Reading Reflection # 8

“It’s ironic that a society like ours which extol the virtues of equality and justice is also perhaps the most stratified in the world.”

The above quote says a lot about this chapter and the inequalities that one faces at work. We talk about equality, but the gap between the rich and poor is growing and the middle class is shrinking. Newman offers some valid points about this and goes on to talk about how employment has an impact on perpetuating inequalities.
In the beginning of the chapter, it is brought up that the military is a way for the underprivileged can get more opportunities, livable wages, schooling, and skills in life. He is reminded of this when his son gets a letter about signing up for selective service around the time of his eighteenth birthday. This brings him to other points about North America and Western Europe making ten times more than less developed countries in the world. We are privileged in that sense because poverty is a huge issue in today’s world. Even in the U.S. it is hard to survive in a family unless both parents are working and making decent wages.
Occupational segregation is another concept that is addressed citing that women and minorities are paid significantly less than white males for the same job. This is something that is beginning to change, but there is still a struggle. The same problems exist for homosexuals and those in lower classes. Although open discrimination is less common today, there are still factors that contribute to it. Affirmative action is a model that also contributes to changing these things in society.
Throughout this chapter, Newman touches on some really important issues regarding stratification and employment inequalities. I felt however that some of the chapter was repetitive and restated a lot of the same things in different ways. For the most part though, I felt that it was a valid and valuable read. It is true what he talks about and it is definitely reflected in society and can plainly seen.

Observation Journal # 4

I was at work the other day and a co-worker of mine told me about something sexist that happened to her recently. As one of the few female workers at my job, she was working with a few guys the previous day. One of the guys had told her to go back to her post and stay away from him and another employee for a few minutes. At first she obeyed, but later came back angry and demanded to know what was going on. One employee was showing the other dirty pictures of a girl he had sex with on his camera phone that was half his age. This made the female employee uncomfortable and she left. She reported what she had seen to the supervisor and the two were disciplined.
I think that this was inappropriate for the employees to act like that at work. The two of them were not professional and made the female feel discriminated by making her leave. Even if they had not asked her to leave, it still was not appropriate to conduct themselves that way at work and single out someone because of their sex. If I had been put in the situation, I would have told the male employee to stop what he was doing because I did not want the female to get upset and tell the boss. Something like that at work is too serious to be ignored, especially for my jobs sake.

Reading Reflection # 7

“In my mind it is not a great revelation that if officers are looking for criminal activity, they’re going to look at the kind of people who are listed on crime reports.”
This chapter actually had some good information in it for once. The last few I’ve felt had been pretty boring and one-sided. Newman actually brings to light some good points in this one, although I feel they could have been more in depth. You have to see all aspects of something before jumping to conclusions. Violence and racial profiling are some of the big ones I felt needed to be addressed and I liked that he touched on them. This chapter seemed to be offer a lot of information on controversial issues in society.
There was actually some statistics in this chapter that backed up many of Newman’s points and I felt like that is what some of his other chapters lacked. This made many of his points more persuasive to me and I found myself more in agreement.
He went on to talk about the criminal justice system in this country and made several good arguments for his position for it. I’m not sure exactly what to believe because I’m sure there are many injustices in society. I feel that people do however exaggerate the subject and that the government is a lot fairer than most people make it out to be. If you think that there are problems within society, offer a solution instead of just complaining about how wrong it is. How can you expect something to be fixed without coming up with a way to fix it?
The above quotation conveys the truth that there are patterns in criminal activity and it there is a reason why officers are more cautious around certain kinds of people. Is this discrimination? I would say yes, but if I was a police officer I would be much quicker to discriminate than potentially risk my life. This is built into the system because it is a reality and people are going to trust what they know. Whether you like it or not it is the truth.
For the most part, I enjoyed what was presented in the chapter and felt it was more effective than previous ones. It touched on some really controversial issues and I found them valuable. I feel like I have a lot more to say about these topics, but I at least got to put in on the ones I felt were the most important.

Reading Reflection #6

“The undeniable fact about the American health care system is that the poorer you are and the darker your skin, the worse the health care you’ll receive.”
The chapter this time was about healthcare in and out of the U.S. It talks about equality in the health care system and how only those who can pay for it can get it in today’s world. It is true that people should all get healthcare, but is it realistic? Nothing is done for free and these services cost money. These expectations are not going to happen any time soon, at least with the current policies set in place. Newman should have thought his argument through first before making such unfounded statements.
He also talks about health in a world today, where many countries (including out own) have trouble feeding people and giving them their basic needs to survive. On the other hand, weight issues also arise when diet and exercise are neglected. Everything is a lot easier than it was these days than it was previously and this promotes laziness.
He goes to talk about diseases and efforts to stop them across the globe, but what it all comes down to is money. Without the resources, we cannot do much to stop these kinds of problems. I feel Newman has the right ideas about these problems, but doesn’t take a realistic approach to solving them. It is true that these are things we should all have, but the trouble is that without the money, nothing can change. Newman’s ideas are much too biased to take seriously.

Observation Journal # 3

I was walking down the street with a friend the other day and we saw a nice drive by. I didn't notice the driver was black until my friend said "that must be stolen." I'll admit I smiled initially because it caught me off guard, but i went on to tell him how bad of a thing that was to say. We didn't talk about it after that and went on to another topic. This is just one of those little comments that people say here and there and no one really pays attention to. This just shows how normalized racism is in our society and i realized that these things happen all the time and i rarely think about it. I don't often find myself thinking racist thoughts or saying anything like that, but i will admit i have laughed at jokes other people say. I think that most people have and it is kind of hard to avoid living in the real world. I would like to think that I don't stereotype alot, but i know that i do and i think that if people were more concious of this it would be for the better

Reading Reflection # 5

“Although the stereotyping of others is not the sole province of dominant groups, it always reflects power positions. Ironically, even apparently positive stereotypes can work to a group’s disadvantage”

I felt the reading this time was kind of written from one persons perspective, rather than touching on any others. As a reader I feel like Newman expects me to accept what he says as facts without any kind of specific example. His views seem quite liberal and I feel like he tries to place blame in certain areas for inequalities. Although many times I agree with him, I have a hard time trusting something that seems more like opinion than fact. The discussion about how positive stereotypes can be bad for society made a little bit of sense, but I don’t think they are as harmful as negative ones. It is true that people should be judged on an individual basis because everyone is different, but I don’t believe that a positive stereotype can harm someone the way a negative one does. Stereotypes are used every day for us to make quick judgments about things that we see in common. I have yet to see anyone feel oppressed from a stereotype that is positive and makes them feel good. The chapter this time was not that interesting and I feel that the previous ones have done a better job presenting issues that actually warrant some consideration.