Friday, January 8, 2010
Outliers Precis #1
Friday, January 1, 2010
Argumentative Precis #1: "The Dark Side of White" by Gregory Rodrguez 12/28/09
Gregory Rodriguez's December of 2009 LA Times editorial address the phenomenon of non-white ethnic groups whose intent is to assimilate to the dominating "whiteness" in America which costs their own cultural values. Rodriguez mentions an interview in which the conclusion came about that everyone who isn't black has the potential to "be white", meaning not to be considered part of the minority group. "Over the decades", as he puts it, "new immigrants to these shores were obliged to fit themselves into this black/white racial scheme", most of whom of course, "chose to identify themselves with the group that had full rights." The inconsiderate nature of government and the spiteful ways of society are then brought to realization as Rodriguez discusses the movement of the Census Bureau, in 2010, to no longer ask a question about ancestry or ethnic ties for those who identify themselves racially as black or white; leaving those who title themselves as Latino or Asian, however, to be able to identify themselves by ethnic subgroup or national origin (Chinese, Japanese, Mexican American, Cuban). A select few of certain ethnic groups, in the article's example, American-Arabs, find it unfair because by government and society they claim not to be "treated as white", yet they don't qualify to reap the benefits of the minority group. The happening is a conundrum. As America attempts to racially generalize, the chasms by color lines of its members are in fact made greater.
