identity

Language of Color

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After centuries of racial pejoratives and terms focusing on the absence of whiteness, the commonly standard term describe those whose ethnicities can be described as something other than white is “person(s) of color.” This is leaps and bounds better than more archaic terms which were used, with “colored” being similar linguistically but becoming pejorative socially and “negro” being a word borrowed from a language other than English, thereby further emphasizing the “otherness” of people of …

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Proud to be American?

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In the NY Times 1619 project, Nikole Hannah-Jones hosted a podcast called “The fight for a true democracy” where she mentioned a story about Isaac Woodward.  He was a  27 year old Black man who had just returned from fighting in WW2. While on his way to see his wife, the bus driver stopped and Isaac asked him if he could use the restroom, he said no. They argued and ultimately, Isaac still went to …

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Am I the Stereotype?

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What is a stereotype? Social psychology defines a stereotype as “any thought widely adopted about specific types of individuals or certain ways of behaving intended to represent the entire group of those individuals or behaviors as a whole.” Stereotypes are generalizations made about people and the groups in which those people belong to based on their appearances and behaviors. Do you know of any stereotypes made about you? Your skin color? Your religion? Your ethnicity? …

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Paradox of White Fragility and Institutional Power

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‘Race talk,’ as Daryl Wing Sue describes it, by itself violates many of the standards and norms that society fights to uphold. Race talk invites emotions into the space and it invites topics deemed too impolite for small talk into a conversation. As a result, race talk is consistently pushed into designated spaces. Aside from society, a key influence on the success of race talk is the awareness of power and privilege that those in …

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The Acts of Exclusion in Greek Life

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Greek life has been under a microscopic eye, especially this summer and fall. Sorority Instagram pages are flooded with pictures of members and captions saying, “I found my girl gang!” What about everything that’s going on in the world? The protests, the murders, the systemic racism absolutely has to be acknowledged. We have to acknowledge that Greek life as a whole is predominantly white. I think many people have a fear of joining Greek life …

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I’m a Barbie girl living in a White world

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Take a moment and think back to what dolls you played with as a child. Most of you probably mentioned companies such as Barbie or American Girl. What did these dolls look like? Unfortunately, the majority of you probably said they were White, blonde, and had blue eyes. Most people think why does this matter? It is just a toy. However, it does matter. Although children are young, they are very observant. As they grow …

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So What About Your Babies: A Conversation About “Good Genes”

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Starting with around the age of 10, I recall family members asking me what type of men I liked. Hispanic? White? Often these were the only two options presented to me, later followed by “you shouldn’t date black men, you have to better the race”.  Thinking back on it now, my options were so limited so early on, it was engrained in me that marrying someone of a darker skin tone than my own would …

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Sisterhood’s Lasting Impacts

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One of the clearest impressions I have of Greek Life is the movie Sydney White, where every member of the sorority portrayed in the movie is thin, white, and blonde, except for Sydney White, who is, *gasp*, a brunette. And that impression has not been disproven. When I entered Greek Life at Muhlenberg, there were no black women who had joined or were already members in my chapter. There was one Latina woman, who graduated, …

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The Whitewashing of Psychology

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We all have been exposed and influenced to the whitewashing of psychology, whether we’re a part of the professional academic discourse or not. Psychology theories and practices often times inform political policies to educational interventions that impact everyone in their daily lives. Here at Muhlenberg, psychology students learn about these theories and methods but we also are aware of the current field’s limitations. A significant flaw in the field is lack or representation of people …

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How Can I Help?

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College fraternities and sororities are, for the most part, notorious for possessing a multitude of negative stereotypes. When the general public pictures a Greek organization, they think of hazing, paid friends, and parties. In addition to these most common stereotypes of members of Greek life, people within these organizations aren’t known to be very accepting. As a member of a nationally recognized sorority, Phi Sigma Sigma, I recognize the work that my own chapter has …

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The White Center

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Nearly everything in the United States is centered around white people and being white.  White people being at the center means that white norms are most commonly accepted while other norms such as African American norms are frowned upon.  Everything is measured against whiteness because it is at the very center of racism and American society as a whole. White people have established that being white is good while being black is not, both consciously …

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Time’s Up White People

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For too long have white people ignored the discussion of race and actively avoided responsibility to end racism. No, not all white people, but the undeniable majority have clearly taken this path as it is 2019 and America’s culture is still overtly racist, and our systems remain institutionally racist. While I do believe we live in a morally unjust world, I personally think the majority of white people do not intend to be so hateful …

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