Free Writing on Untouchable

Overtime I have learned plenty about racism between different races, but I never put much thought into the possibility that a specific race could have classes and stereotypes among their own people. In a novel that I recently read, Untouchable, I learned the different class systems that took place in India during the 1930’s. The novel Untouchable highlights the issues of racial formation by showing us how India has let caste systems determine people’s importance in society.  The author tells his story through Bakha, a teenage outcaste living in the slums of India. Bakha is seen as an “untouchable” in the society’s caste system. Being an outcaste came with the baggage of labor that was to be done, sweeping and cleaning the latrines were duties that Bakha was destined to due to his class system.  His filthy profession was a reminder of the human status Bakha was condemned to from birth. The conflict in the novel between Bakha and his oppressors demonstrates to readers the importance for his emotions.  On one hand he doesn’t question the paradigm he lives in; on the other, knowledge on the Englishmen’s way of living arouses questions and feelings within him that make him question the paradigm he lives in.  Based on Bakha’s hate, resentment, and anger shown all throughout the book we learn that his emotions are what draw him to the Englishmen way of living. These emotions draw him to the English way of living because ….  His experiences help me understand his confusion for the way he’s treated and his confusion for the restrictions he faces in living the way he would like to.

 Throughout the book I see experiences that Bakha goes through that grow into the resentment he has towards being an outcaste. In a specific scene in the novel Bakha is roaming around the town and accidently bumps into a Hindu merchant. This is beyond an insult to the merchant and he begins to yell out racial slurs, “Keep to the side you low caste vermin! Why don’t you call you swine, and announce your approach! Do you have touched me and defiled me, you cockeyed son of a bow legged scorpion! Now I will have to go and take a bath to purify myself” (Anand 46). This is a perfect example of the treatment he goes through because of his role in society. Experiences like these are what contribute to Bakha’s hate for being an outcaste. Watching the way English men live is what draws Bakha to their lifestyle and makes him start question the way that he lives. He begins to wonder why he has to do things that Bramines, higher caste people, aren’t entitled to do.

Cluster Connections

Being in this Race and Culture cluster has been very beneficial for me these past weeks. It’s been easier to comprehend and have my own opinions on the topics due to the fact that each of my classes incorporates how race and culture play a part in our lives. In my English 101 class I have read books such as 'Slave and Citizen', 'Racial Formation', and 'Untouchables' which have helped me get a better understanding and see race from different perspectives. In 'Slave and Citizen' I learned that because of race the way people categorize others by their physical appearance affected African Americans. African Americans were slaves and weren't considered humans all because of the color of their skin. This is a perfect example of how the idea of race came about and how it affected many people as soon as categories and race came about. In 'Racial Formation' I learned the difference between a color blind society and color conscious society. I learned about ideology, paradigms, and racial formation. This book made a big connection with other conversations I had in my other classes especially in anthropology. In anthropology we have watched many films such as 'The Gran Torino', 'Bend it Like Beckham', 'On Becoming Human', 'Race and Illusion' etc. In these films I have learned the way that culture plays a part in what we define as race. People who have different customs, beliefs, or traditions are seen and treated according to what they practice. This connects with the readings from English 101. Learning about race and culture in English and Anthropology class ties in with what I learn in Sociology which talks about the way our society behaves when it comes to different races. Having a better understanding of our history and the way race and culture played a part helps me see why our society is so stereotypical of different people. Starting from the bottom with race in English 101 on readings like 'Slave and Citizen' have given me a better knowledge on why race has evolved into the idea that it is now. Overall I have learned that race in nonexistent. We have made race up by categorizing and making up these stereotypes that now exist. I have also learned that culture has a lot to do with the way people define race. The way that we classify is culturally. History has given these stereotypes meaning.

@lobojost Informative Tweets.

