Pre-Reading Questions Week Eleven

Over the next two weeks we will doing a critical examination of hip-hop: how do issues of race, class, gender, sexuality and social justice engage with hip-hop and the music industry?

What do you think the purpose of hip-hop music is? Is it just to entertain? Does it have some kind of agenda?

What do you about the role that race plays in hip-hop? What race are the majority of hip-hop artists? Are the consumers of hip-hop racially diverse or racially homogenous?

If hip-hop is problematic, why is it so popular?

Are their artists or songs that don't employ the more problematic aspects of hip-hop? What are they? Why are they different? 

Watch Chris Rock talk about how tired he is of defending rap music. (Warning: explicit language).

Why does Rock feel that he has to defend Rap Music? What are some of the things that he thinks are bad about this genre? 

What are some of the positive aspects of hip-hop? What are some of its more problematic aspects? 

What is the role of women in hip-hop? Is hip-hop misogynistic? Why or why not? 

How does gender intersect with race in hip-hop?

Watch: Jay-Smooth discuss the tension between personal responsibility and societal change in hip-hop. 

What does Jay Smooth think needs to happen in order for hip hop to become healthy again? 

What flaws does he find in each side of the argument? 

Wage Discrimination Stats

As discussed in class, here are some 'highlights' (lowlights may be more appropriate here) from the Usual Weekly Earnings from Wage and Salary Workers, Fourth Quarter 2010, published by the United State's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

• Women who worked full time had a median weekly earnings of $679, versus men whose full-time weekly earnings were $830-- 22.8% less than their male counterparts.

Broken Down by Race/Ethnicity and Gender (Median Weekly Salaries, 4th Quarter 2010)

White Men: $857
White Women: $695 (81% of what their white male counterparts make)

Black Men: $629 (73% of what white men make)
Black Women: $605 (70% of what white men make, 96% of what their black male counterparts make)

Asian Men: $947 ( 110% more than what white men make)
Asian Women: $719 (75% of what Asian men make, 83% of what white men make)

Latino Men: $567 (66% of what white men make) 
Latina Women: $510 (59% of what white men make, 89% of what their Latino male counterparts make). 

Here is a link to the report in its entirety- if you have some time, look it over, 

Lack of Comments :/

Howdy Class,
Technology strikes again! For whatever reason, I was unable to post comments on your blogs today but generally, I really enjoyed them and think you all are making some AWESOME connections between race, disability and education- nice work! All of you that posted on time, received credit for your blogs as usual.

Next week will be 'catch-up' week: from the cards I got in class, we will be spending some time reviewing and discussing intersectionality. I will spend the weekend brainstorming some fun ways to do that.

Thanks as usual for your hard work :)

Race, Education and Disability Post-Reading Questions

Hi Students,
Thanks for you engagement during class today- I love it when we get a good conversation going!

What are some reasons that students may be 'misdiagnosed' with a learning disability? What factors play a role?

How do ideas about normalcy play into the diagnostic process for Learning Disabilities?

Almost all LD's are diagnosed by teachers. How might race, class and gender play into this process?

What, if any, are the similarities between race as a social construct and disability as a social construct? How are they different?

According to the authors for this, what are some of the problems when disabilities are viewed are "in-child"? What might this kind of framework hide?

What are the connections between racism, classism, sexism, ableism and 'the medical model'? In other words, does medicine (as an institution made of up of doctors, nurses, hospitals, medical research industries, ideologies about disease and health) uphold our racial, gender, and class hierarchies? In what ways?

Did anything from this week surprise you? What are you still having some trouble understanding? 

How does race, class, language background or other factors work together (think intersectionality here) to set-up how we define learning disability? 

Today is the last day to register to vote in CA!

Hello Students,
As promised in class, here is the link to register to vote online. It must be submitted by 5pm today.

Register to Vote online here!

Pre-Reading Questions Week Eight

Take a guess at some of the connections between race, education and disability. In what ways could these things possibly be linked?

Please look up and define the following terms:
Learning Disabled (LD)
Mentally Retarded (MR)
Emotionally Disturbed (ED)
What are these categories and their relationship to special education?

Statistics show that students of color are over-represented in special education classes (Reid, Knight, 2006). Why do you think this is?

How can race, gender and class intersect with disability to impact how people experience their lives?

"Disability, race, and class can be viewed as constructs that serve the means of social organization, with each suggesting a preferred state of being (able-bodied, white, middle class) over 'others' (disabled, people of color, working class) (Connor, 158).
What do you think Connors means when he refers to these social constructs as a means of social organization? Do you agree?Why or why not?

Think about the type of testing used to diagnose a learning disability. How might someone's race, class or language background impact their ability to do well on these tests?

I realize that these texts might be a little difficult so to help aid your readings try answering the following questions for each reading (please bring your answers to class on Monday):
Disability Justifies Exclusion of Minority Students:

1. What connection are the authors making between the over-representation of students of color in special education and their under-representation in college?
2. What are some of the ways that white, middle class student in special education have an easier time accessing college than students of color in special education?
3. How do belief systems (ideologies) about what is 'normal' impact who is enrolled in special education classes?

Narrative Knowing and Life at the Intersections of Learning Disability, Race and Class

1. What are some of the categories of oppression that Michael experiences in his day-to-day life? Please provide examples for each type of oppression.
2. Give your best effort at defining the 4 domains of oppression that the author uses (structural, disciplinary, hegemonic, and interpersonal) and provide examples for each domain.

Learning Disabilities or Difference: A Critical Look at Issues Associated with the Misidentification and Placement of Hispanic Students in Special Education Programs

1. What are some of the problems in diagnosing learning disabilities? What role does language play?
2. What role does having a low SES play in academic achievement?
3. What is the connection between the presence of bilingual education and students testing below-standards for academic achievement. 

Post-Reading Questions Week Seven

In your pre-reading responses, a lot of you made the important point that domestic violence cuts across all races, ethnicities, sexualities and cultures. In what ways does an intersectional analysis use these categories to understand the phenomenon of domestic violence?

We discussed a lot of examples of how an intersectional analysis of DV challenges the more traditional narrative of DV. Which examples surprised you the most? Why do you think we don't hear about these examples more often?

What were some of the biggest barriers to receiving help for Paola's clients? What factors complicated their access to dv services (such as legal help, shelter, using the police, etc.)?

Please discuss two things that you learned from Paola's presentation-- how do they link up to using an intersectional analysis?

How would you recommend to change DV services as to better serve some people who don't fall into the master narrative we discussed on Monday? How might you change some of the services? What would you add or take away?

Does using an intersectional analysis to understand DV help to end it? Why or why not?

If you, or anyone close to you is experiencing domestic violence, there are ways to get support and talk about ways to get to safety. The following are numbers you can call to get help or have questions answered. 
WOMAN Inc. (San Francisco): (415) 864-4722
The Riley Center (San Francisco): (415) 255-0165
The National Domestic Violence Hotline: (800) 799-SAFE (7233)