This Blog is a resource tool for the students taking the "FACING HISTORY AND OURSELVES" elective at Westborough High School, Westborough, Massachusetts.
Monday, February 3, 2014
PERIOD 4: LITTLE BOXES
Today you read the story "Little Boxes" in class. Please share your thoughts about the article and the class discussion that followed in a reflective post.
24 comments:
Rudy Alnaal
said...
I thought that the article was an extremely interesting viewpoint. I could sort of relate back to what the author was trying to get across. I have a hard time trying to identify who am with just a check of a box. what if I don't classify myself as any of the options. I have to choose white every time I fill out applications when I don't really consider myself to be white, but I consider myself to be Syrian; Arab. It's sort of a dilemma for me too.
I almost completely agreed with what the article said. Although my situation isn't completely the same, it feels wrong to classify myself as white even though it is an accurate description of who I am. In my mind, I am English, Italian, Irish, German, Ukrainian, and a whole bunch of other things that are too numerous to list. When I simply check a box for white, I feel like I'm not expressing who I really am and am simply adhering to the general "cookie-cutter" description of about 1.5 billion people in the world. It seems almost unfair the way that colleges, jobs, and things ask potential candidates to describe themselves with such a broad system of distinction when they say that they want the most diverse people possible. The way that people are forced to generalize their heritage and race takes away a lot of the individuality of people and doesn't allow for a true expression of pride in who you are. Sometimes, it almost feels demeaning when I'm forced to check white even though in actuality, I'm Caucasian, of European decent, or simply American. The use of the word, white, degrades a person to the point of describing simply based upon the color of their skin, which of course spurned great issues and reform. But I guess its all about perspective.
The article brings to light a more common reality that no one ever thinks of, because many of us aren't faced with this.Its interesting to think that some people don't know "who they are." My opinion is that race, name and, gender should be used in resumes and things of this nature, but, these details should be on record within the government. my relation to this could be switching from being a cajun after checking other in the box, now I select white because no one in New England knows about my race,because were dying out. so from now on, I'm White.
When I first looked at the board today to see what we would be doing and read the words “Little Boxes,” I had no idea what we would be doing. This article was a very interesting take on race, culture, and identity. I often think about how people judge others based on their stereotypes and the way they appear at first glance. I do think that the psychologist Deborah Tannen has a point in saying that generalizing is a way for people to create patterns and without some sort of grasp on things life would be chaotic, but does that really have to come at the cost of peoples feelings and emotions and categorizing them into a group that they feel they don’t belong? I feel like generalizing people and sorting them into categories without actually knowing them is just cruel, but I think most of us are guilty of it without even knowing. Unless you are completely conscious of your thought process all of the time, people will make generalizations when passing people on the street, make assumptions about classmates, etc... I do think that it is important to be able to feel connected to your heritage and culture and by limiting people’s choices to boxes indicating category, you take away from their person. Throughout my life, I have been able to connect to my Lebanese, Russian, and Polish heritage with bits of English, Irish, and Austrian thrown in, but when people look at me at first glance their going to assume that I’m a stereotypical white American girl. In reality, that is true, but I am much more than just white and American and I connect with many different parts of my heritage and culture.
I thought that this article really showed how something as simple as checking off a box stating your ethnicity can have such a big impact on a person. It really seemed to make the author question who he really was and how he would categorize himself. Throughout the article, he talked about how he didn't think it was right for that to be a requirement when doing things like applying for a job or a college. I agree with this because I think checking those things off causes others, the ones who are looking at the "boxes", to automatically judge you based on your ethnicity. That doesn't actually tell you very much about a person so I do not think it should be a necessary step. If I were to check off a box, I would most likely just check "white"; however, I think that is not the correct word to use because it is just referring to skin color, whereas I come from many different European descents. There are so many different things that someone can quickly learn about a person, but I don't believe that those judgments should be based on one's heritage.
