The Tea Party - Cultural Observation (Massive Culuture Shock)

I attended the Tea Party rally in Tuscaloosa, Alabama with the intention of stepping outside my comfort zone and succeeded in doing so. The rally was set to start that afternoon. I wanted to show up after the rally began so I could be unnoticed. I found myself becoming very paranoid my attendance for several reasons. I have followed the tea party rallies very closely in the media and they have been heavily criticized for their racially charged language, views, and actions. I would definitely consider myself a very outspoken liberal black male , so this put me in an uncomfortable position. Another reason I felt uncomfortable was I attended with my white ex-girlfriend who did not want me to attend alone and wanted to observe the tea partiers as well. The tea party rally was going strong when we arrived with a small gathering of members. As we approached the park where it was being help we saw the familiar "Dont Tread On Me" flags that the tea partiers have claimed blowing in the wind. I looked around and saw I was surrounded by conservative politicians advertisements and confederate flags as well. I immediately became very angry and wanted to yell at people I saw wearing and flying confederate flags. I understood that I was experiencing culture shock. My reaction was anger because I did not understand why these people were flying a flag that I recognize as a symbol of racism. This flag has been the backdrop for nearly every white southern supremacist movement and several scenes of racial hatred for my people in history. I found myself very uncomfortable and unable to look on without passing judgment on the people around me. I gazed around to also see that three-fourths of the tea partiers were sitting in lawn chairs. I am an avid protester myself and had never seen a protest where people were all sitting down in a "I've had enough" atmosphere.



I found myself being stared at often and people mumbling things when I was walking past. One woman who was covered in confederate flag clothing handed over a flyer that spoke about how slavery "was not the issue" of the civil war. This was rhetoric I was all too familiar with growing up in the South. I felt like everything was a game to the people around me and they were caught up in dogmatic ignorance rather than culture. These people were displaying their core values though. A lot of racially and politically charged undertones set the stage for the speakers I heard. I often heard "We need to take our country back". It made me begin to wonder as I often do who "our" is? One speaker who was a veteran got up and claimed he enlisted in the army during Vietnam to "kill communist for Christ" and was "ready to do what was necessary". I often listened in shock as speakers stated they were a culturally diverse movement that represented many races and ethnic groups . I constantly heard speakers mention "we are not racist". I looked around, took pictures , and shot video and I am one-hundred percent certain I was the only African American and racial minority in attendance.



Several people cheered "here, here!" as a gentleman ranted on his problems with illegal immigrants who "were not patriots". People were discussing there family history's and puritan genealogy's as I walked around and talking about the "socialist" administration currently in power. I must admit that I felt as if people were saying the same xenophobic and racial statements that have been used for years with new politically correct terminology. This is where my ex girlfriend came in as an informant to verify some of my questions about the conservative majority tea partiers as well as some counter protesters I encountered(who all blended much better than I). There was frequent rantings of God, The Bible, and "Our Forefathers". Another question was raised in my mind, "Do these people realize this countries forefathers owned my fore-mothers and forefathers?" I wanted to approach someone and ask them this. I felt strange hearing so many people talk about returning to the original constitutional values this country was founded on. I only found myself in my observance thinking about how the original constitution stated that I would be considered 3/5 human being thanks to the 3/5 compromise. Overall , I felt these people were not being culturally competent of others around them and were insensitive to the history of others who inhabit America. I found myself feeling very ethnocentric towards them for feeling so very ethnocentric towards others. I am glad I attended though, I felt as if I did something many black males wouldn't do and it helped me understand some things. I looked around and I saw poor people, I saw regular people,and I saw people who struggle just like me. I have yet to figure out what it is that separates me from what is essentially my reflection.

The Anatomy of Hate

The Anatomy of Hate is a documentary film by Mike Ramsdell about the culture, politics, and complexity of the emotion known as hate. The movie documents several hate groups and interviews intellectuals, hate group members, and others. Ramsdell focuses thoroughly throughout the movie on how the groups seem to think their hatred is normal. He interviews neo-nazis, Westboro Baptist Church members , Palestinians, Israelis, and American soldiers just to name a few. The entire time I was watching the movie I was not shocked by the words and thoughts people had as much as their ignorance. The people interviewed in the film seemed to truly believe that they were not doing or saying anything wrong. I was amazed to hear people say such hateful , terrible , and insensitive things and not even bat an eyelash. Mike explains in the film though that people's hate is taught via enculturation into small children early on. The film explains that children from the age of 1-7 are most absorbent of information. It's during these moments that humans learn their defining views. He puts emphasis on the children of the perpetrators featured throughout. The Anatomy of Hate does a great job exploring a giant problem. What causes hate? The film answers "fear." Fear is a dynamic that plays into several groups hating others. The fear is based on things that vary from power,to land, and even religion. It seems that the hate groups in the film were all basing their fear on the forced change of their comfort or culture. The cultures that they were indoctrinated in were being "defended" by these hate groups. I thought myself that most of the hate groups seemed to be on the offensive against nothing. The targets often seemed to be over exaggerated threats and apparitions of danger. The groups such as the US Army, Israeli citizens, and Palestinian citizens that were highlighted were portrayed unbiased by Ramsdell. These groups were represented in a way that exposed their internal struggles with hate of their opposition more so. I thought this film was a wonderful detail of something that should be explored more for a solution.

