I believe that many people would judge others by stereotypes at the first time they meet. Our minds are influenced considerably by popular cultures such as TVs, films, literatures, as long as our own opinions. For example, people who like Japanese animation may have good impressions with Japanese culture, but people who suffered from World War II may hate Japanese culture based on their own anger.

People can belong to different communities based on their different characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, race or preferences. I did some researches about the community last semester. I believe that a community is exclusive. The same identity people own in a community makes it exclusive. Many external characteristics would change, but one’s ethnicity and race will not. Therefore communities of ethnic or race groups would be more persistent and stronger than others. For me, I am an Asian female in appearance, and I am a Chinese in race. People will judge me by their opinions of Asian females when they first see me. And they will judge me by their opinions of Chinese after knowing that. I don’t think it is inadequate because we all do that now and then.

The public representation of a community, which is often created by the public media, can affect our opinions of the community effectively. Based on my research, Asians have been often depicted as negative on screens in the United States. But Asians and Asian Americans have never given up striving for their reputations. Contributions have been made by many Asian American artists and veterans. I believed that people in the United States would have different first judgment to me if I came here several decades earlier (although I was not born at that time).

Nowadays, internet is easily accessible and people rely on it. We can know other communities more thanks to the internet. The information exchanges fast, which has reduced some stereotypes. However, the one-side stories and opinions also spread quickly, causing more misunderstandings sometimes. I think we all need to learn that stereotypes would often lead to wrong judgment, and we should try our best to see others in a just way. 

The article On Being Visible and Passing through Walls: Towards a Pedagogy of Seeing and Being Seen shows me the multiracial problems in our society. When it comes to the marriage story, I have to admit that we still need to check boxes in paperworks to show our races. I am an Asian although my ancestors may come from different places (most Chinese people are actually hybrids of Chinese, Mongolians and people from western Asia). I know that in the United States, actually many people are not monoracial, and I have never considered the multiracial people’s identity problem before. This article gave me a chance to think about it. Here are the notes I made while reading.

“One’s social reality is constructed by the formulation and exchange of stories, which have historically been a kind of medicine that heals the wound caused by racial oppression.”

“For thousands of years groups of humans have enslaved other groups based on visible and cultural differences… Wealthy Arabs enslaved other Arabs and people of color… Today reports of various forms of slavery still persist in Asia, Africa and South America… they mirror social constructs and the needs of the people who work for and against racism.”

“Fifty years ago… ‘one drop’ classification… if a person had even the smallest trace of nonwhite ancestry she or he was considered nonwhite regardless of how their facial features or cultural practices might otherwise qualify them as white.”

“Education is one area where ‘the practice of freedom’ to transform one’s situation and one’s world can challenge racial constructs formally and informally… important for marginalized individuals who are rendered biracial or multiracial… education systems need to provide opportunities for students to be border crossers so they might go between and among social contexts defined by race and ethnicity and rely on their own comfort in self identification.”

“… ethnic identity defines a segment of larger society whose members have a common origin, share segments of a common culture and participate in shared activities in which the common origin and culture are significant ingredients. Ethnic identity development focuses on what people learn about themselves from shared religion, languages and geographies, but failed to capture the complexities of multiracialism.”

“… in 1991, over one third of the responders identified themselves as a different ethnicity. Multiracial students are often likely to embrace one culture and reject the other.”

“… bi and multiracial people can and often do assume different identities depending on the social and cultural context.”

“The exchange of stories from tellers to listeners can help overcome ethnocentrism and dysconscious conviction of viewing the world in only one way. As the story is consumed, the immediate reactor is heartfelt and then as it proceeds to one’s intellect, self-reflexive engagement occurs, which can lead to rethinking relations of power… there are several power components to consider in relation to external and internal positioning: power-over, power-with and power-within.”

“A person’s existence and participation within these groups is often the basis for positions of power and acts of discrimination.”

“The more one learns about the narratives of various members of a particular group and its history, heritage, traditions and cultural interactions, the more one comes to understand its richness and complexity.”

The first artwork I really appreciate is the School’s Out, painted by Allan Rohan Crite during the Early Civil Rights Movement. The painting was painted in strong colors. Black school girls are talking or playing in the street, led by their teachers. Obviously this is a segregated school only for black girls. Girls and teachers are well-dressed. Buildings look very nice, which shows this is a rich community. Although schools were divided by race and gender in that time, people in this painting lived a good life because they were accepting a good education. I don’t live in an era that people with different genders and races are required to go to different schools. It is a totally unfamiliar situation for me and I can’t even imagine. The artist tells us that African Americans were dignified and productive despite segregation through this painting. I think it is very positive. It touched me.

The second artwork shows a similar topic. It is A Beauty Pageant, photographed by Henry Clay Anderson during the Modern Civil Rights Movement. The artist captured a moment in an African American beauty contest in segregated Mississippi. Although the African American community was still segregated and African Americans didn’t have equal opportunities as white people in that time, they were still happy and positive. The Artist captured girls’ happy faces and their gorgeous smile. These people’s positive attitude infected me.

