or would they just keep using it as a tool to make more money? I believe Jefferson would have kept on allowing slavery and not abolished it like he said he would. That is very good political speak but its the test of a true man in order to see it through. You can go to one audience that is sympathetic to abolishment and say you are really against and say once my debts are paid off I will abolish it. Then in private you will say the exact opposite. Jefferson would not have found the courage to do so because he saw slavery as a very profitable business and one that kept him in power.
I was very disappointed when it came to the Virginia government who pitted lower class whites against black indentured servant in order to save the government. It just shows you how bad at governing the people of Virginia really were. If you are more worried about your own people like William Berkeley was rather than the Indians you have a serious problem about the way you are governing Virginia. Nobody in government wanted to see slavery abolished because like Jefferson they saw it as a tool to make money and have power and they were not going to give that up easily. The workers of that period were true heroes. They showed true sacrifice by risking their lives in order to provide a better way of life for future generations.

Privilege and Denial

In the Chapter six article What It All Has to Do with Us it talks about individuals through a social system and how they interact with other people. The individualistic thinking has a distorted view of how the world works. Sometimes we blame a particular race solely on the actions of one person of that race. Individualistic behavior can make us totally ignore the existence of privilege.
Social systems are the systems that people participate in collectively. We have to see how individuals work in those social systems in order for that system to work sucessfully. We are shaped in two ways as individuals. First, we learn socialization through when we participate in life. An example would be schools, families, and religion. Secondly, we are shaped through the path of least resistance. For the most part we don't do anything really spontaneous that is against the norm. Individuals alone might have different responses or actions as time goes by. They might feel happy about something in the past but as they get older they don't feel that same enjoyment.
In the Chapter eight article Getting Off the Hook: Denial and Resistance talks about how people just dismiss oppression or even if they think it exists they basically say "just get on with it". Those individuals themselves believe that they are the ones getting the shaft and seeing power slip out of their hands.
Many times blaming the victim instead of blaming your race is a common way those people can shift the blame. Communication is key in gender differences. If a woman says something it might be taken the wrong way, or if they don't say anything at all there non-verbal communication might invite a male co-worker onto them a sexual way. Ideology is key in describing gender privilege. Ever since the beginning certain tasks have been performed by males and others by females. When something contradicts those tasks, or a female does work that a male has been doing since the beginning of time that can create tensions among the social structure. In a conversation if you are joking about something it might be funny for a male but it is not funny for the female. Even if the male did not mean it, it still has an effect on the social relationship between the genders. In all you should live on the hook because you are learning more about people and not judging them or hurting them. Your just going with the flow.
Why would someone want to be in denial about the events happening around them? Alot of people in the world are afraid of change and want things to stay the same no matter what the cost. Some believe that by demeaning other people it is raising themselves up showing them who the superior race is. As a society we have become more tolerant but we are not tolerant enough.
These two articles talked about privilege and denial in great detail. People try to sheild themselves of many of the injustices they see in there lives by demeaning people of other races or gender. The article talked about the different social systems. Many people do not understand the social systems and how they work. Individualism can sometimes be good but most of the time it is not. Many times individuals think of themselves as a superior race and do not sympathize with people of other races. As a society we have come along ways in our behavior towards other cultures but we still have a long ways to go.

