Race in American Political Life

Attention Shoppers" by Michelle Serros is a short story that uses humor to critique the experience of two Latina girls shopping for vegetables in the frozen food section. One girl complains that so-called Latin Style Vegetables are cut up in tiny pieces and are implicitly labeled as being lower in quality than Malibu Style Vegetables that are presumably intended for Caucasians. This starts a revolt in the frozen produce section -- for example, Asian shoppers are similarly outraged at Oriental Style Vegetables. The story ends on a somewhat ambiguous note -- clearly, Martina has a point but on the other hand the girls leave without the vegetables they needed and ironically they lose the ability to make the Spanish-style rice they originally intended to make (a name which Martina was not outraged about when they entered the grocery store).

Q2. "Ain't Going to Let Nobody Turn Me Around" The Roots on YouTube

The Roots are a modern musical group that put a new spin on this old protest song. This song proclaims the singer's refusal to be turned around by any kind of injustice. The Roots keep the determination of the original song intact yet give it a beautiful, more soothing, catchy quality with their combination of gospel and rhythm and blues.

Q3. Unequal opportunity race

The history of racism in the United States has created a system of unequal opportunities for certain historically discriminated-against minorities. Although some people advocate simply treating all people the same, the fact is that certain members of specific groups have had fewer opportunities than others; this has resulted in inhibited access to better schooling and jobs which becomes a self-perpetuating cycle of injustice. Until this cycle is broken with more people being offered a chance to make incursions into the middle class through affirmative action and other opportunity programs, simply treating everyone the same will not be enough.

Q4. What is your main responsibility when writing?

I believe that my main responsibility when writing is to tell the truth as I see it. This means being honest about myself and my perspective on the world. This also means being clear in the way I communicate my perspective to the reader. Presenting both sides of an argument makes me a more effective communicator and writer. Writing is also a way of examining some of my assumptions and listening to how they sound when put down in black and white.

Q5. "Daisy Girl" ad for LBJ: Daisy girl eating ice cream and Goldwater's response "Your Children Will be Communist" YouTube

The "Daisy Girl" advertisement for LBJ depicts a young girl counting as she plucks petals from a daisy; suddenly the camera shifts to an atomic bomb countdown and the detonation which wipes her off the face of the earth. The implication is that LBJ's opponent is a warmonger orchestrate the destruction of the entire planet. The advertisement is highly inflammatory and while it does not attack Goldwater by name, that is part of its power. It is very difficult to defend one's self against such an accusation as the ad does not rely upon logic but rather upon the emotional power of its images.