Safe Zone Dialogues

The Safe Zone Dialogues during class were a very interesting experience for me. I truly enjoyed the dialogues because they were eye opening and in a comfortable environment. The Safe Zone dialogues focused on the questions surrounding the LGBT(Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender) community. The dialogues had a facilitator and two informants to lead the discussion in a progressive productive manner. The students participating in this ongoing conversation were allowed to ask questions and present opinions after being informed on the lifestyles and experiences of our informants. Many questions were presented in the dialogues on homosexuality . I felt that the majority of the students in my group were comfortable and open about their feelings on the matter. The subjects ranged from gay marriage to attraction. I thought it was incredibly interesting to listen to the different opinions. The best part was the informants though. Our informants were a bisexual UAB employee and a gay UAB student. I label them this way for the sake of relevance , their stories however showed that they were much more than those labels. They made me realize that one of the best ways to point out the ridiculousness of homophobia may be to point out humanity. Our informants talked about relationships , life, happiness, pain, and struggle just like anyone else would. One thing I respected about our Informants was their openness. You have to give the proper recognition to someone who gets up and gives you a wonderful testimonial of themself in such a humble manner. I feel like by doing this it may have opened some eyes or further progressed some into acceptance. This was a great thing for me to see because I hate discrimination. I relate to any oppressed group on the planet and understand the struggle. I was happy to discuss this with my peers and see some new sides of a subject I'd like to further educate myself on.

Global Connections- Winnie Mandela at Alys Stevens Center

When I first heard Winne Mandela was going to be speaking at UAB I was ecstatic. I knew about Winnie's controversial history in women's rights, social work, and anti- discrimination. These things all interest me and sparked an interest in her work for me early on. When I arrived I was surprised to see the Alys Stevens Center was not packed completely full for the former first lady of South Africa. The audience was pretty large and predominately African American. After listening to sponsors and even the newly elected mayor of Birmingham , William Bell I was ready for Winnie. She sat on the stage in a very poised firm straight manner the entire time she waited. I noticed her facial expression change from a very calm blank stare only once. I felt like her composure was that of a Queen.



When she finally decided to take center stage she did so with a very angry looking body guard next to her the entire time. She immediately began an all out attack on capitalism , patriarchy, poverty , and discrimination. Her criticism began with the USA and it's imperialist campaign throughout the middle east over the last few years. She specifically focused on the Afghanistan and Iraq war and their current roles. "America, what do we in the world community think of you when you preach peace and do something differently ?" Miss Mandela asked the audience. A strong reception seemed to rise every time she critiqued the war. The audience seemed to be almost wholeheartedly in agreement with what she was saying. When Miss Mandela began to chastise Israel the mood somewhat changed though. She condemned their actions in building new settlements and further "choking" the Palestinian refugee population. I heard mumbles and noticed facial expressions changing. Some people seemed unhappy enough to leave during these final moments of her lecture. Winnie's time attacking patriarchy was very direct and more blunt to me than the rest of her lecture. I felt she was trying to be subtle in most points she made. I was very satisfied with her presentation myself though.

Rituals- The Cathedral of St. Paul at Birmingham

Since I was a small child my father has raised me in a very protestant fashion. I was reared in the traditional teaching of black protestants in the United States of America. This upbringing is an extension of the white protestant values inherited through slavery. With that being said, I was raised very anti-catholic. The first place I thought I should visit for rituals should be a catholic church. Therefore, I chose to attend The Cathedral of St. Paul. When I first awoke and got ready to attend church I put on my traditional Sunday dress. I wore a button down shirt, cardigan sweater, black dress pants, and Sunday shoes. I didn't want to over dress or under dress. I found myself feeling a bit nervous about entering this worship service. The thoughts of people staring at me because I was not following ritual made me a little uneasy.