I had a personal connection with the reading that we did in class today due to my complex heritage. Though I have never been mistaken for anything other than a white, non-Spanish speaking person, half of my family speaks Spanish as their first language. With a last name like mine, most people have no idea where my name comes from, and though that name comes from only 1/8 of my gene pool, I identify with that particularly because I carry it around with me everywhere I go. I can understand why the author would be upset about being classified as one race because I have been on the other side of that myself. In general, stereotypes and vague classifications are a detriment to the individual, and if possible, I believe there should another way of organizing groups of people, or grouping them at all.
To a certain degree, I agree with the article. The little boxes that are given to us as choices don't fully encompass who we may be. This reinforces the practice of generalizing human beings. It allows us to continue to view others from appearance, the way they look. Further analysis is avoided. However in certain cases, I can understand the use of the little boxes. It's extremely hard to take open ended answers and categorize them in surveys, patterns are harder to find. The little boxes shouldn't be taken quite so literally in cases such as surveys. The problem arises when Society as a whole sees you in these little boxes. I feel that we over-speculate and under-appreciate the wrong things. I can understand the author's message of being more than just 1 vague box however, the severity he goes to seems a bit over the top.
I enjoyed reading this article. I understand the dilemma which the author faces because my mom is 100% Irish and my dad is 100% Jamaican so checking boxes on college apps, I completely relate and understand. However ,the author made it seem like it was bad to be part of a group and bad to categorize yourself with your race because of these boxes. Stereotypes are little boxes we put people in because of they way they look, their education level or their social status. I agree that not all stereotypes are true but also believe that everyone needs to embrace their race and culture and celebrate who they are. You cant let a little box define you.
I thought “Little Boxes” was a very interesting article, and found I related it to it more than I thought I would. Generally, filling out applications and such is pretty easy, because I usually don’t have much issue checking the box that says “white”, but I still feel like there is a lot more to who I am than “white”. My dad is 100% Irish, and my mom is half Irish half French. I’m very proud of both my Irish and French heritage, and don’t think classifying myself as white shows that. I had the same problem with college applications regarding religion. My dad is Catholic, and my mom is non-denominational Protestant, so my sisters and I were raised as Christians, without any denomination, so when faced with choices like Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, etc. it’s a bit frustrating. I don’t think we should limit any one person to the stereotypes of a race classification, but we also shouldn’t view an entire race in regards to the actions of one person.
This article was a good article to read. The author of the article was basically saying how just checking boxes doesn't define who you are. For me personally checking off the white box however it would be nice to check off all the boxes that pertain to you as an individual would be nice because you are proud of who you are and your heritage and you want people to know.
This article was a good article to read. The author of the article was basically saying how just checking boxes doesn't define who you are. For me personally checking off the white box however it would be nice to check off all the boxes that pertain to you as an individual would be nice because you are proud of who you are and your heritage and you want people to know.
I believe that the person who wrote this article was blowing things way out of proportion. I think that he really exaggerated topics like race and ethnicity. Although I do agree that these things do not define you as a person, they are a way of classifying people. I think that just because he cannot find his identity doesn't mean he should say that classifying people under these categories is a bad thing. I believe that people should be proud of their culture/background and that is not a bad thing. I can relate to this because my parents are Syrian and I can classify myself as that. When I tell others that I am Syrian, I tell them with a sense of pride and it is something I feel good about.
I thought that the article was very true in what the author had to say. I personally think that the boxes are very general and too broad, and this is coming from someone who “fits” into the white check box. I know many kids don’t fit into the “Asian’, “White”, “Latino”, “Black” or “Native American” category and more often than not choose “Other”. Today it is more common to have mixed races and is completely socially acceptable and it is where we are as a society now. And having someone generalize themselves in a way they might just be the closest thing, is not only ridiculous but also incorrect from a personal and surveyor standpoint. So in order for any survey or application to think there are only five or so options to pick from is out of touch with where we are as a society today.
