What is your race?!

Our new topic that we started in class was race, race is really confusing to define. race is a group of persons related by common descent or heredity. The topic of race is really confusing and to me seems very hurtful to some people. Here in America it seems that we all identify people as white, black, asian, european. However, in those countries race is much more identified and complicated it goes farther than being white, black, asian or european. In Asia they identify people as Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean, Japanese, Malaysian, Thai etc. The category splits up into so many more categories than just being described and labeled as "Asian."
I am Asian but technically I am more than just being labeled as "Asian," I am Chinese, Taiwanese, Shanghainese and I am also Szechuan. I am Chinese because I am from Hong Kong, I am Taiwanese because I am from Taiwan, I am Shanghainese because I am from Shanghai, and I am also Szechuan because I am also from the city of Szechuan. Sometimes it is very annoying that I am just labeled as being Asian I am much more than that, and sometimes it is also annoying when people say "You ALL look alike, what's the difference?" or "Your all fom the same place, it doesn't matter." The truth is we all don't look alike, we all don't speak the same dialects or languages so how does that make ALL ASIAN people look alike. I speak four different dialects out of like the some odd 150 to about 200 other different dialects and languages from Asia. We are not all alike and race is more than just being labeled as Asian, White, Black, or European etc. It is who you are.

Monopoly?!

It was fun to take a relaxing day in class, we got to play monopoly. However, Sal put a twist into the game. Each piece that a player had represented how much money the player would make and start off with. For me I had the second highest income rating, so for me life was easier and the other players below me because they had to manage their money; however, they also had to take risks to buy things to so whenever a player landed on their place they would earn money. Also, I was in charge of keeping track of the money which was very confusing for me because I am not very good at math, I had to keep subracting and adding all over the place and then I had to read al the cards to make sure everyone had the right amount of income during the game and after.
I realize now once you earn a certain amount in yoiur life it's hard to go up in social class unless you are already rich or it comes from your family. If you start at the bottom it's hard to change your momentum and change your lifestyle and try to better yourself because you work a minimum wage job and it's very hard to make a living if you don't have a degree or didn't go to college.

Change of Faith

In the movie we watched about social classes, there was one family that was going through really hard times. Tammy the mother, had two sons. One of her sons was so embarassed of the way we live and the way his mom dressed that he never invited his friends over to this house to hang out. He considered himself as more popular and preppy and he tried to dress nicer and more clean than the way he lived. He was also trying to change the way his brother dressed and acted too, his brother wanted to grow up like him to be popular and preppy. I think that his mom was offended by the way he acted and the way he sort of treated her. She is trying to make a better life for herself, but as we saw in the video it was very hard for her to change the way she lived. I think Tammy is proud that her son is trying to get out of the lifestyle they are living now and that she is also happy that her oldest son is trying to go to college.