Week 10 Reading Response

This week we finished up Robert Self's "American Babylon" and also read a short piece by Bob Wing in the reader, "Educate to Liberate!: Multiculturism and the Struggle for Ethnic Studies."

In Wing's essay, he traces the history of the institutionalization of Ethnic Studies academic programs in universities and colleges across the U.S. As of 1999, he says "Ethnic Studies today probably occupies a more prominent place in U.S. academic and intellectual life than at any time in history." He then writes about the initial goals of Ethnic Studies and how they have been watered down for corporate sponsorship in the late 1990s, at the time of Wing's essay.

I found the initial goals of Ethnic Studies programs valid. A few that Wing lists include transforming the racist educational system, demanding relevant education for racial struggles, and support for community organizing. This curriculum seems to support educating students in past racial struggles, the continued work towards a unified student body, and valuable lessons in affecting real change through political and community organization. Perhaps I have a skewed view due to my place in the 21st century and my liberal political leanings, but how could these goals be considered "radical"?

An issue that Wing discussed that was new to me was the shift to "multiculturism." He argues that this was an umbrella term used to "obscure racism and promote tokenism." This idea of tame and safe "multiculturism" was an easy sell to corporations looking to underwrite university programs. This is problematic because academics can take a backseat to the agenda of the corporation providing the funding. It is also difficult because it ignores the original aim of Ethnic Studies which is to change the structure of the university system. Due to the corporate take-over of the Harvard program by the Ford Foundation, "blacks had to succeed in the context of white institutions and Euro-American standards" instead of creating their own standards.

Despite the problems mentioned by Wing, I think that an Ethnic Studies program should be integral to universities and colleges across the U.S. As we have previously discussed in class, many students have not been exposed to a different form of U.S. History besides the Euro-slanted version regarding the formation of the United States as a country and political entity. Little regard is given to the people that inhabited the United States before the arrival of the pilgrims or how the dominant power structure left out those not belonging to the Euro ancestry.

This week we also finished up Robert Self's "American Babylon," reading chapters 6 and 8.

Chapter 6 outlines the formation and evolution of the Black Panther party in relation to their birthplace of Oakland. I had a very cursory education regarding the Black Panther party and tended to lump them together with other revolutionary groups of the counter-culture movement of the late 1960s. During the mid-1960s, the two ideas of "black power" and civil rights were seen as separate ideologies. The Black Panthers wanted to meld these two ideas into one group that would seek power for all the people. Instead of proclaiming separatist ideals, the party would seek alliances with anticolonial whites and Chicanos.

I was surprised at the expanse of the Panthers' community outreach efforts. These included the idea of "self-determination" within subjugated communities and the formation of social programs to help others. These programs were described as "Survival Programs" since humans have essential needs that need to be addressed before they can engage in political action. The Panthers set up free breakfast for poor school children, free groceries for families, and child care. The care for the social welfare of their community, however, has historically been overshadowed by the call to vigilante street violence in the wake of constant police threats and brutality.

Chapter 8 brings us into the late 1970s and the evolution of the Black Panther party into a viable political party, complete with candidates for local office and enviable grassroots organization.

I found Elaine Brown to be a particular inspiring figure. She became chairperson of the Black Panther party in 1974 and addressed the gender divisions within her party. For her two campaigns for City Council (she would, unfortunately, lose), she appointed women in strategic positions of her campaigns. Although she never became a part of Oakland's political system, she continued to push for the BP agenda in her speeches and calls to action.

The second half of Chapter 8 details the political climate that gave way to the implementation of Proposition 13 in 1978. Coming from a family based in the suburbs, I understand the hardship that rising property taxes have on a family, but I find this proposition incredibly short-sighted. A short term solution to middle class families and homeowners once again reeks havoc on those disenfranchised. We are now fully seeing the devastating effects that Prop 13 is having on the public school system. As a student interested in pursuing post-grad education, I am now forced to look for an education outside of California due to rising tuition and uncertainty in the university and college system. The UC system was once thought to be one of the premier educational systems in the United States and the Cal State system was one of the most affordable for struggling students. I'm frustrated that something that was enacted before I was born is now able to shape where I am able to receive my education. Students in the current situation are now looking at higher costs and lower returns in their education. What kind of future is this going to bring for future generations?

Week 8 Reading Response

We started Robert Self's book "American Babylon: Race and the Struggle for Postwar Oakland" to bring the history of race, particularly from post-WWII to the mid-1970s, local to the San Francisco Bay Area. This week, we read chapters 1 and 4.