Zinah Alnaal said... Before reading this article, I never knew how much small generalizations could mean so much. I enjoyed Little Boxes and found it really interesting because I can somewhat relate to this situation. We, as individuals, as humans with shared foundation of biological and psychological behaviors, need to be challenged by other peoples opinions in order to grow. Now I'm not saying judging others is the way to go, but to overcome several things in our lives we need others opinions to learn. If we are prisoners of a little box of identity, we are lost to independence and love for what or who we are. Our identity is constructed by the stories we learn, tell and who we are as people, not the boxes we check. Each time we mark a box, our identity is promptly quantified in this world of labels. Throughout life we are encouraged to reach our goals and work resolutely towards achieving them, to be efficient and to focus on a target, but not by worrying about if people will accept you for the boxes you truly are.
I thought that the little box story was very interesting. It really made you think about your background and how it defines you. I thought that it would be very frustrating for someone of mixed descent to only choose one box. It is taking away a piece of you. But it was smart to pick other and write who he really was.
I thought the article was very insightful. The author did a really good job expressing his feelings about his own identity in regard to his ethnicity. As a person who's parents were from differing ethnicities and cultures, the author had a tough time relating to just one. When he had to pick one to check in the "little boxes" he wasn't sure what to do. This is obviously tough because identifying yourself with just on race means that your leaving behind the rest of your heritage. In the discussion I though the quote from the psychologist was very accurate, especially the part about people having a natural tendency to group others together. I thought that was a really good point, and was also displayed in the political cartoon we looked at. I think people do naturally put people who look, talk, and act similarly together.
The article raised a great point. The author raised a great point about identities and how generalization leaves big parts of people out. His vastly mixed identity ruins him when he checks the boxes because each box he can't check is a big part of him he leaves behind. He makes an excellent point on how generalization can help and hurt you and it is something to think about.
I thought the story Little Boxes was very interesting. The author did a good job by telling his feelings about his identity of his ethnicity. I bet for him it was really hard to pick his ethnicity because he could only chose what the boxes showed. It must be really hard for him to check off just one of his ethnicity that showed. Him choosing just one identity is hard because he's leaving another huge part of his life out. As a whole this story showed that we have to be proud of who we are and what our ethnicity is and that we shouldn't chose one over the other.
I thought that the article brought up a very good point about how people describe themselves. Some people of mixed race may associate themselves only with the specific part of their heritage that they feel they belong to. For example, somebody that is a mix of caucasian and African may just consider themself African if they feel that they associate more with that title. The entire concept of being tied down to a specific race or culture is uncomfortable for some; at the same time, many take pride in their heritage and are proud of their origin.
I thought this article had a lot of really good points. I somewhat agreed with what the writer was saying. I agree that it is ridiculous how much the world generalizes us and how we need to start seeing each other as individuals. When people are generalized it can cause a lot of problems when some are seen a certain way and judged before getting to be well known. But I disagree with the fact that its seems to be always bad if you are generalized. Sometimes to be put into a general group is good and a lot of people would like to be seen as part of a group. I agree and disagree with the writer on different points. All in all I believe the article brought how we see each other truly to light.
The article was very interesting to read. I could relate to the author in some ways because I have trouble knowing what to check off. I agreed with him when he said that humans don’t deserve to be generalized. I feel like when you generalize someone you are stripping away every part of them that makes them important. Where someone is from does not define who they are. These white boxes give people the power to judge you and make assumptions about you that are really unfair. Personally, I am extremely against judging people because it is impossible to know who someone is from just looking at them. All human beings are unique and everyone is going through something. No one should ever judge anyone.
I found that while I understood the points that wee made in this article I disagree to a certain extent with the articles main point that people should not be restricted or defined as the little box that they check off. I do agree that it is extremely unfair to make assumptions on a person based on how they fill out a box (black, White, Chinese, Jewish) just because some one checks off a box saying that they are white doesn’t mean that they are going to be similar in the slightest to some one else who is also going to check off white in that same box. Also people are far more then just white or black or Christian or Jewish there is an entire personality behind that person that is not being assessed. And even after agreeing with all these points that the article made I still disagree with what I believed to be its over all message, that people can not and should not be separated into groups. I find it important for people to realize that although they are checking off a specific box it is the box that they choose to be affiliated with. They are not being told what they are they are telling who ever it is that is asking who they consider them self’s to be. I also find that it is important to say that this article mentions that they don’t feel that that it is fair to be placed into a group, to that I have to say again that you are choosing the group the same way people choose to be a part of a group of friends coworkers and neighbors every day in life.
