naomisavagee8

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Chapter 13. Migration (Immigrant Interview)

During Thanksgiving I had the chance to interview my uncle.

My uncle migrated from here from Nigeria to Ohio in November 12, 2019. My Uncle had multiple reasons as to why he moved here from Nigeria. He says, "America is known to be a beautiful and courageous country with breathtaking and generous opportunities that is available to everyone limitlessly" These are some of the reasons why he relocated here. Moreover, being an individual that has a passion for education and learning new things about different cultural backgrounds and environments, relocating here to the United States was the best decision for him. It has helped him in achieving some of his dreams flawlessly which would have been challenging for him to achieve back home in Nigeria. Furthermore, his main reason for relocating here was to get a quality education and career opportunity to enable him to be productive and contribute to the development of the United States of America and his family. The obstacle he faced coming to America was trying to adjust to the environment due to the nature of the weather. The second obstacle he faces was the cultural differences that he encountered due to the false ideas people have about immigrants. Lastly, is discrimination on the job from the people he works with. Some things he found challenging about the change from Nigeria to America were the cultural differences in the aspect of lifestyle, having to build a new circle of friends, and adjusting to the environment. Also trying to keep close contact with events back home due to the distance between both countries and having to be separated from family and friends. His plans for the future in America are to acquire his education and contribute his quota to the development of the country and be able to have access to my family and friends back home.

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Group 2 Playlist

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5HzK85VgOPn7MQokTEyG1L?si=cRMHvZ7lRNafIHVUG6j12w&nd=1

Ben- I picked "Marry You "by bruno Mars because it reminds me of chapter 9 when we talked about kinship and marriage.

Johnna- My song choice is "DNA" by Kendrick Lamar. I chose this song because in certain sections of textbook genetic and kinship being tied to status is discussed. In the song "DNA" Kendrick Lamar talks of having "loyalty", "royalty," and other positive traits in his DNA involving wealth. I read about how family ties, kinship, and ethnicity play a role in what someone does have access to due to their "DNA."

Noel- I chose the song "KEEP IT UP" by Rex Orange County. The songs lyrics explain exactly why I chose this song. This semester has been stressful and I had to give myself motivation throughout these past few months. My song is more generalized for the entire semester rather than a specific chapter.

Jordan- I chose the song "Pound Cake/Paris Morton Music" by Drake featuring Jay Z because in chapter 11 we discussed the global economy and this song goes in great detail about being a millionaire and giving back to the family and friends who gave you everything when you had nothing. It is also a great song for studying too.

Naomi- I Chose the song "Last Last"by Burna Boy because in the song the artist switches from his native language to English a lot. This reminds me of chapter 4 LANGUAGE. This song shows code-switching which is a term we studied for chapter 4.

Team 2 Group Song- "Interlude" by J. Cole. The song talks about survival from adversities. We survived as a team and overcame the tests and quizzes that were thrown at us this semester. He ends the song with a quote from Maya Angelou's, "And Still, I Rose".

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Chapter 10 Fieldwork: Class and Inequality

Karl Marx's Theory

According to Marx, are defined and structured by the relations between work and labor and ownership or possession of property and means of production. These economic factors govern social relationships more thoroughly in capitalism than they did in earlier societies. As Marx once wrote: ‘one specific kind of production which predominates over the rest, whose relations thus assign rank and influence to the others. It is a general illumination which bathes all the other colours and modifies their particularity. It is a particular ether which determines the specific gravity of every being which has materialized within it.’

For Marx, class was first and foremost an objective category, a way of understanding people's roles in the basic functioning of society, regardless of how they may perceive themselves. Understanding how individuals fit into the process and relations of production is important because societies are defined first and foremost by how they produce the necessities (and pleasures) of life.

Max Weber's Theory

Weber argued that owning property, such as factories or machinery, is only one factor in determining a person's social class. Weber defined social class as having power and prestige in addition to property or wealth. People who run corporations but do not own them benefit from increased production and profits. Weber argued that property can bring prestige because people hold wealthy people in high regard. Other factors that contribute to prestige include athletic or intellectual ability. If people are willing to pay for access to prestige, prestige can lead to property. For Weber, wealth and prestige are inextricably linked. Weber believed that social class is also a result of power, which he defined as an individual's ability to get his or her way despite opposition. Wealthy people are more powerful than poor people, and power can be gained through an individual's prestige.

Pierre Bourdieu's Theory

According to Bourdieu's class theory, capital and habitus are two important factors in educational reproduction. Participation in cultural activities and cultural material resources are examples of capital, while subjective attitudes and dispositions are examples of habitus. One of Bourdieu's central claims is that habitus, defined as a set of dispositions, appreciations, and practical mastery, is the result of class position, and more specifically the volume and structure of capital that agents possess. The habitus is a preconscious framework or "generative mechanism" that operates analogously in a wide range of contexts and thus shapes a wide range of behaviors. Habitus provides the basic frameworks of cultural tastes; it embodies a fund of tacit knowledge and even shapes orientations to the body. As Bourdieu writes, “Habitus produces individual and collective practices, thus history, that conforms to the schemas engendered by history.” His claim therefore is that there is a close connection between this deep and powerful concept and class position. Therefore, it should be possible to demonstrate that different habits are the result of different "volumes" and "structures of capital" possessed by agents.

