1. In the case of Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas I personally feel like Ms. Hill should have expressed her concerns and the harassment earlier than she did. Although I feel like she waited too long to express these comments, I also feel that these types of situations deserve justice. The biggest issue I have with this case is that she followed him into his next job after he had harassed her in this manner. This makes me wonder if she did not like the attention that he was giving her. While saying this I can also see this situation through an economical perspective, because you have to do what you have to do in order to get the bills paid. I feel that she is not wrong by testifying against Thomas, he did these things, therefore he has to face the consequences. Also I believe that the whole idea of airing the black people’s dirty laundry publically is a stupid argument in general. To say that a woman has to hide what happened to her that is against the law is suppressing women once again. Again we see people of the black race attempting to suppress one another. In my opinion, much like the rape documentary, peoples opinion aren’t going to change over situations like these, it takes years to change people’s idea of stereotypes. She sought justice for herself and as a woman; this issue has nothing to do with the black race, in general. This is a personal issue, and if anything a gender issue. Women have been silenced for too long on the idea of rape and harassment. I feel that Thomas should not have been elected into the Supreme Court because if he done things of this nature before, he can do them again. I don’t think Hill did this to ruin his reputation, but she did not want to lie about the situation. I also think that Thomas’s wife calling and requesting an apology 19 years after the incident is quite silly. I think it is very immature for her to imply that nothing happened in the first case, although this is her husband, she still does not have proof that these things did not occur. Therefore I felt that she was a bitch for asking for an apology, and especially so many years later. I believe that Anita Hill had every right to do what she did and that the black race should have supported her in getting justice instead of shunning her.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
Interview #2
1. What is your name? Maiden and Marriage (if applicable)
a. Celest Talbert (Maiden)
b. Celest Parker (Marriage)
2. Where were you born?
a. Lucedale, MS
3. Where did you grow up?
a. Lucedale, MS
4. What were your parents names and occupations?
a. Father- Clarence
i. Brick Mason
b. Mother-Myrtis
i. Librarian
5. Do you have any siblings?
a. Yes. 1 sister
6. What was your life like growing up as a black girl in Lucedale?
a. I had a very good childhood.
7. Did you ever encounter racism? Explain?
a. Very Little. One time I saw the KKK handed out pamphlets to all the white people and excluding us.
8. What privileges or setbacks do you feel that you experienced growing up a black female in the North/South?
a. Really no privledges, the only setback was that I didn’t receive the proper ranking in my high school class. They gave it to the white kid.
9. What, if anything, do you remember your parents telling you about race?
a. Pray and go on!
b. They don’t know any better (referring to the white race)
c. They talked about their experiences as youngsters.
10. What did your parents tell you or instill in you regarding being a woman, specifically a black woman?
a. Be proud, and that women and men are equal.
11. Did you attend school? Yes or No, why or why not?
a. Yes, I graduated from high school
b. I also attended college
12. Talk a little bit about those days...
a. School days were really good. I had mainly all white friends throughout school, and my mom worked at the school so no one messed with me.
13. What was it like in school for you as a black female?
a. Very good, I was in all the excel classes (only black girl). I was popular with both races and had a lot of friends.
14. Did you graduate and attend college? [Ask questions here to get more info regarding education ect.]
a. Yes.
b. Alcorn State University (Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration)
15. Did you get married? To who? When? [Ask about the circumstances]
a. Yes, I married Jonathan Parker in 1987 after college.
16. Did you have any children? Yes or No? How many? Why? Was this a choice or just happened? If no children, you could ask them why they chose not to or was it medical reasons.
a. Yes, they were planned. I have 2 children.
17. Where did they work as an adult
a. My daughter is still in high school
b. My son is in college and works part time at Ajax restaurant.
18. Ask them about their adult life and what it was like living as a black woman?
a. In Lucedale it was pretty good.
b. When I moved to Oxford racism was more noticeable and white people’s attitudes are different here in this town.
19. Ask them if there are any specific stories that they would like to share regarding their adulthood life and being a black woman
a. Not directly related to me but as I grew older I can tell racism is prevalent. My husband experienced a lot of racism when he started working at Ole Miss. Opportunity for minorities are limited.
20. What were their relationships like with other women? Specifically ask about white and black women.
a. Depends on the person.
b. 1st boss in 1990 was a very racist white women.
c. I get along with both races pretty equally.
21. Would they consider themselves friends with white women? Or do they have friends that are of another race?
a. I have acquaintances in all races.
22. What type of relationship do you have with black men?
a. Depends on the person again.
b. Some are flirtatious, ignorant, intelligent, the same with white men.
23. What do you think is the role of both black men and women in relationships and inside of the home should be? [Here, you can ask specific questions regarding marriage and the roles of both men and women inside of marriage]
a. Man is the head of the household. But we split decisions and we both work. We both provide and take care of my family financially, spiritually and physically.
24. What do you think about people dating outside of their race? Black men marrying white women and black women marrying white men?
a. When its true love I see no issue with it, but if only to spite people, then yes it pisses me off.
