Who am I...... x2

At the beginning of the semester we were supposed to define who we are. I re-read my blog and realized I said a lot of generic things like I wanted to go to college. I said what I wanted to do in the future, but I didn't really talk about how I am the way I am. Taking Sociology made me realize that I'm influenced so much by my surroundings: my family, friends, classmates, teachers...etc. Our lives are all intertwined, and we affect one another even if we don't realize it. I realize now that I'm following the norm that my family has set for me (a norm that not everyone has since we're all different): going to college. I know now that maybe if I grew up somewhere else, I wouldn't have the opportunity to go to college. I always thought my family influenced my life just because I live with them, but now I realize that they really, really influence me. How I was raised, what my goals are for the future, all of those factors depended on the people I surround myself with. I learned the importance of being sociologically mindful and how doing little things for others really does go a long way. Taking Sociology &doing community service made me realize that it's really rewarding to go outside my social norm. I learned how rewarding it is to keep an open mind with everything I encounter. I took sociology because some of my friends recommended it, but I'm really glad I did because it was one of my favorite classes!

CRASH

We spent the week before winter break in class watching the movie Crash. Personally, I was kind of uncomfortable watching this movie because seeing how racist and judgmental made me wonder if that's how it was in real life. We learned about the difference between explicit and implicit racism before watching this movie, which was helpful because Crash demonstrates both of those.

Sandra Bullock's character showed both explicit and implicit racism. An example of implicit racism is when she was walking down the street on a nice night with her husband. They live in a nice area in California, but when she sees two black men who could have been dressed like they were college students, she grabs her husbands arm and holds onto him as they walk by. She didn't even make eye contact with the men. That's an example of implicit racism because she's not openly sharing her thoughts, but her silent reaction to seeing the men shows her being racist. When Sandra's character and husband have their locks changed after having their car stolen, she demands that they have the locks changed again because the guy changing their locks was Mexican. She was sceraming at her husband saying that the locksmith was going to sell their house key to his 'gang banger' friends because she assumed he was in a gang because he's mexican. He heard her talking, and it was clear that what she was saying hurt him, but he didn't say anything back.