The last artwork I am impressed is The Door (Admissions Office), painted by David Hammons. This is a very strong work. The artist coated his body with pigments and printed it onto a glass board. This artwork shows African Americans were not allowed going to public schools and they were struggling against the discrimination. The artist used a very impressive way to depict African Americans’ attitude. It reminds people the discrimination and injustice which African American faced once. 

Before our class discussion about Appalachians, I literally didn’t know anything about Appalachians. I didn’t hear or read anything about this area and culture until yesterday. I have got some of my own thoughts about Appalachians after the discussion.

First, I think Appalachians have combined their own traditions and modern culture. In the two documentary videos, I found that they lived in a similar way with most people in the world. They use electric toothbrushes; school bus picked up kids for school. But in the other hand, they live in the mountain area and have their own life style, which is very cool. They are wild and always chasing freedom to some extents. Like the movie trailer and clip we watched in the class, their life styles are so different with people who live in big cities like New York or Los Angeles.

Second, I really appreciate their artworks. Pictures of their art we saw in the class were very impressive. They have their own basket style, instruments and other crafts. They used those crafts not only as tools but also art. Every culture has its own art and style. Appalachian art is a reflection of Appalachians’ life.

Dr. Morris asked us was it important for us to know who were the producers when we bought artworks in a museum store. I think in most cases I wouldn’t concern who is the producer. However, if the style is strong, I will be interested in its background. I am not very into mountain style like Appalachian even now, but I do believe that people should know what is the Appalachian art and its characteristics. It would be the our basic respect to Appalachians.

The Ways to Look at Representation talks about how visual culture can affect people’s perspectives. As it says, we all have the ability to empower or disenfranchise others (or a specific group) and vice versa. Our action and inaction matter.

Popular cultures like films and TVs can considerably affect people. In one hand, it can promote revolutions of ideology; in the other hand, it also spreads stereotypes. Like the author of Hillbillyland indicates, Americans have too many stereotypes of people who live in the mountains, which are called “hillbilly”. People think “hillbillies” are stupid, lazy, and always drinking alcohol. This kind of discriminational image appears on every aspects of dominant American culture like TV shows, newspapers, literatures and comics. Those stereotypes are accepted broadly by people. Sometimes we can’t even notice we are hurting others’ feelings when we talk to them with our stereotypes since we believe deeply that they are true. The video, American Hollow shows us some parts of “Hillbilly” life. They live in a very natural but not convenient way. They need government funding to make their livings. However, they are very cool and positive.

We don’t need to be shame just because people judge us by their stereotypes. Like what the movie Matewan shows us, miners overcame difficulties and stood together finally in West Virginia. No one will protect us until we stand together and protect ourselves - we don’t need to change people, but we need to protect ourselves.  

In her article The Complexity of Identity : “ Who am I?”, Tatum raises some really interesting points. We are all confused about “Who am I”. People identify themselves by both others’ opinions and their own views. When someone is not dominant in some aspects such as race, gender, sexuality, their inside images and others’ reflection become inconsistent. This kind of dissonance confuses us.

Tatum indicates that she often ask students to complete the sentence “I am _.” in her class, and she found that students of color would usually mention their ethnicity, but white student would not. Homosexual students may mention that they are homos, but most heterosexual students would not mention their sexuality. This is a very interesting observation. As a Chinese student studying in the United States, I will come up with the thought “I am Chinese” if someone ask me such question. However, I didn’t have such thought when I was in China. In China, I belong to the dominant group, but here, I am the minority. Tatum mentioned that it would be difficult for dominants to imagine how minorities feel and what they have experienced because of inequality.

Minorities often experience inequality, but dominants are not happy to admit the existence of inequality. This is very common. Dominants don’t want to admit that minorities are often discriminated. Minorities may pay more efforts than dominants, but gain much less than them. It is easy for minorities to get in negative moods.

Tatum points out that most of us are both dominant and subordinate. Sometimes we just need to understand others, because no one can be a dominant in all aspects of life.

I really appreciate what Frank Buffalo Hyde has done. Hyde is a Native American who born without part of his arm and leg. He can be viewed as a subordinate in aspects of race and physical ability. However, he uses his own art to promote people’s understanding of Native American culture. People have stereotypes to Native American culture. We often have some images of how Native American art should be in our head, but art should not be limited. Like Hyde indicates, contemporary Native American art should be included in the international dialogue, but not just be regarded as cultural antiquity. Their culture is developing. Artists like him have done a lot for promoting cultural understanding.

Breaking stereotypes is an issue that we should always pay attention. We should try to break our stereotypes to others, as well as breaking others stereotypes to us by showing all of our possibilities to the public. 

As an Arts Management major student, I am full of passion for contemporary art. I paint sketch, watercolor and Chinese brush painting. I am willing to be a gallery or musuem curator in the future.