Chapter 1 titled "Industrial Garden," discusses city planning by the Metropolitan Oakland Area Program or MOAP. This chapter also touches on the segregation of housing and jobs after the war. The MOAP began to push what will later been seen as the 1950s suburban "American Dream": home ownership. Oakland aspired to become the "industrial garden" after the war. A combination of city, suburban, and country life could co-exist in the city of Oakland. Of course, the realization of the dream was limited to those would could qualify for loans at the bank and secure a decent job with benefits. In short, the dream was left only a dream for the new migration of black residents. Many trade unions still acknowledged the "color line" in extending membership benefits to black workers. Some trade unions set up separate unions for their black workers but extended little power within their membership.

I have to admit that the talk of unions was a bit confusing for me. I have a small frame of reference for how unions work since I have never belonged to one and neither of my parents currently belong to one (my mother was once a member of the grocery store union when she worked in a supermarket deli during my childhood). Self describes how incredibly important the unions were at the beginning of the 1950s and how they began to shape local and national politics. There appeared to be a lot of struggle between unions and employers at the end of the 1940s, with good reason. Self outlines many of the benefits that unions were fighting for on behalf of the workers: 8-hour work days, higher wages, and better working conditions. Since unions looked out for the interests of the workers, of course black workers also wanted to belong to them. But they found themselves shut out for a variety of reasons. Black workers often found work in menial or service labor and these industries rarely had unions. So, black workers are finding themselves disenfranchised in a variety of ways: they are unable to work in higher-paying union jobs in the transportation industry because of discrimination, they are then forced to find low-paying service or manual labor jobs, and they are shut out of unions and negotiations because they don't work in jobs that are supported by the union. Yikes. And how does this not affect African-Americans now?

This chapter also shed light on the development of West Oakland as a community for African-Americans. The dream for most workers in Oakland was to own a home and move to the more "desirable" neighborhoods in North Oakland, Berkeley or Albany. Migrating African-Americans, unable to afford homes, lived in the only apartment or tenement buildings available, in West Oakland. Other parts of Oakland lacked apartment or multi-family housing, so the only logical place for struggling migrants to live was in the affordable West Oakland district. Self explores the importance of West Oakland to the black community in more depth in Chapter 4.

Chapter 4 titled "Redistribution" details the redeveloping of West Oakland. From 1955-60, land values in downtown's retail area decreased by 50%. The disrepair and sagging economy of downtown was attributed to "blight." I can't help but cringe when I hear the words "blight" or "urban renewal" or "redevelopment." I think I've been conditioned by all the tell-tale signs of gentrification. As a witness to gentrification both in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Los Angeles area, I know that "urban renewal" means kicking all the people of color out and making way for boutiques and condos. It happened in Silver Lake, Echo Park, the San Francisco Mission District, and the Oakland Temescal district. I've been interested in the trajectory of gentrification but lacked specific historical examples. West Oakland strikes me as a bit different than these other examples because it was never completely restored due to the development of the BART and freeway system. Due to the development of these transportation models, West Oakland was split into fractions and according to Self, the thriving Seventh Street area of black-owned businesses was razed.

This was my favorite quote about blight on page 139:
"Most local officials and business leaders understood decline as a physical and economic problem, what they termed 'blight,' rather than as a symptom of social inequality. In this view, blight did not originate in the racial segregation of housing and labor markets or in the unequal distribution of political and economic power, but in the deterioration of aging housing stock, overcrowding, and declining property values."

This quote stated exactly the issues that most city officials and business owners failed to grasp. Because this structure of inequality was set in place, the center of black community and life declined due to the lack of money coming in from the residents. Since black home owners couldn't secure loans for home repair, their homes began to age. Since black residents struggled in menial jobs, they failed to spend money in downtown businesses. But the nail in the coffin for West Oakland was definitely the literal dividing of the community by the building of 3 different freeway interchanges. West Oakland became 3 separate neighborhoods and the residents were cut off from downtown. And it totally continues today. I can even tell the difference in Oakland neighborhoods from the window of the (I'm not trying to be ironic) BART train. Once the train exits the bay tunnel and arrives above-ground in West Oakland, I can see homes in disrepair and a lack of a cohesive downtown. This infrastructure still exists! That's the crazy thing about all the decisions made 50 years ago, the divides set up back then still affect people's lives today. That's one reason why I get so frustrated with politics, there seems to be a lack of foresight about how decisions made today will affect the next generation. The search for the "quick fix" has a tendency to affect lives in the future.