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Beyond the vision of White Supremacy

President Donald Trump tweeted, “The border is wide open for cartels & terrorists. Secure our border now. Build a massive wall & deduct the costs from Mexican foreign aid!” but the facts are that 1.6% of Mexican immigrants are incarcerated compared to 4% of Mexicans born in the US. This statistically shows America is cultivating a culture of crime, but placing the blame on Mexico. Conservative media outlets will also lead you to believe that Mexican immigrants are bringing illegal activities through US borders. Mexicans are typecasted as illegal and a burden to America due to white supremacy’s constant projection of false narratives that enforce unequal treatment.  

The stigmatization of people of color is a prevalent practice in white supremacy. By socially constructing their identity, making their dehumanization seem natural and shaping the views of the public towards them America’s white ideology seeks to create disadvantages for the Mexican race.

Following the election of Donald Trump, many people I know were discomforted and even mortified. However his presidential election clearly showed that the popularity and practice of white supremacy is continuously thriving in our country. He often referred to Mexican men as rapists and reiterated diligently the construction of a wall at the border. These vocal tactics were used to win the votes of white supremacists. Although many of us don’t consider ourselves to be racist, and were baffled by how bold Donald Trump is, in actuality Americans as a whole, are absent in the active fight against white supremacy. The first step is understanding how white supremacy shapes our perspective of Mexicans and how it affects all Mexicans within America.

It has been scientifically proven that the human mind must acknowledge stereotypes to construct a memory of an individual. Mexicans are stereotyped as a threat to American society. They are considered as 2nd class citizens that take jobs away from Americans, they overpopulate, they are uneducated, they refuse to speak English and are poorly assimilated. They are criminals and will ensue further security issues to the American people. They are viewed as rapists and general presence is illegal. The media projects these stereotypes in order to develop a rejection of Mexicans. News techniques, including heavy repetition, exaggeration, distortion of events, framing and the suppression of evidence to create a social narrative are used to enforce stereotypes. Evidence shows that the provocation of the single thought like the word “Mexican” triggers other linking thoughts. These factors play a leading role in how Mexican Americans are portrayed and treated in the US.

The use of this rhetoric makes Americans more lenient towards injustice and unequal treatment towards Mexicans. We often define who we are based on what we’re not. Stereotypical values given to White Americans are contrasted with stereotypical values given to the Mexicans, to further divide White America from minorities. This perspective has total control over why we do not conflict with systematic oppression.

Rueda De Leon, Ilda Celina of California School of Professional Psychology stated that “A moral panic occurs when a… group of persons is defined as a threat to the dominant social and cultural values… (thus) dominant society negatively labels minority groups and those seen as deviant from standard culture.” White supremacy drives racialization that categorizes all Mexicans as a threat to American culture. This conflicts with Americans who aren’t white supremacist, and believe in an America that is a melting pot bringing cultural differences together to form one culture.

It is said that 35% of Mexican Americans don’t obtain a high school degree, while 77% of Mexicans have working class jobs compared to 37% of US born Mexicans have working class jobs. However the majority of Mexicans, unlike any other race in America are low income. This is not due to their lack of work ethic, as 77% of Mexicans are employed compared to 79% of whites. Mexicans make up 11% of our population but make the least money. They are subjected to segregated public school systems that have severely less resources than low income white public schools. Within our country, where they are criminalized at birth and stereotyped as far less capable than whites, it rapidly streams children out of school and into an unaspiring adulthood.

Ortiz, Vilma of Race and Social Problems; New York mentions that “50% of Mexicans say they experience discrimination at work with the majority saying they experience more discrimination the more they’re around whites.”  The well-known disgust Americans feel about Mexicans and presenting them as a threat to American society and economy forces many whether by choice or by circumstances to remain in the working class. While Mexicans are able to find higher paying jobs here, they are ostracized as a people and severally oppressed. Despite many Mexicans intent on being good hard working Americans the forces of oppression, from education to stigmatization and isolation is molding new forms of a society. Societies with varying criminal presence.

Morales, Armando of University of Southern California criminal justice states “(It is) argued that groups, who have been denied opportunities and a legitimate space, are forced to create their own space and possibilities based on a shared identity. Many times these spaces and possibilities, and empowerment for marginalized youth can also become sites of violence, and self-destruction… when a society denies the possibility to dream the reality becomes a nightmare.” It is evident that America’s white supremacy ideology and manifestation is in fact why gangs are created in the first place.