Capitalism, Class and Matrix of Domination

In the reading Capitalism, Class, and the Matrix of Domination it talks about how we haven't really dealt with white racism. The link between capitalism and racism is very strong and does occur in our daily lives. In a capitalistic society the goal is to make as much money as possible, invest that money to produce goods and services. Capitalism has its advantages such as providing food, housing and healthcare. But it also has its disadvantages such as producing tobacco, drugs and slavery. In capitalism making a good profit is the be all and end all. Capitlists employ the workers to help them produce the goods so they are sold onto the market. The employers try to keep wages at a steady price to satisfy the workers and so they are not giving the workers too much money. Capitalism does produce record profits for some but it also produces great inequality for many individuals. People seem to describe themselves now as working class more so than middle class as they did in the past. Capitalism and race have always been mixed together. Starting with black enslavement in the colonization of America to even after the period of the Civil War. It brought about great oppression of certain races. Capitalists have also used racism against white workers to keep wages low and productivity high. After the Civil War, lower class whites had it difficult with the emancipation of the slaves. The capitalists would also threaten to let workers go if they demanded higher wages. It was especially hard in the future for whites. Eventhough they might have had the superiority of their skin color, there might be something else wrong with them such as a disability, or sexual orientation. Or if a person is white working class male who is having a hard time making ends meat he doesn't see the advantage of his race. Capitalists also try to pit certain groups against each other so it will distract them from the true injustices of their wages. People believe there is a clear cut answer for privilege, race, class, and capitalism. But the line between these isn't so clear cut it is much more fuzzy and complicated.
Does capitalism create so many problems in dealing with race we need to think about a new system that will be more equal and fair? Capitalism does create many problems but on the hole it is a good system that should not be changed only improved. We refer to America as the land of opportunity a place where you can come from the bottom and work your way to the top. What other country can really say that? Very few. People come from all over the world to America for opportunity skills. Granted their are many cases where the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. If there is a certain skill that you want to attain so you can have a higher paying job you can attain it by going to school and learning. In many other countries that simple is not the case. If you are a person of color, or a different gender it is harder for you to acheive certain goals because of preexisting prejudices and upbringing. But in our society we have become more tolerant of different races but not tolerant enough.
I felt this article was extremely informative in describing the complexities in dealing with race and capitalistic goals. It talks about the disadvantages male whites faced. In past readings it talks about the advantages they had over slaves. Capitalism is a good economic system but it has its disadvantages like any economic system. In order to fix these problems we need to be more tolerant as a society. If we treated each other as equals then the job market would be much better.

Privilege

In the Privilege, Oppression and Difference reading it talks about privilege within different racial groups and how it effects peoples lives. When you are part of the white race you have a tendency to either ignore the prospect of race or use it to your advantage. Race isn't something we have control of, or for that matter we talk about unless we are put in an environment where we deal with certain races. Often we categorize people with a certain disability and that descibes the whole person. Instead that should be referred to one aspect of a persons feature because they are human beings just like you and me. The author talks about how whites do not need to get to know blacks because they are the dominant race and blacks need to get to know whites for they are the minority. The white race has a distinct advantage because of the better education, the type of surroundings they come from. This is quite evident in the case of the job market. When a person has a disability it significantly hurts them in the case of trying to compete with a white person especially a male.
Often we seem to label people by their lowest status group. For example we might say "She's part Jewish", but we hardly ever say "He's part white". When someone describes you as privileged that is how we are put into social categories. It is not done by ourselves but by the outside. When you are going for a job you don't need to change your identity. You need to out perform the other individual in order to gain acceptance. One who wants to take themselves outside the system of privileged cannot because we are always in the system. I can change the institutions around me but I cannot leave the system. We tend to compare ourselves with people from our own gender not with people from other lower classes. Both privileged and oppression are part of the social relationship, but oppression sees opportunities get slammed shut. Sometimes we have a tendency to mischaracterize oppression with males in talking about their daily hardships about providing for a family. Instead we should be talking about people who are at the bottom half of the social chain.
Is Privilege and Oppression something that we can change? Yes we can change it but not by moving outside of our general roles. We can change it incrementally but not through sweeping change. Institutionally it can be changed. In our society unfortunately people are going to still use these tactics. If we can continue to educate people then change will occur quicker.
I felt the author did a really good job of explaining Privilege and Oppression. People might like to ignore privilege and think that they are not privileged, but indeed they are without even knowing it. Male whites have a distinct advantage when it comes to privilege. While people of color, women, gays and disabled have a harder time trying to be on equal footing with white males. I wish we never had these categories for describing people, but the sooner we can correct these problems with privilege and oppression the better off we will be as a society.