Introduction

Hello there! :)

Welcome to my Blogger! My name is James Garza and I am currently a student at Washington State University. Throughout my blog, I have concentrated on one main focus with the issue of racism. Here, we’ll look at a few different mediums, in which over the course of a semester, I have analyzed and critiqued that had also to do with the focus of racism. Living in a country that comes from all different races, gender, sexuality and social class, we are exposed to racism whether we like it or not. So a question we must ask ourselves is, what components may persuade an audience to perceive a culture different from their own in a more positive outlook, and hopefully one day change their perspective on mankind as an individual and start to look at it as a whole. The following are my blogs that pertain to this matter, so I hope you enjoy! :)

Identity Narrative

What is the purpose of knowing another language if your sustenance remains here within the states? As an American, I know this country is made up of immigrants from all around the world coming from different cultures and backgrounds. I would soon learn about these differences, and about my own social inheritance.

My co-workers and I were diligently working on a Friday morning, as we were preparing for the lunch rush to begin. As a Hispanic couple comes strolling in, they come up to my window and begin to speak to me in Spanish. As less awkward as I can, I let the couple know I don’t speak Spanish and refer them to the next window where Jessica, my co-worker, is able to further assist them. So as Jessica invites the couple over, my face turns beet red, and the couple begins to converse in Spanish amongst themselves.

At this point, I felt a social expectation that I was required to know Spanish because my skin color was brown. The feeling was a little bothering. It is certain instances like these that leave me despondent and have me questioning my own identity as an individual.

What I have come to realize though, is that it is not required to speak a second language. In fact, it is not even required to speak a first. Some people are born mute, where they learn to communicate through sign language. We have learned to adapt to these changes with systems like braille. The touch stimuli that allows the blind to run their fingertips over raised bumps to easily identify words and letters. It is systems like these that give us hope. That influence us to live our lives the way we would like, knowing we will still be accepted.
It was the summer immediately following graduation, when I got a job working out on the orchards, the sun constantly beating down my neck, I worked long days for little pay. But what made it enjoyable was the people I got to share those experiences with. My girlfriends’ father hired me to be in charge of a crew of about twelve workers. What I didn’t know at the time, was that these twelve men were going to change my opinion, and overall outlook on racism for the rest of my life.

I still remember the first day of work very vividly. The expressions on some of the workers’ faces as I tried to speak to them in English, knowing they only spoke Spanish. Fortunately for me, there was a lady working with us whose job was primarily to check the buckets of the workers. She was able to speak both English and Spanish, so she acted as the translator for what the workers couldn’t understand.

It was amazing the effort the workers put into still trying to communicate and get to know me. But what really blew me away, is the fact that they still accepted me for who I was, when they could have easily just went about their business and kept the interactions with me to a minimum. We all would joke around and laugh with the Spanish that I did know, and they taught me lots of words to say, with most of them being appropriate

These experiences have taught me the fundamentals of not judging a book by its cover. That there is more to a person then what the eye can see, or ear can hear or nose can smell. It has taught me that just because someone comes from a different social group, it does not mean that their story deserves to be put down. Everyone has a unique story to tell, don’t be afraid to share it with the world.

Critical Review

Introduction:

Central to racial identity comes one of the most discussed issues risen today, with racism. Harry Kitano primarily focuses on this issue throughout his narrative in Names We Call Home. Kitano is a psychologist and social activist that gives his story from an autobiographical standpoint, as he explains the difficulty growing up as a Japanese American and how it was a constant search for an Identity (Kitano111). You can imagine what one could face growing up part of a minority group, and especially during the time of attack on Pearl Harbor. Throughout this segment, Kitano’s use of facts, figures and authentic information make for a truly inspirational story labeled, “A Hyphenated Identity.”

Summary:

Kitano starts from the beginning, informing his audience that growing up a Japanese American in the 1930s and 40s wasn’t exactly a “piece of cake” (112). He shares a childhood memory of him and his friends going to a swimming spa across town one day. Upon arrival to this spa, the cashier evidently told the friend that “Japs weren’t allowed,” and with embarrassment, the friend never repeated what was said, but just muttered something about no longer wanting to swim anyways (112). If matters weren’t bad enough at this point, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 certainly did not help. All Japanese ancestry, were ordered to close their homes, pack what they could carry, and assemble at designated sites (113). The first destination was a concentration camp held in Santa Anita, but was later moved to Topaz, a more permanent camp located in the middle of the Utah desert. Kitano was able to finish high school before the closing of the camp in 1946. Upon release from camp, Kitano had the intent to travel to Milwaukee, while he was young, ignorant and still believed in America (115). Being unsure what to do in life, Kitano decided to try his luck at being a professional musician with an old trombone he picked up as a kid. Kitano finishes his narrative talking about his return to California to attend the University of California where he went on to receive his B.A., M.S.W. and Ph. D. In the end, Kitano concludes by mentioning how past experiences has showed him that through prejudice and discriminatory actions causes avoidance and places a competitive disadvantage on shaping factors of our society.

Critique:

In “A Hyphenated Identity,” Harry Kitano discusses how the racial differences are not what made it difficult, but those of nationality. Growing up as a Japanese American in the time of Pearl Harbor wasn’t exactly a walk in the park, as you can imagine. He writes this from an autobiographical standpoint, which makes Kitano’s views creditable, compelling, and most importantly, well worth reading.