Within America, Mexican’s cultural values, what bonds them and gives them vision and passion about life is removed. These are the many things we learned in Spanish class: their celebrations, how they feel about family and friends, their cultural mannerisms to things even as small as what they use to do on the weekend. In great numbers Mexicans are having identity crisis and trying to be white and reject all things Mexican due to their stigmatization. The issue with this is 60% of Mexicans live in either Texas or California, this is probably due to a combination of discrimination and convince, and in these Mexican majority neighborhood where children have grown up stigmatized what there group identity and bond becomes is forms of gangs rather than cultural orientation. Mexican children grow up with low education, socially outkasted and with every effort by America seemingly stuck in the working class. Their dehumanization and general misfortune with no cultural guidance pushes these disadvantaged children to misbehave. America’s abundance of drugs and easy access to guns makes this cry for help very detrimental to these neighborhood as a whole.

However instead of looking at why minorities tend to have gang violence as a whole and taking from blatant evidence that it is both a self-identity, community identity and education issue all of which were very much effected by Americas mishandling of minorities, America has chosen to further criminalize Mexicans to draw a fog over unjust treatment. Morales also states that “the panic created by the media is seen as the means through which dehumanization and stigmatization is justified and the reality behind social violence as a whole is hidden.”

Despite only 4% of us borne Hispanics being incarcerated compared to 1.7% of non-Hispanic whites and even less of which are Mexican, Mexicans are criminalized. Morales also states that “through ideology the… group which is to be criminalized is identified, and through power groups are given the ability to make and enforce laws against acts and groups labeled as deviant.” In states where there is a large Mexican population there are several laws in place to police them more than most areas. In California a section of the police force is allowed to incarcerate any Mexican for even being in a picture with a gang member.

This idea that Mexican’s are these security threat savages despite having a low crime rate has lead to many corrupt police practices. Janssen, Volker of University of California describes such police organizations. “CRASH administered rough street justice – harassing and abusing suspects and falsifying reports… worse, others accused CRASH members of being a police gang themselves… CRASH unit had been for along time framing and torturing youth as, well as planting evidence, and intimidating witnesses in order to secure convictions.” Is this how you would want your child to be treated simply for living in a certain neighborhood and being of a certain color?

Immigration reform as made blatantly obvious thanks to Donald Trump can be racist. However since America has opened its doors to immigrants white supremacy has lead the fight towards Mexicans ability to become and remain citizens within America. Deportation laws allow for the deportation of Mexican immigrants with an infraction as small as a misdemeanor which 1 of every 3 Americans at least have and no family ties in court are considered when deporting Mexican immigrants unlike other American immigrants. This shows how inhumane Mexicans are treated in court when it is highly recognized that losing a parent can lead to several mental illnesses.

The immigration into America requires that all immigrants be related to an American citizen with easier access for immediate relatives or have job sponsorship with priorities to “…researcher or professor, a multinational executive or manager, or someone with extraordinary ability.” As described by the US Immigration Center. Most Mexicans don’t have these qualifications and connections with only 6% of immigrants accepted do to job sponsorship thus significantly increasing the number of illegals with an average of 515,000 coming in annually. Mexicans are escaping from low economic opportunity due to America’s free trade agreement which took advantage of Mexico being an undeveloped country. A lot of our American businesses use Mexican labor however Mexicans come to America to do the same type of work for more money.

In reaction to “Mexican illegal problem” Laws in California have prevented the education of US born Mexicans that are a child of illegal immigrants once again leaving Mexicans at a further disadvantage when illegal immigration has no prospect of ending despite attempts to dehumanize, disadvantage and shoo out Mexicans. The current handling of Mexican migration leaves Mexicans too weary and too disaffiliated to move forward within or outside of the US.  America must accept that Mexicans our neighbors need our support rather than stifling the development of Mexico.

There is not a constant fight to include and equalize all members of America. acknowledging minorities often seems like a confusing statement however what is really meant is that America as a majority neglects the issues minorities face as created by non-only then America, to such extent that little to know attention at all is given to the non-mainstream and dominated by white culture. These are the laws we must fight for as they pertain to Mexican Americans:

Politicians must examine America’s free trade agreement to ensure that Mexico is given equal wage opportunity for American products made in Mexico. This way less Mexicans will be put in the illegal positon in America which is much more of a threat to the illegals life than it is to American citizens.

The Criminal justice system needs to review its laws by cities and states to make sure that the laws aren’t made to take advantage of the weak. People need to fight against the slave like profitability of incarcerating minorities made acceptable by their criminalization. The country has to look at the high cost of incarceration both fanatically, socially and emotionally to undergo for petty offences. It creates so much social issues such as the inability to get jobs and mental illness issues the police force cannot afford to be corrupt. In fact America finding incarceration economically useful defiantly effects our united fight against guns and easily accessible drugs.

