One of our talented e493 undergraduates has weighed in with a link!
To: bnericci@mail.sdsu.edu
Subject: South of the Border
Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2007 05:03:07 -0500
Greetings Professor Nericcio,
Apparently there was a party at Santa Clara University that "sparked outrage" among members of the Multicultural Center as well as school officials. I wanted to share since it fit right in with our studies under the heading of "Grotesquely Fascinating Stereotyping."
Caitlin Petrakovitz | ENGL 493
UPDATE
of course, it has happened again! Thanks to Stephen W. Bender for the headsup! A CNN video will be here until CNN yanks it. Viva la fiesta, I guess!?
the thing that i find most disturbing about this is that this is what i think of when i think of a "chola" maybe a long flannel buttoned on the top big bangs and black liner filled with a light color. it is weird to think that you haven't in your whole 24 years of living realized that you stereo-type things without thinking twice! scary how much our environment desensitzes us ... gosh what other stero-types are floating in my head without my consent?
ReplyDeleteENGL 493
' Lucia Varona, a senior lecturer in the Spanish Studies department, brought up the party in each of her classes after she found out about it.
ReplyDelete"To me, this is a sign that we are not doing our job well," she said. "Something is missing in our classes that we haven't been able to help students unlearn what they need to unlearn" '
I read this and thought, that is not possible. I don't agree with this woman entirely. Perhaps, if she means that we need to discover the false and mostly superficial ideas that are placed in our minds since birth, then understand why they are there in the first place, that would make more sense to me.
I would prefer to add to my knowledge, not take away, even if it is a stereotype deemed as negative. I find it also interesting that this is a teacher/professor in the first place who's job it is every day to make us "learned" people. It's hard to make this scattered arguement of mine make complete sense. I'd like to write on it further sometime... I think about the origins of these parties with stereotypical themes, how I'm guilty of attending some. I'm starting to think I am desensitized to racial comments having heard so many in my life about my own heritage.
But I do know this: to "unlearn" something is a very tricky thing to do, wouldn't you say so?
-Courtney Yip
This really is disturbing. While themed parties are often political incorrect, (Such as white trash parties)this one takes things to a whole new level.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing to see what we've learned about the Mexican culture in our lifetimes. We are blind to the negativity that we've been fed about these people until someone throws a highly offensive themed party and all of a sudden we say "Something is wrong here."
I believe it is important that we unlearn these things that we've been taught and make an effort to see people for who they really are, and not the labels that our society has placed on them for us.
Let's be less lazy people! Let's open our eyes.
-Rosanne Adamo
Eng493