Why I Hate Abercrombie & Fitch

In Dwight McBride’s, Why I hate Abercrombie & Fitch, his thesis is that purchasing Abercrombie & Fitch brands is saying that you are part of a higher and better life style because A&F portrays a upper class white male.
The chapter begins with a personal story of McBride asking “What is Abercrombie & Fitch?” He then realized that it is everywhere he travels to. He always sees it. Then he goes into about the history of the company from the start in 1892 with David T. Abercrombie to when he partners up with Ezra Fitch in 1904 creating the new shop Abercrombie & Fitch. In 1992, Michael Jefferies took over Abercrombie &Fitch creating the image for people to look up to and want to be. The Look Book is a key factor to this argument. It talks about being part of the A&F look saying it is the most important part. The store has their employees dress up in all A&F clothing to support the look so customers know what they should look like. This book also contains pictures. The book also talks about what jewelry is acceptable. One of the items is no gold chains for men. “Who has been over identified or even stereotyped with these in the popular imagination more than black men?” (71). Also the book held pictures of white men and women but mostly men. Abercrombie also discriminates against people when they are hiring. “A&F discriminates people of color, including Latinos, Asian Americans, and African Americans, in the hiring, job assignment, compensation, termination and other terms and conditions of employment” (77). There are many lawsuits out against A&F for that. Managers are also very difficult on their employees and will fire people of color saying they are “Abercrombied out”. There is also a grading scale of their employees at A&F. If employees were not an “A” they were asked to leave and would be fired.
Why do so many people still go to Abercrombie to purchase their clothing if they know about the racism and class problems they create? I think people still go to Abercrombie because they want to follow a big crowd. Also many people want to be part of the “upper class white man” group thinking it is the best way to be. They do not want to be different and be “lower class” people. Some people of the lower class purchase Abercrombie so they look like they are part of the “upper class” to either prove they can be this way or just want to make everyone else think they are.
I think this article is very interesting. I learned a lot about Abercrombie & Fitch such as the grading scale of their employees based on the way they look. I also did not know they were so racist when hiring people and would turn people down of race just because of their color. I used to buy my clothes from Abercrombie & Fitch when I was in middle school and my freshman year in high school. I finally got away from it once I realized you do not have to wear the most expensive clothing to fit in with people. It just a piece of clothing that covers the same things as a cheaper piece of clothing.

Chapter 12 El Norte: The Borderland of Chicano America

In Ronald Takaki's chapter 12, his thesis is that each group had their own positive saying towards the United States while they were coming over. The Jewish, America was the Promise Land. To the Mexicans it is "El Norte, A land across the river, this country became the stuff of boundless dreams for Mexican migrants. The movement was by choice because they believed that their lives would become better with better opportunities in the United States. They wanted better jobs and a better life and to stray away from the Mexican revolution.
"El Norte, The Borderland of Chicano America" is about how the Mexicans began to migrate into the United States. It started with Mexican Revolutions that led to economic depressions and terrible living conditions. The Chicanos wanted a new life and living style so they built a rail road that led from Mexico to the state of Texas of the United States. Most were looking for better jobs to supports their family others were just trying to escape the horror of the revolutions and just trying to stay alive. The Mexicans were discriminated against with working wages along with working similar jobs they did in Mexico.
There were many different mechanisms of social construction. One of them is education. They were taught labor and manual training. They were told that "employees must be pliant, obedient,, courteous, an willing to help enterprise"(328.) Race was also a factor because the American Federation of Labor saw Mexicans as cheap labor and would never fully become American (331).
I thought this chapter was interesting. It taught me a lot of things I was unaware of and did not know. The way they migrated is interesting from he difference they have ti migrate today.