Opportunity to have good education all the way up to college level should not be based on neighborhoods. When cities are too poor the state must supplement the difference and if the state can’t fund it, it must be funded federally. There has to be a nationwide standard for education funding. Unfortunately America’s dehumanization of minorities and general lack of concern for minorities has led to a weak demand for standardized education which is effecting anyone of low income.

All Hispanics must be encouraged through education to embrace their culture. You wouldn’t tell a Jewish person or a Chinese person that they are less American because they are also Jewish or Chinese. Mexicans must be reminded of who they are and embrace and celebrate their true cultural differences. All Americans must be educated on what white supremacy is and how it is manifested in society both in the past and today.

All Americans must be educated on the global effects of white supremacy and how it is ingrained in our society. We must continue fighting for laws that will extinguish white supremacy and the stagnation of cultural diversity. We are living in an era where we can use the power of social media, advertising, art, journalism and music to influence positive progression. Therefore, we can all find our personal tools and use them to fight for an America without white supremacy. Through empowerment, education and appreciation of what Mexicans contribute to American culture we will begin to rehumanize Mexican Americans.

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Food

Food is more than 1 hour 30 minutes of your day.

The market place is filled with the many reflections of culture and community. In a market in Nigeria I found colorful art, music, dance, conversation and food. These community forums seem like fantasies compared to the conditions of food in America. The process of growing and supplying communities with food has grown so complex that are minds can’t even fathom it being any other way. Is it true that Americas corporatized minds are depriving people of something as essential as our health and the wellbeing of the planet we populate? Have we become so stingy about community engagement and multicultural presence that we know longer need food to be at the for front of society? As mentioned by the highly-acclaimed food novelist Michael Pollan “Food in America has become more or less invisible… Americans have not had to think very hard about where their food comes from, or what it is doing to the planet, their bodies, and their society.” (Pollan 1) What vital role does the acknowledgment of food play in shaping new methods of food supply?

Food has always controlled the flourish of societies. Goods and trade has always been a fundamental factor of the development of cities in America. “food is potentially one of the most democratic pleasures a society can offer, and is one of the subjects, like sports, that people can talk about across lines of class, ethnicity, and race.” (Pollan 6) Most every area in America has their own food delicacies as a product of their location. I am from Seattle Washington and we have the best salmon since we are on the coast. The food you find in any area is a product of the surrounding food supply and local cultural diversity.

Market places and state fairs are one of the most essential parts of any city. They invite commerce from small businesses that shape the diverse growing intentions of a community. “one sociologist calculated that people have ten times as many conversations at the farmers’ market than they do in the supermarket.” Thus at the market place we are not just shoppers we are community members. It is very essential that when we consider the growing concern for our corporate driven society we remember that these big businesses aren’t for everyone and may not even be for the majority. These ideals of cheap, fast and unhealthy food is not something that can support the diverse cultures found in your local community.

Cultural food in America has been compromised to support this fast, on the go market. Chain Mexican restaurants only serve burritos, soul food is only fried chicken and Italian food is only pizza. We have very little familiarity with food being an advocate of multi-cultural spaces as our roads are plastered with advertisement leading us to believe we are having a quality experience when picking something up on the go. We no longer eat at the dinner table where we once learned how to debate about controversial topics and how to be polite.

So what are these “enhanced” farming methods being used to supply the growing population and why are they so unsustainable? The chicken you eat has been pumped with anti-biotics to grow bigger and fed the cheapest source of animal feed: scraps of other livestock. This process has a high probability of passing on a lot of bad bacteria through several of our foods before the food is poked and sniffed by the FDA/USDA; whose total of 7,700 inspectors inspect all the food in America. The chicken meat is then shipped by the bundle from a few areas in America to the rest of the country.

Lets start with the issue of the feed. Despite the nutritional values of the animal feed, In the Consumer Reports article You Are What They Eat the author warns consumers that, “there is considerable potential for contaminated animal feed or animal-feed ingredients to move between and within countries.” This is because that bacterial infested livestock is fed to other animals we eat; a process that cannot be inspected by the FDA/ USDA. How concerning is this issue? The yearly number of foodborne disease in the USA is as stated by food activist Marion Nestle, “76 million illnesses, 325,00 hospitalizations, 5,000 deaths.” (Nestle 27) this issue is of greater concern when animals are given anti-biotics a practice made mandatory by most corporations. “The unintended consequence of this practice is the poleration of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (to) infect people and cause disease, (in which case) the disease will be untreatable.” (Nestle 47) This passing around of bacteria that are stronger do to industrial techniques is also crucial when farmers “bring unimaginably large numbers of animals (or their meat) in close contact during production, transportation, slaughter, and processing…One infected beef carcass is sufficient to contaminate eight tons of ground beef.”(Nestle 44, 45) Due to budget issues the limited amount of food inspectors are more likely to miss that one beef carcass, thus making mass farming of these animals a greater danger.

