Emma Ballantyne's Blog

            When I signed up to take Gender, Race and Class Studies, I had no idea that I would be taking so much away from the course. I decided to take the class because the description sounded like something that I would be interested in, but the experience has been very astonishing, and it has definitely humbled me. Growing up, my parents taught me that not everyone had equal opportunities in the world, but that our differences is what makes us who we are and that everyone deserves to be taught with respect. When I was younger, I didn’t give much thought to this other than that maybe some people had big houses and some people didn’t. I always took what they said into consideration, but my early adolescent brain didn’t give explore it much more than that.             This class has shed a deeper light on the different inequalities in a person’s life that determines what kinds of opportunities they have or how they are treated through an intersectional lens. For many of these peop

Your name is something that you grow up with and usually don't think twice about it. It is a major part of an individuals identity, and it is unfortunate that people are given different opportunities based on judgements about their race and demeanor suggested simply by their name.  A study done by Colin Holbrook at UCLA in 2015 confirmed that there is prejudice in how people treat others based on their names. Specifically, people stereotyped with black names are treated worse. In his experiment, he asked people to share assumptions of people based on 4 names: Connor, Jamal, Wyatt and DwShawn.  Rowely, L. (n.d.). New Study Confirms Racial Bias in Names. Retrieved October 9, 2015, from https://www.mic.com/articles/126544/new-study-confirms-racial-bias-in-names Results showed that participants imagined Jamal and Deshawn as larger, black and more violent than Connor or Wyatt. These perceptions of violence also correlated to perceptions of decreased socioeconomic status. This

The coronavirus pandemic has shown from the beginning that it does not care about race, wealth, class or sexuality. Anyone can catch the virus, and anyone can die from it. Wealth affects an individuals ability to respond to the pandemic greatly, and due to the toxic wealth inequality in the united states, black individuals are dying at the most disproportionate rates. Chicago statistics show that of the 98 total deaths, 72% have been black despite only 30% of the city population being black.  An NBC article shows that African Americans are dying at a higher rate , but most states have not released demographic data to show the race of people who have tested positive for the virus. The concern is that this will create a huge gap between people who are wealthy and people who do not have money. People without money will likely suffer a lot more. The article discusses the important role that wealth plays in determining how at risk an individual is. An individuals wealth can provi

Williams, C. (n.d.). Fighting for Educational Equity: Equity Vs. Equality. Retrieved June 8, 2018, from https://www.csas.co/fighting-for-educational-equity-equity-vs-equality/ The photo above shows what is referred to today as the educational achievement gap. Educational equality is when one curriculum is designed for all students regardless of external factors. Educational equity is when curriculum is designed for individual students taking into consideration heir personal challengers. The achievement gap is created when students have different academic performances when evaluated by their race and socioeconomic class. Throughout various structures of the socioeconomic hierarchy, students in the middle and lower class may not have access to the same resources and tools that allow students to thrive in educational environments. Students affected by achievement gaps are often racial/ethnic minorities, english language learners, students with disabilities and students from low inc

AZ Quotes: Quotes for All Occasions. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.azquotes.com/quotes/topics/incarceration.html John Legend is one of many black celebrities who has spoken out about the rise of black communities disproportionately effected by mass incarceration. The NAACP shows that today, although the United States only makes up 5% of the world population, it has 21% of the world prisoners. Of the large number of prisoners in the United States, African Americans make up 34% of that population and are incarcerated 5 times the rate that white people are. A lot of that 34% are black men. Over the years, the number of black men being incarcerated on a regular basis has grown, and has been no secret to the public as we have seen more and more incidents between young black men and police officers. Black men continue to be a target for the prison system, which then creates a cycle that ensures that generations of black individuals that are more likely to be incarcerated during