Comic Book

I chose a Captain America comic book. It is a picture of Captain America and his sidekick fighting a battle on a beach against the Japanese. They are riding on a bull dozer running over many Japanese with it. Captain America is in motion to throw a bomb on them while his sidekick is shooting them with a gun. Planes are coming in and shooting with air attacks.
I think it is talking about World War II after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The Americans are retaliating and sending in troops to kill the Japanese. They did it in such a powerful manor which is symbolizing the bull dozer. They jus pushed the Japanese around in their own country. With all the Japanese dieing/dead this symbolizes that the Americans won.
This is related to chapter 10 Takaki Pacific Crossing. This chapter talks about how the Japanese were treated unfairly. They moved to America for the better money pay and the work. With this bad terms came between white and Japanese races. They felt as those the Japanese were taking all the jobs and then were not treated with the same rights as the white race was treated with. After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor that just crossed the line and then the Americans nuked them twice.
These comics did not really affect me at all. I do not know a whole lot about the different wars that happened in the past. A few of the comics were a little extreme with the racism they put in it.

How Jews Became White Folks

In How Jews Became White Folks by Karen Brodkin thesis is “Suddenly the same folks who had promoted nativism and xenophobia were eager to believe that the Euro-orgin people whom they had deported reviled as members of inferior races, and prevented from immigrating only a few years were now model middle-class white suburban citizens.”
In the 1920’s scientific racism said that real Americans were white and that real whites came from northwest Europe. In 1882 racism by white people did not count Chinese in being white. This came to the immigration door being closed on Europeans and Chinese. Jews were the first of the Euro-immigrants to enter schooling and have a significant constant number attending colleges. With this, the Jews were discriminated against being called harsh names. The Seven Sisters schools were being said to be flagrant discriminating. Speech test were becoming difficult to stop Jews from becoming teachers because they did not want them to be teaching Catholics. After World War II, views on whites were changing and it made it easier for Euro-ethnics to become middle class. Economics also played a large role in where you were placed in class.
How come Jews were discriminated against even thought they are white? I think they were discriminated against because they did not follow the Catholic way. So instead of saying it was because of their choices in what they believe in for their god they just said they were not white. This put the Jews at a lower class instead of being where all the other white people were.
I think this article was confusing. I also believe that the Jews were mistreated because of their views instead of what they looked like. As people grew they became more understanding that there are more views on Gods than just their own and began to accept that.

Chapter 9 Zinn Slavery without Submission and Emancipation without Freedom

In Howard Zinn’s chapter 9 Slavery Without Submission, Emancipation Without Freedom, his thesis is that black people still had slavery even though they were free and they were set free but had restrictions on what they could do.
African Americans had a tough time living in the 1800’s. They had to go though more brutal times than most people could say they have today. As the tobacco plantations grew they turned into cotton lands where more slaves were needed. As they slaves were being illegally imported, they started to revolt against the slave owners. One of the largest occurred in New Orleans. In the 1850’s slaves started to run away to Canada and Mexico. They used the Underground Railroad. Harriet Tubman, one of the most famous slaves for making numerous trips back and fourth with having the chance to being caught. She freed 300 slaves knowing she could go back to being slave for the risk of freeing other slaves. In1860, Lincoln was elected president. In 1861 he declared that all slaves to be free. Zinn says “When the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in January 1863, it declared slaves free in those areas still fighting against the Union and said nothing about slaves behind Union lines.” This means people in the Union still could have slaves because they were not fighting. As the blacks joined the Union army, whites became angry for having to sacrifice different things. They had to join the army because they were drafted because the rich paid their way out of being drafted. With this, the whites started to go town to town killing black people. One white person was heard saying, “If we are got to be killed up for the N word, then we kill everyone in this town.” This is saying they are unwilling to fight for black people and would rather kill the side they are on rather than fight for them. Since the states still fighting did not get rid of their slaves, the war produced slaves in select states to rebel and destroy the plantations they were on. As blacks were starting to be respected and get into the government, whites began to rebel on blacks. The Ku Kulx Klan was formed. A white supremacist group who hated blacks and went around killing them and raping them. As blacks started to get jobs they were only paid 55 cents. In the south the plantations owners basically tricked the black workers by not paying them but with “orders” that the black worker could only use where the planter owned.
Why were so many people angry about what Abraham Lincoln did freeing the slaves? I think Abraham Lincoln did the right thing. African Americans did not deserve to be treated unfairly being a citizen. They deserved the same rights as whites. Just because they have a different color of skin they were treated unfairly and Abraham Lincoln saw that they are the same even thought the look different from him.
I think African Americans had a terrible like in the 1800’s and early 1900’s. Today there are still racism problems where blacks are being treated unfairly. Racism needs to stop and everyone needs to be treated fairly especially in the court system. People should follow the laws and respect everyone for who they are not by what they look like.