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Kinship, Family & Marriage 

Though I am estranged from my fathers side of the family, I am still apart of it and they are still apart of me. But Let’s focus on my mothers side. My mother’s mom, my grandma, is named Victoria. Victoria means victory and that’s what my grandmother is, victorious. She is always there for the family when we need her. When my mother is stressed or when my aunts job is beginning to be too much for, my grandma is always there as a supporting hand. Then theirs my grandfather. His name is Peter, I never met him because he passed 2 years before i was born but I hear he was a very important and rich man in his day. He made sure my grandma, mother, aunt and uncle were well taken care of. Speaking of aunt and uncle, my moms siblings and their families are very big parts of my life. My moms older brother Scott always looks out for me. And her younger sister Faith helps me figure out the nursing program and biology because she went through it too. But with work there is always play. My aunt faith has a daughter named vallery, my cousin. And we are very close almost like sisters. Along with my uncles daughters, Ester and Angel. Whenever we get together we have a great time. Im so happy to be a part of this family.Geographic relocation is extremely common in my family because my family originates in Nigeria. From my mother to all my aunties and uncles, all of them have relocated to North America hoping for for a better life for them and there kids. You might not be able to tell solely off just my family tree but i hold a lot of power in my family. As the first daughter, granddaughter, cousin, niece, sibling i am a role model for many children in my family and the ones that are yet to come. Since a young age i was told that i am the one to set the example for everyone. Of course that means there’s much pressure on me but i’ve learned God put me in this position for a reason. I do look to add on to this family tree and create strong, smart, independent, children of God when i’m ready.

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Race and Racism Fieldwork

White Privilege- https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRu9951m/ 

This is white privilege. It is something that has been in effect for generations. White privilege, is a societal advantage that white people have over non-white people in some societies, especially if they are otherwise in the same social, political, or economic circumstances.

Individual Racism- https://commonbondz.org/resources-1/individual-racism

It's based on ONE person. so their beliefs hate others. for example, those “christians” who claim black people were meant to be slaves bc the “bible said so

Racialization- https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRuVRbsj/ 

Putting a person in a stereotypical box based on their skin color. 

In this tiktok you can see a young boy, one of many that is being treated 10x more harshly by a white cop, solely based on the color of his skin, and a white man's bias.

Phenotype-  The set of observable characteristics of an individual. What you see with your eyes make up what you observe and think about a person. For example, looking at a person on the street, I literally see a black man. Biologically he might be white but I see a black person.

Jim Crow-

This article explains how the last school to integrate in America finally did in 2016. After the jim crow laws were terminated decades ago, this school has finally ended segregation in their halls. 

The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States

Race-

“Any of the groups into which humans are frequently divided based on physical characteristics shared by people of common ancestry”

There is no straightforward definition of race. But to me, race is something made up that tears us all down because we all know that we are humans, but because of location, melanin and different Ethnicity/Cultures, we supposedly have Europeans that believe that there is only Black, White, Red, Yellow and brown. They say they divided this up by facial features but that makes no sense because anyone can have any feature, exactly why I can't tell the difference between Ethiopian and Indian or Spaniards and North Africans.

Basically, it's just a made up thing that's 100% invalid that only negatively divides us.  

Institutional Racism-  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDP2yPtDDLk 

That's government based. like redlining neighborhoods (placing black and other people of color in certain areas and then underfunding them and denying them the opportunity to advance like the white folks).

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Culture of Consumerism

Picture of my room

Least needed

Most Needed

What I learned about my self from this fieldwork is that aloof of my wants came from consumer culture. What I mean by this is a lot of ny wants I only wanted because a lot of other people had it and I felt like I needed to at the time too. My most needed item is not something you would typically think of when you think of items you need . This is not even what I initially thought my most needed item would be .But after thinking, I chose the picture of my mom because alot of days I find my self missing her so the picture helps me. Also my mother is my main source of motivation so I have her picture on my desk where I do my homework so I can use it as motivation,hence why im going my homework now. My least needed item is really not needed because ultimately it is a high tech watch.I don't even check the time that much and when I do its on my phone so most of the time the watch just stays sitting on my desk. What I also learned about my self is Fashion and my appearance mean a lot to me because if I were to calculate the price of everything in my room, majority of the price goes to clothes and makeup. Ironically, my most needed item was only 20 dollars while my clothes and makeup equals up to around 10k.

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