I arrived and was welcomed by a short man who looked very clean cut and straight. His posture at the door made him seem like a guard almost. The cathedral was very beautiful and impressed me on a large scale architecturally. The church had a very gothic look to me. I would later be told by the church father it was built in 1872. This was different from any church I'd ever attended. The building itself was somewhat intimidating to me when I entered. I found the stained glass and Roman looking statues to be quite eerie. The priest prayed in latin and waved around what looked like a jar on string. The father told me when we spoke after service this was incense burning. Throughout the service I found myself confuse by many things. I was confused about how Eucharist was performed, the incense, the symbolism of the cross and other things. This is the main reason I sought out the priest afterward for clarity. He spoke to me with a sort of condescending tone about how others criticize the Catholic Church but claimed it to be the father of all organized Christianity. He and I spoke for quite some time and he told me about the light of Christ. I told him I was attending the service for a class only and he politely told me to return sometime. Overall I didnt feel to uncomfortable. I felt mild discomfort ,but only because I didn't understand everything happening around me.

Anthro Analysis-Pho Que Huong (Food/Ethnic Restaurants)

Sean Moffet and I had been planning on eating somewhere together for culture blog for a while. We decided upon Pho Que Huong after I recommended it for a new experience. I am someone who is usually open to new experiences visually, mentally, and palatally so the idea intrigued me. When we arrived at Pho Que Huong I was ready to eat and hungry.  We walked in and seated ourselves which I didn't find to be that strange even though I was expecting to be seated by someone. The servers wore all black and acted in a fashion I am accustomed to. The menu was overwhelmingly big to me for some reason and the ingredients to some dishes confused me. One particular dish jumped out at Sean and I , it was called the Hu Tieu My Tho. Hu Tieu My Tho is a rice noodle bowl with pork strips, shrimp, squid and quail egg.  This array of things was served with lettuce , bean sprouts, lemon grass, and some other food items that cannot be identified on a side plate.  

       

  I looked up our choice and found it originates in Mỹ Tho, Vietnam. Mỹ Tho is the capital city and municipality of Tiền Giang Province, located in the Mekong Delta region of southern Vietnam.   Mỹ Tho has a large seafood market which relates to this cultures subsistence . This explains the emphasis on the shrimp and squid in the broth. These two meats seemed to be in the most abundance.Mỹ Tho is  one of South Vietnam's largest resources for dried fish and other dried seafood products such as "Kho Muc" , which is squid.  Overall my experience was okay. I was not impressed by the taste of the food. I was a little ethnocentric towards it, since my taste buds judged the food somewhat on how different it was to my "normal" meals. I would return to this restaurant to eat though because I like trying new things. 

it didn't taste like lettuce....

What About Me?

I have noticed considerably over the last 5 years of my life that I am somewhat different from others. I am the second son of a minister in his second marriage. All my life I've been raised in a conservative christian household and I converted to Buddhism three years ago. My family is very large and interracial on my father's side of the family. My mothers side of the family is more homogeneous and considerably smaller, but large in comparison to most. I know nothing of my heritage. My great great great grandparents were slaves on both sides of my family. That being said it's considerably hard to trace one's roots with all the ravaging effects of the transatlantic slave trade. This part of my heritage though, being the great grandson of slaves has shaped me more than anything. My grandfather on my mother's side of the family is where I received my name from . He was murdered by two policeman as he walked home from work in 1955. These are the inherited circumstances of a black male two generations from being considered an animal in his region,state, and "country." I have a strong desire to leave my hometown Birmingham and travel more.


The categories I fall under are straight , male, and African American. I actually hate to use that term "African American" because I think its silly. When I hear it I imagine caucasians lazily assuming all blacks were brought from Africa , neglecting Haiti, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Jamaica , etc. I come from a working class family of four. I learned the value of hard work at an extremely early age. This caused me to mature a bit faster than the other children growing up. I am twenty years old now and have been working since the age of seven. My parents own a cleaning service and have been training me almost 14 years now. My language is English and I try to speak "un poco" espanol. My mother and father taught me to be very active in civil rights and the community ,so I have been. I work at a non-profit called YouthServe where I help young people get involved in community service and social change. I have a lot of passion to be politically and culturally aware of my surroundings. The desire for personal education is held very dear in my heart. I consider the fact that some time ago in this country my people were prevented from being taught to read by law. Sometimes I am told I live in the past about race issues and civil rights ,but segregation was not long ago at all. My only disability is I'm too nice to people as a Buddhist and peace activist.