Today you read the story "Little Boxes" in class. Please share your thoughts about the article and the class discussion that followed in a reflective post.
24 comments:
I thought that the article was an extremely interesting viewpoint. I could sort of relate back to what the author was trying to get across. I have a hard time trying to identify who am with just a check of a box. what if I don't classify myself as any of the options. I have to choose white every time I fill out applications when I don't really consider myself to be white, but I consider myself to be Syrian; Arab. It's sort of a dilemma for me too.
I almost completely agreed with what the article said. Although my situation isn't completely the same, it feels wrong to classify myself as white even though it is an accurate description of who I am. In my mind, I am English, Italian, Irish, German, Ukrainian, and a whole bunch of other things that are too numerous to list. When I simply check a box for white, I feel like I'm not expressing who I really am and am simply adhering to the general "cookie-cutter" description of about 1.5 billion people in the world. It seems almost unfair the way that colleges, jobs, and things ask potential candidates to describe themselves with such a broad system of distinction when they say that they want the most diverse people possible. The way that people are forced to generalize their heritage and race takes away a lot of the individuality of people and doesn't allow for a true expression of pride in who you are. Sometimes, it almost feels demeaning when I'm forced to check white even though in actuality, I'm Caucasian, of European decent, or simply American. The use of the word, white, degrades a person to the point of describing simply based upon the color of their skin, which of course spurned great issues and reform. But I guess its all about perspective.
The article brings to light a more common reality that no one ever thinks of, because many of us aren't faced with this.Its interesting to think that some people don't know "who they are." My opinion is that race, name and, gender should be used in resumes and things of this nature, but, these details should be on record within the government. my relation to this could be switching from being a cajun after checking other in the box, now I select white because no one in New England knows about my race,because were dying out. so from now on, I'm White.
When I first looked at the board today to see what we would be doing and read the words “Little Boxes,” I had no idea what we would be doing. This article was a very interesting take on race, culture, and identity. I often think about how people judge others based on their stereotypes and the way they appear at first glance. I do think that the psychologist Deborah Tannen has a point in saying that generalizing is a way for people to create patterns and without some sort of grasp on things life would be chaotic, but does that really have to come at the cost of peoples feelings and emotions and categorizing them into a group that they feel they don’t belong? I feel like generalizing people and sorting them into categories without actually knowing them is just cruel, but I think most of us are guilty of it without even knowing. Unless you are completely conscious of your thought process all of the time, people will make generalizations when passing people on the street, make assumptions about classmates, etc... I do think that it is important to be able to feel connected to your heritage and culture and by limiting people’s choices to boxes indicating category, you take away from their person. Throughout my life, I have been able to connect to my Lebanese, Russian, and Polish heritage with bits of English, Irish, and Austrian thrown in, but when people look at me at first glance their going to assume that I’m a stereotypical white American girl. In reality, that is true, but I am much more than just white and American and I connect with many different parts of my heritage and culture.
I thought that this article really showed how something as simple as checking off a box stating your ethnicity can have such a big impact on a person. It really seemed to make the author question who he really was and how he would categorize himself. Throughout the article, he talked about how he didn't think it was right for that to be a requirement when doing things like applying for a job or a college. I agree with this because I think checking those things off causes others, the ones who are looking at the "boxes", to automatically judge you based on your ethnicity. That doesn't actually tell you very much about a person so I do not think it should be a necessary step. If I were to check off a box, I would most likely just check "white"; however, I think that is not the correct word to use because it is just referring to skin color, whereas I come from many different European descents. There are so many different things that someone can quickly learn about a person, but I don't believe that those judgments should be based on one's heritage.
I was absent.
I had a personal connection with the reading that we did in class today due to my complex heritage. Though I have never been mistaken for anything other than a white, non-Spanish speaking person, half of my family speaks Spanish as their first language. With a last name like mine, most people have no idea where my name comes from, and though that name comes from only 1/8 of my gene pool, I identify with that particularly because I carry it around with me everywhere I go. I can understand why the author would be upset about being classified as one race because I have been on the other side of that myself. In general, stereotypes and vague classifications are a detriment to the individual, and if possible, I believe there should another way of organizing groups of people, or grouping them at all.