25. What issues do you think most affect black Americans today?
a. Poverty
b. Ignorance
c. Don’t love or know themselves
d. Striving to be another race
e. Black men in prison
f. Women and single families
g. Drugs and alcohol
h. Healthcare issues
CRITIQUE:
When I did this interview I was much more comfortable then with the previous one. I interviewed my boss of 3 years. Therefore a lot of this information I already knew. I did learn more about her than I knew at first though. She didn’t really experience that much racism in general. Her mother working at her school probably had a lot to do with the lack of childhood racism and her excelling and attending college. I enjoyed this interview a lot more than the first one and learned a lot about my boss.
Interview #1
1. What is your name? Maiden and Marriage (if applicable)
a. Shirley Bowen (Maiden)
b. Shirley Johnson (Marriage)
2. Where were you born?
a. Friendship, Tennessee
3. Where did you grow up?
a. Friendship, Tennessee
4. What were your parents names and occupations?
a. Father- Otis Bowen
i. Farm Hand
b. Mother-Mary Bowen
i. Cook at a local restaurant
5. Do you have any siblings?
a. Yes. 1 brother, 2 sisters
6. What was your life like growing up as a black girl in Friendship?
a. Life was hard and money was usually tight. My parents worked hard to make ends meet and together we made it as a family.
7. Did you ever encounter racism? Explain?
a. Very Little. The small town helped with that. Everyone knew each other, and everyone knew what their role was. The white people were good to us, although we knew they thought they were better than we were. Some white people were very racist, but it never directly affected me as a girl.
8. What privileges or setbacks do you feel that you experienced growing up a black female in the North/South?
a. The only setback was that I did not get to attend college, but not many people in my town did. Especially black people. We had to work fresh out of high school and had no money for college.
9. What, if anything, do you remember your parents telling you about race?
a. My father always told me to stay with my own color and not to trust the white people too often. The white people helped us though, so I was never rude to them. Other than him saying that we did not really talk about race that much. We tried to see people as people not black or white.
10. What did your parents tell you or instill in you regarding being a woman, specifically a black woman?
a. We were raised to be honest and hard-working. My parents never specifically taught me about being a black woman. Just a woman.
11. Did you attend school? Yes or No, why or why not?
a. Yes, I graduated from high school
12. Talk a little bit about those days...
a. Some of the white children in school would make a scene, but I had a lot of white friends since my parents worked for them. Some of my black friends got teased a lot but me personally, it was good days.
13. What was it like in school for you as a black female?
a. (Same as above)
14. Did you graduate and attend college? [Ask questions here to get more info regarding education ect.]
a. No.
15. Did you get married? To who? When? [Ask about the circumstances]
a. Yes, I married Zeke Johnson in June of 1975. We courted all through high school and got married as soon as we graduated.
16. Did you have any children? Yes or No? How many? Why? Was this a choice or just happend? If no children, you could ask them why they chose not to or was it medical reasons.
a. Yes. Only one daughter named Wanda. She was not planned. But we were happy to have her in our lives
17. Where did they work as an adult
a. She moved to Jackson, TN and attended college and is now a Social Worker at the DHS.
18. Ask them about their adult life and what it was like living as a black woman?
a. It was hard, I worked in a factory for almost 30 years until I hurt my back. Money was still tight. But we made it work. I guess being from a small town it made it easier to be black. It was still tough, but not like you hear other people had it.
19. Ask them if there are any specific stories that they would like to share regarding their adulthood life and being a black woman
a. Not in particular
20. What were their relationships like with other women? Specifically ask about white and black women.
a. All my friends I grew up with still live in town, we attend church together and the older white ladies that are still living I often visit and have coffee with. I do think that I have better relationships with black women, than white women.
21. Would they consider themselves friends with white women? Or do they have friends that are of another race?
a. I do have white friends, just more black friends than white.
22. What type of relationship do you have with black men?
a. Like most other relationships, according to the person.
23. What do you think is the role of both black men and women in relationships and inside of the home should be? [Here, you can ask specific questions regarding marriage and the roles of both men and women inside of marriage]
a. I still think that the man is head of the house. The woman cooks and cleans, but we make decisions equally. We both do what we can to make the home a happy one.
24. What do you think about people dating outside of their race? Black men marrying white women and black women marrying white men?
a. I don’t have a problem with it. That’s peoples own business, not none of mine.
25. What issues do you think most affect black Americans today?
a. Crime and Violence in our own communities
b. Bad children and mothers
c. Teenage pregnancy
CRITIQUE:
When conducting this interview, at first I felt very uncomfortable. I thought that some of the questions were rather touchy and personal. Throughout my interview I became a little more comfortable because Mrs. Shirley seemed to open up and feel more comfortable. During the interview I got the impression that she didn’t experience any harsh racism. I felt that she probably experienced some slurs and a little ridicule. She didn’t pick any particular stories to share with me about her experiences. This could be because I do not know her very well or maybe she didn’t experience that harsh of racism. I really enjoyed this interview and learned a lot about her life.
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