As schools around the world have closed, many social media users have turned to the relatively new platform called TikTok. TikTok is known for it's short videos and challenges that quickly surface on all other social media platforms. TikTok unfortunately does not often monitor user content, which has led to a new racist trend #HowsMyForm ? These videos and memes exist solely on the backs of mostly racial, but also sexist stereotypes and imagery. The videos usually start off with the user saying something to catch attention, then saying "now that all my (a race, ethnic group or gender) is here", and then "hows my form" with the background being some sort of racist scene that they have created. For example:    Although this may have started off as a small joke by a few teenagers who believed it would be harmless, this # now has now been used on over 100K videos and has over 36.5 million views. Without realizing it, these teens are completely u

Throughout my life, I can confidently say that every female close to me, myself included, has been called a slut before. Although a lot of these experiences never happened to me at my high school, I now realized the subtleties set in place to make girls feel insecure and ashamed. I went to an all girls k-12 private school where starting in high school, we would have mixed classes with our brother all boys private school down the street.  The school had rules, but after graduating I truly begun to see the underlying message set in place through the dress code. According to the administration, we did not need a uniform because students should have the freedom to "express themselves". That being said, skirts and shorts could not be higher than 6 inches above the knee. Spaghetti straps, halter tops, and anything backless was not allowed, and straps had to be two fingers in width. The student body challenged these rules, and as a consequence for breaking them were forced to cha

Hahne, C. (2014, June 1). How to Research Race? Or not….. Retrieved from http://nicole-renee.com/actionresearchineducation/2014/06/01/how-to-research-race-or-not-connie-hahne/ As racism has become less acceptable today in the United States society, the dominant conversation surrounding racism is usually one focused on colorblindness. The cartoon above accurately represents the kind of thinking that drives the colorblindness ideology. It has become common for people to say that they "don't see color" and "are colorblind". When someone says that they are colorblind, their intentions are to not seem racist. Saying that you are colorblind means that you do not see race. According to Psychology Today , colorblindness is the racial ideology that posits the best way to end discrimination is by treating individuals as equally as possible, without regard to race, culture or ethnicity.  The colorblind perspective has left institutional racism in the past and now sees

DCU. (2015, March). Retrieved from https://twitter.com/dacribunivrsity With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, many if not all college students have been displaced from their universities and have been forced to move back home if they are able. The #DaCribUniveristy on Twitter has become a meme for college students. Students are saying things like "officially committed to #DaCribUniverisy" and "The RA's in this dorm suck #DaCribUniveristy". Tweets like these offer the opportunity turn a very stressful  experience into a joke. Many however, don't have the chance to make this a joke as this has become a very serious situation.  The shift to distance learning has widened the educational inequality gap between the upper class and lower and middle classes excessively. Students in these environments often may not have a personal computer, computer in their household, or even wifi. This creates obstacles to accessing textbooks, keeping up with assig

Alexander, L. (2016, April 8). Do Google's 'unprofessional hair' results show it is racist? Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/apr/08/does-google-unprofessional-hair-results-prove-algorithms-racist- Women of color specifically are placed at a disadvantage in the workplace due to their race. The stereotype of the "angry black woman" has caused women of color to act more introverted at their places of work. Women often change their behaviors in their offices to seem "professional", but this then poses the question of what makes them seem unprofessional in the first place? Many are judged for their appearances, communication skills and how well they can control their emotions. This can bring a new set of emotional and mental stress to these women.  In the past few years, a new type of racial discrimination towards black women has surfaced. The Washington Post referred to it as race-based hair discrimination . The picture

One of Netflix's most popular new originals, Love is Blind , conducts an experiment to see if couples can form a real connection so strong that can lead to marriage without ever seeing the person. The first season of the show featured a match between two individuals, Lauren Speed and Cameron Hamilton.  Chen, T. (2020, March 3). Breaking News: Original Reporting: News Analysis. Retrieved from https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tanyachen/lauren-and-cameron-love-is-blind As Lauren is a black woman and Cameron is a white man, the show follows their journey as an interracial couple. Lauren repeatedly expresses to Cameron her concerns of the kinds of challenges they will have to face upon leaving the experiment and returning to the real world as an interracial couple. In the video above, Cameron recounts an experience he had in a previous interracial relationship when crossing the street a stranger yelled "you should be with a black man". This shows how even toda