To a certain degree, I agree with the article. The little boxes that are given to us as choices don't fully encompass who we may be. This reinforces the practice of generalizing human beings. It allows us to continue to view others from appearance, the way they look. Further analysis is avoided. However in certain cases, I can understand the use of the little boxes. It's extremely hard to take open ended answers and categorize them in surveys, patterns are harder to find. The little boxes shouldn't be taken quite so literally in cases such as surveys. The problem arises when Society as a whole sees you in these little boxes. I feel that we over-speculate and under-appreciate the wrong things. I can understand the author's message of being more than just 1 vague box however, the severity he goes to seems a bit over the top.
I enjoyed reading this article. I understand the dilemma which the author faces because my mom is 100% Irish and my dad is 100% Jamaican so checking boxes on college apps, I completely relate and understand. However ,the author made it seem like it was bad to be part of a group and bad to categorize yourself with your race because of these boxes. Stereotypes are little boxes we put people in because of they way they look, their education level or their social status. I agree that not all stereotypes are true but also believe that everyone needs to embrace their race and culture and celebrate who they are. You cant let a little box define you.
I thought “Little Boxes” was a very interesting article, and found I related it to it more than I thought I would. Generally, filling out applications and such is pretty easy, because I usually don’t have much issue checking the box that says “white”, but I still feel like there is a lot more to who I am than “white”. My dad is 100% Irish, and my mom is half Irish half French. I’m very proud of both my Irish and French heritage, and don’t think classifying myself as white shows that. I had the same problem with college applications regarding religion. My dad is Catholic, and my mom is non-denominational Protestant, so my sisters and I were raised as Christians, without any denomination, so when faced with choices like Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, etc. it’s a bit frustrating. I don’t think we should limit any one person to the stereotypes of a race classification, but we also shouldn’t view an entire race in regards to the actions of one person.
This article was a good article to read. The author of the article was basically saying how just checking boxes doesn't define who you are. For me personally checking off the white box however it would be nice to check off all the boxes that pertain to you as an individual would be nice because you are proud of who you are and your heritage and you want people to know.
This article was a good article to read. The author of the article was basically saying how just checking boxes doesn't define who you are. For me personally checking off the white box however it would be nice to check off all the boxes that pertain to you as an individual would be nice because you are proud of who you are and your heritage and you want people to know.
I believe that the person who wrote this article was blowing things way out of proportion. I think that he really exaggerated topics like race and ethnicity. Although I do agree that these things do not define you as a person, they are a way of classifying people. I think that just because he cannot find his identity doesn't mean he should say that classifying people under these categories is a bad thing. I believe that people should be proud of their culture/background and that is not a bad thing. I can relate to this because my parents are Syrian and I can classify myself as that. When I tell others that I am Syrian, I tell them with a sense of pride and it is something I feel good about.
I thought that the article was very true in what the author had to say. I personally think that the boxes are very general and too broad, and this is coming from someone who “fits” into the white check box. I know many kids don’t fit into the “Asian’, “White”, “Latino”, “Black” or “Native American” category and more often than not choose “Other”. Today it is more common to have mixed races and is completely socially acceptable and it is where we are as a society now. And having someone generalize themselves in a way they might just be the closest thing, is not only ridiculous but also incorrect from a personal and surveyor standpoint. So in order for any survey or application to think there are only five or so options to pick from is out of touch with where we are as a society today.
Zinah Alnaal said...
Before reading this article, I never knew how much small generalizations could mean so much. I enjoyed Little Boxes and found it really interesting because I can somewhat relate to this situation. We, as individuals, as humans with shared foundation of biological and psychological behaviors, need to be challenged by other peoples opinions in order to grow. Now I'm not saying judging others is the way to go, but to overcome several things in our lives we need others opinions to learn. If we are prisoners of a little box of identity, we are lost to independence and love for what or who we are. Our identity is constructed by the stories we learn, tell and who we are as people, not the boxes we check. Each time we mark a box, our identity is promptly quantified in this world of labels. Throughout life we are encouraged to reach our goals and work resolutely towards achieving them, to be efficient and to focus on a target, but not by worrying about if people will accept you for the boxes you truly are.