The same goes for our fruits and vegetables, the more contact are veg has when being shipped in masses from other countries or from central locations within the united states makes us more prone to bacterial infection. “The more people who handle foods between harvest and consumption, the greater the chance of passing along a foodborne illness.” (Nestle 49)

Industrial farming is also concerning for the environment. “…food systems consumes more fossil fuel energy than we can count on in the future (about a fifth of the total American use of such energy) and emits more greenhouse gas than we can afford to emits, particularly since agriculture is the one human system that should be able to substantially rely on photosynthesis: solar energy.” (Pullan 3) the inefficacy of shipping foods across the country is a part of the environmental damage produced by current food supply techniques.

The predominant issue with todays food supply is that it tries to utilize a system that is unsustainable to supply food to the growing population. The following two maps explain where food is grown in America.

As you can see from this map, where food grows is centralized. Markets like the farms market tries to supply people with locally grown organic food rather than food that travels long distances and is more likely to carry foodborne illnesses do to the close contact all these foods have with each other. This next map shows that despite increase in production significantly less people are farming.

The amount of health inspectors and the diminishing farming population show that more people need to be educated on food. “The production of safe food also depends on the adequacy of fundamental social support systems such as public education and health care.” (Nestle 31) If more people were educated on how to grow their own crops in their back yard, at pee patches and on roof gardens we would be eating healthier and helping the environment.

As mentioned in the Oscar nominated documentary, Food Inc., “1 in every 3 Americans are obese or have type 2 diabetes.” The documentary also shows a family that simply can’t afford to make healthy food choices. Leading me to believe that our health epidemic can not be solved within the current structures of food supply. The spreading out of farms rather than a few farms mass producing makes local foods cheaper as well. However many people believe what cooperation’s have told us to believe, and that is that industrial farming is the only solution to a growing population. Blake Hurst, an American farmer who came from a long family history of farming, states “… consumers benefit from cheap food… 50 million additional people are now hungry because of increasing food prices. Only ‘industrial farming’ can possibly meet the demands of an increasing population…” That is if we utilize centralized farms that mass produce, rather than many local farms.

Designers are working now to create new systems to counter many of the issues concerning food and most importantly bring us closer to the source of the food we consume. To better understand how we can design for the future we must understand what the future is going to look like. “It is said that by the year 2050 nearly 80 percent of the earth’s population will reside in urban centers…Over the same period of time, the earth’s population is expected to grow by an additional three billion people…” (Frearson 3,4) If food supply is going to be local it needs to fit in an urban center. Also, “one-fifth of the population is expected to be older than 65 within the next three decades.” (Nestle 49) I have selected two projects that can support this society. One is the vertical farm concept which is essentially a skyscraper of organically grown food supply.

London firm Rogers Stirk Harvour + Partners designed a building concept that can be altered in size depending on its location but is the perfect design for these growing urban centers. “These towers support several layers of agricultural cultivation and aquaponics system that enables the growth of crops and fish together in the re-circulating system…Its geometry can also be adapted depending on the earth’s latitude and the amount of sunlight available. In cooler climates, a double-skinned enclosure and heating could be added to create optimum growing conditions.” This means that the organic food sky scraper can be built in most any environmental condition in America. Picking your plants and catching your fish directly from the source makes the process quick, cheap and most importantly encourages the healthy consumption of food. less contact between other animals and vegetation through housing and transportation reduces the impact of one infected animal or plant.

The second project is a retirement home that doubles as a farm.

This project will not only, again be a source of food supply, it will also give our growing elderly population contact with the rest of the community. By identifying the issues of the future this project shows how through design we can achieve both sustainable agriculture and increased social experience.

We need to fight the good fight to progress as a sustainable society where everyone has equal opportunity to eat healthy foods. As architects and community activists work towards these solutions consider what active role you can play to shift away from food sources that are unhealthy, untested, unlabeled and environmentally damaging. When considering these solutions think of how we can make food once again an essential component of culture and quality of life.

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Sisters will be sisters. #scarf #yellowhair #levis #african #fashion #punkfashion