So far from the new twitter profiles that were suggested I've been reading stuff that @lobojost has posted. He recently posted an article called "The Bronx is Heating Up." This article talks about how high rent is in Manhattan are, 1.8million for a two bedroom apartment. Locations in Queens and Brooklyn are getting pricey as well. All the convenient locations are getting very expensive except for the Bronx. In the article the fact that the Bronx is 20 minutes away, with express trains available to midtown, is pointed out. Bronx is suddenly looking like the “sensible alternative.”  What I got from this article was that not many people think of the Bronx when they are looking for new places to move in. Many parts of the Bronx’s have changed and many "drug dealers have moved out and gay artists have moved in" as said in the article. Not many people realize that buying in the Bronx might be very convenient. I was just speaking to my friends yesterday and she mentioned that she wanted to move out. She was looking for apartments with her potential roommates and got into a disagreement with her friend who was looking for apartments In the Bronx. My friend said that although rent was cheaper in the Bronx she refused to move there. I agreed with her because of the dangerous conditions going on and the stories I’ve heard about living in the Bronx, but after reading the article I’m not as hesitant about living in the Bronx. There are nice areas in the Bronx just as there are in any other area.

If it wasn’t for following this page on twitter I would have never read this article. There are very interesting and informative articles that can be found through peoples tweets and this was one of them. Being on social networks can be very beneficial if people took advantage of all the information that is offered on these networks. I now have a new perspective about living in the Bronx. This article pointed out the positive perspective of living there.

Here is the link to the article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323741004578418682347182750.html?mod=wsj_share_tweet

 

Response to Robert Cruz's Blog.

 This blog was very well written. It was easy to understand you made your points and opinions very clear. You mentioned how Tannenbaum claimed that slaves in Brazil were treated better; you gave supporting details, and gave your opinions as well. My suggestion for this blog when writing the revision would be to be more specific on how cruel the U.S was towards slaves. So that way you can really show the reader the difference between the ways Brazil treated their slaves. You did well in supporting the way Brazil treated their slaves and going on to talk about the way they could work their way out of slavery. I would also suggest to not starting your second paragraph with a question being that you already asked a question in the introduction. Instead maybe you could go on to talk about how the color of their skin played a part in the separation from others. You kept saying perhaps and maybe most of the time in your second paragraph. That made it seem as if there wasn't any solid information to depend on. It would be more informative if you made it a statement or went back to one of Tannenbaums claims on the topic. Other than that I think it shouldn’t be too hard to revise this blog. Overall you were good in making your point and should only have to change some stuff to make it even better. :)

Untouchables- pg. 85

Page 85 in Untouchables shows the struggle Bakha has to go through to get food for his family. On this page the level of callousness he has to put up from the higher caste is shown. The disgust the people above Bakha have for him turns into the disgust he grows to have against his lifestyle. In a scene from this page regardless of how hungry Bakha was he still refused to eat a piece of wet bread he got from the Bramines. The piece of wet bread was a reminder of what Bakha had to go through in order to get it. At that moment the wet bread was a symbol of his human status. It was a cruel representation of the luxury he would never attain. No matter how much work he went through to get the food or how hungry he was he was still prideful and refused to be subjected to eating the wet bread. This moment was Bakha's breaking point. After going through a day being reminded that he was an untouchable and seen as nobody he was fed up. He was also embarrassed to tell his family because he knew they wouldn't understand the reason for losing his appetite. No one but Bakha knew at that moment what it would mean for him to eat the wet bread. To him it meant accepting the abuse from others that were higher than him. Although he couldn't do much about the abuse outside of his home this was his way of putting his foot down and pretty much saying enough is enough.

"Anti-Islamic Hate Crime Incidents" Chart Review

The Anti-Islamic Crime Incident chart shows the way crimes against Islam have increased or remained the same since 1995-2008. It remained at the same rate from 1995-2000 with the lowest rate of anti-Islamic crime being at 21 in 1998 and the highest in 1999 with 32, showing that crimes didn’t change much between those years. It wasn’t until 2001 that crime dramatically increased to 481. Then from 2001 to 2008 crime remained at higher levels than it ever did from 1995 to 2000. The lowest anti-Islamic crime incidents from 2001 to 2008 were 105 which were way higher than the lowest rate in 2000. What I find most shocking is how racism and crime against Islam was still at high levels even after 2001. There was a dramatic change in 2001. The shift was so big, that in my opinion, proves there was a reason for this change in number. It leave leave sme to think that 911 was the cause of these rates increasing. The 911 incident is what triggered as much anti-Islamic crimes in 2001. This chart shows that an unexpected shift can occur again the way it unexpectedly did in 2001. I find it interesting that since then the crime rate has never gone back down to the way it was before and I wonder if it ever will.