I was absent on this day.
I thought that the little box story was very interesting. It really made you think about your background and how it defines you. I thought that it would be very frustrating for someone of mixed descent to only choose one box. It is taking away a piece of you. But it was smart to pick other and write who he really was.
I thought the article was very insightful. The author did a really good job expressing his feelings about his own identity in regard to his ethnicity. As a person who's parents were from differing ethnicities and cultures, the author had a tough time relating to just one. When he had to pick one to check in the "little boxes" he wasn't sure what to do. This is obviously tough because identifying yourself with just on race means that your leaving behind the rest of your heritage. In the discussion I though the quote from the psychologist was very accurate, especially the part about people having a natural tendency to group others together. I thought that was a really good point, and was also displayed in the political cartoon we looked at. I think people do naturally put people who look, talk, and act similarly together.
The article raised a great point. The author raised a great point about identities and how generalization leaves big parts of people out. His vastly mixed identity ruins him when he checks the boxes because each box he can't check is a big part of him he leaves behind. He makes an excellent point on how generalization can help and hurt you and it is something to think about.
I thought the story Little Boxes was very interesting. The author did a good job by telling his feelings about his identity of his ethnicity. I bet for him it was really hard to pick his ethnicity because he could only chose what the boxes showed. It must be really hard for him to check off just one of his ethnicity that showed. Him choosing just one identity is hard because he's leaving another huge part of his life out. As a whole this story showed that we have to be proud of who we are and what our ethnicity is and that we shouldn't chose one over the other.
I thought that the article brought up a very good point about how people describe themselves. Some people of mixed race may associate themselves only with the specific part of their heritage that they feel they belong to. For example, somebody that is a mix of caucasian and African may just consider themself African if they feel that they associate more with that title. The entire concept of being tied down to a specific race or culture is uncomfortable for some; at the same time, many take pride in their heritage and are proud of their origin.
I thought this article had a lot of really good points. I somewhat agreed with what the writer was saying. I agree that it is ridiculous how much the world generalizes us and how we need to start seeing each other as individuals. When people are generalized it can cause a lot of problems when some are seen a certain way and judged before getting to be well known. But I disagree with the fact that its seems to be always bad if you are generalized. Sometimes to be put into a general group is good and a lot of people would like to be seen as part of a group. I agree and disagree with the writer on different points. All in all I believe the article brought how we see each other truly to light.
The article was very interesting to read. I could relate to the author in some ways because I have trouble knowing what to check off. I agreed with him when he said that humans don’t deserve to be generalized. I feel like when you generalize someone you are stripping away every part of them that makes them important. Where someone is from does not define who they are. These white boxes give people the power to judge you and make assumptions about you that are really unfair. Personally, I am extremely against judging people because it is impossible to know who someone is from just looking at them. All human beings are unique and everyone is going through something. No one should ever judge anyone.
Connor Healy
Per:4
I found that while I understood the points that wee made in this article I disagree to a certain extent with the articles main point that people should not be restricted or defined as the little box that they check off. I do agree that it is extremely unfair to make assumptions on a person based on how they fill out a box (black, White, Chinese, Jewish) just because some one checks off a box saying that they are white doesn’t mean that they are going to be similar in the slightest to some one else who is also going to check off white in that same box. Also people are far more then just white or black or Christian or Jewish there is an entire personality behind that person that is not being assessed. And even after agreeing with all these points that the article made I still disagree with what I believed to be its over all message, that people can not and should not be separated into groups. I find it important for people to realize that although they are checking off a specific box it is the box that they choose to be affiliated with. They are not being told what they are they are telling who ever it is that is asking who they consider them self’s to be. I also find that it is important to say that this article mentions that they don’t feel that that it is fair to be placed into a group, to that I have to say again that you are choosing the group the same way people choose to be a part of a group of friends coworkers and neighbors every day in life.
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