What It All Has to Do with Us

Allan Johnson’s thesis in his chapter, “What It All Has to Do with Us” is “Contrary to the individualistic model, social life happens only as people participate in social systems—families, schools, workplaces, religious organizations, and so on” (78). His main point is that individuals make social systems and as people participate in social systems they create individuals and how they act.
Everywhere we go we are shown an image about something. It comes from media, families, and friends and through examples set by parents, peers, coaches, teachers, and public figures (78). We get mindsets of how things are supposed to be and who the all the power belongs to. An example of this is Johnson says, “The message came through loud and clear that straight white men are the most important people on the planet because they’re the ones who supposedly do the most important things” (79). This is told everywhere because this system is creating this image for people. Individualism creates two different groups of people, good and bad. Johnson says that you are good if you don’t have any bad feelings toward racism and you are willing to help the bad people. Bad people are the ones who create problems and see racism and do not want to help the world. Being on the privilege side means you get many benefits. You do not have to worry about a lot of things such as race. Being on the bad side means you are more likely to perform bad actions. The neo-Nazi is an example of this where they go around abusing or killing people of color or gays or lesbians (85). They have joined a system that has similarities to their personality and then they are welcomed by others who share the same beliefs.
Why do people teach images to create such hostile systems? With all these bad groups that are being formed, people should rethink of what they are teaching to children so this world will one day be without anger. Media should not be able to portray certain groups as higher power. For example there should be even amounts of different races on television shows.
I agreed with most of the content in this chapter. Individualism does put people into two different groups. I think there should only be one but that would make the world way to easy. Images are shown to people as they grow up and depending on where you live and what your closer ones believe in is how you are going to see the world and belong to the system you belong to.

Getting Off the Hook: Denial and Resistance

In Allan Johnson’s chapter 8 “Getting Off the Hook: Denial and Resistance,” his thesis is “No one likes to see themselves as connected to someone else’s misery, no matter how remote the link. Usually their first response is to find a way to get themselves off the hook, and , as I’ll show below, there are all kinds of ways to do that” (108). His main point is that everyone is apart of the problem whether they want to be or not.
According to Johnson one of the easiest ways of getting off the hook is denying everything. An example he uses is, “Racism and sexism used to be problems, but they aren’t anymore.” This is saying that racism and sexism has disappeared in the current society and everyone knows that it hasn’t. Denial also promotes describing an experience for another person. An example used is a child falls down and is crying. The adult says it does not hurt that bad, which in fact the adult has no idea how bad it hurts (109). Another way of getting off the hook is to blame someone else. One example is “Whites can say things such as, “If blacks were smarter or worked harder or got an education, they’d be okay” and expect most other whites to go along” (110). This is saying that whites are blaming blacks for not getting better jobs. The whites do not want to take blame for making it harder for blacks to get jobs or saying racism is the reason why blacks are not getting better opportunities. Calling the problem something else is one more way to get off the hook. “Avoiding the trouble by renaming it is most prevalent in matters of gender inequality” (112). An additional way it saying it is better off this way. Johnson uses the example of whites saying black people would prefer to live among other black families (112). “Research has proven though that blacks would much rather prefer to live integrated neighborhoods” (112). This is saying just because whites would rather have blacks live among other blacks does not mean the blacks want to do that. The whites are trying to put it nicely that they do not want blacks to live around them or in their neighborhood. One more way is saying you are sick and tired of hearing about something. “When you are annoyed by something, it can seem as thought it is everywhere as if there is no escaping it” (121). This happens because you are always thinking about it. So every little instance of the thing that is annoying you is reminded by everything.
Why doesn’t anyone ever want to take responsibility for what they say or what they feel? I feel no one wants to take blame because they are scared the way society is going to feel about them. They want to please everyone and not stick up for what they believe in. Also people want to stay out of trouble by some of the comments they make with having harassment or offending someone because of their race.
I completely agreed with everything in this chapter. People do not want to take claim for most of the comments they make and are willing to get out of it however they can.