Dividing seven pages into six different sections may seem a little overwhelming, but Kitano utilizes a great sense of structure in making it readable and easy to follow along. Starting with childhood all the way to elderhood, he lists the significant events that took place in life that made who he is today. Kitano presents these events with concrete examples that drew a picture in my head as if I were they’re in the time it occurred. Describing the trip to the pool as a “long streetcar ride across the city” and his friend “looking embarrassed as he muttered something,” those are some of the examples used that give the narrative such credibility.

Throughout the entire segment, Kitano arranges the sections under subheadings and places them in chronological order as they happened throughout his life. This organizational pattern displays excellent clarity making it easy to follow along from beginning to end. It also illustrates a sense of logic on why Kitano started with his childhood. It constructs an understanding for some of the more important events he touched base on, which made for such a compelling piece.

Now, when conducting a critique on another writer’s work, you also want to point out some of the weaknesses you find throughout the piece. But for me, I didn’t really see anything wrong with Kitano’s narrative. He is a professor at the University of California with his Ph.D. so I’m not sure if someone with that intelligence is going to have too much to critique on. I thought it was a well-organized and meaningful piece that was definitely well-worth reading.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, driving an audience towards the perception different from their own can often be a difficult task. I believe Kitano accomplished just what he objected to do by establishing that credibility and coherence throughout his narrative by structuring it in an effective manner. Primarily what he ended up doing is developed a meaningful explanation of our ethical relations with one another by relating it to one of his own. Kitano deserves two thumbs up in my book!

Response Letter

James Garza

8212 W. Apollo Ave
Richland, WA 99336
May 5, 2015                       

Zak Ebrahim

I am the son of a terrorist: Here’s how I chose my peace. Peace Activist
Ted2014

Dear Zak Ebrahim:

Hello Mr. Ebrahim. My name is James Garza and I am currently a student at Washington State University. The reason why am I writing this letter to you is because I recently viewed your TED Talk, “I am the son of a terrorist: Here’s how I chose peace” and I enjoyed every aspect of what you had to say.

It was one of the most inspiring TED Talks I have seen yet, and it really takes a special person to come out in front of millions and express your relation to one of the most terrifying acts in the bombing of the World Trade Center. So thank you for that. I think what really hit home base is the deep tone in your voice and how you expressed your story to your audience. I noticed you would take pauses between sentences which allowed the audience to think and understand your story. It just shows that you were not happy in what you had to say, but you were up there talking about it for a purpose, in hopes that someone someday who is compelled to use violence well realize there is a better way, like you mention in the last part of your speech.

One thing I will suggest though, that I thought could have helped is moving around the stage more while you give your speech. It will help engage the audience and bring more of an interactive demeanor to the stage. The speech definitely has the potential to increase the motivation with a slight adjustment in body language will keep interest and therefor have more effectiveness in your message.

Either way, it was an intriguing story to hear, and I thank you for taking the time to read my letter.

Sincerely,

James Garza

Reflective Piece

When doing a project like this blog we had to setup and include certain pieces to match a criteria, it was all new to me and I wasn’t really sure what to expect for an outcome. So I did my best to explain the rhetorical choices that went through my head in creating this final project.

First off, I had to choose an audience that I wanted this gear towards; someone that can hopefully relate to the different artifacts I chosen, or at the very least understand what I was discussing. So with that being said, the readability plays a huge role in making my project more effective. Although I didn’t want a super formal project, I decided to gear this towards a group of scholarly individuals, like maybe high school or early college level students. The reason being is so that I can focus on the content of my project, rather than trying to make it stand out more and look all pretty for whomever it may come across.

The mediums that I used in creating my project were the papers we wrote in class, including a condensed version of my Identity Narrative, a critical review of the narrative I discussed out of Names, and a response letter to Zak Ebrahim, a peace activist who gave a speech at a TED convention in 2014. I believe all of these mediums can correlate with one another because they all have been built around the same central idea with racism. I had the opportunity to see racism from outside perspectives, as well as sharing my own story in which I got to experience it. What was most intriguing was putting the mediums all together to show the relation they all shared.

We had a couple of options in how we wanted to tie it all together, in which I decided to do a blog. I went with a blog for my final project because I was already somewhat familiar with Blogger.com a website used for publishing and linking blogs together by one URL. The nice thing about Blogger is that you as the creator, are able to arrange the information shared pretty much any way you’d like. As far as the template all the blogs will be shared on, to the different font choices and typestyles to even including pictures, videos and links to emphasize an idea. They are all great tools that are available in every blog post that makes the creativity endless.

With that being said, I have utilized some of the different rhetorical choices that have been taught to us in class by creating a final project in which I revised and included final pieces of work that are based on the central theme of racism, in hopes to someday change the perception on how people view others. Everyone has their own unique story to tell; so don’t be afraid to share it with the world, because we just may never know the result of the outcome! J

Goodbye!

Thanks for taking the time to look at my project, I hope you enjoyed looking over the different artifacts and pictures. If there is one thing I can leave you with, I would like to say that although we all have different lifestyles and backgrounds, we, as a human race, all have the same end goal which is to be happy. That one day we will all live in a nation where we will not be judged by the color of our skin but by the content of our character. (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)