Oral History

Oral History

Introduction

The present deliberation is focussed on oral history, where I will engage my experiences and knowledge with the perspectives of my older relative on the prints on his T-shirt that I found in an old garage. My interest in this object was invoked by the fact that it discusses issues that relate to cultural conflicts, and the respective interplays that are witnessed from time to time. It is through the lens of the object that the fundamental issues that characterize the society with be discussed at length.

Background Information

For the purposes of the present discussion, I will look into an object owned by my relative. JH’s clothing that has a back print of “Damn Chinese U.S.” is the subject of oral history. From the transcript talk, he stated that he did not like it at first, but he accepted it after being promised improved working conditions. Now he is setting up his company to do business with it. Listening to his life, I asked him about the change in the financial status of his life so far, and what factors had greatly affected it. He was born as the son of a farmer and lived life by saving money. But also, he was always number one for his parents. He says he has always tried hard since he found out that his parents were expecting him.

What the object tells us about the historical moment when it was created

The clothing touches on culture as well as the traditions embraced by Americans. The cultural interplay between the two is what forms outlines the historical moment at the time when it was created. As it stands, it goes without saying that the object was created at the time when many cultures did not value or appreciate those that did not belong to them. Viewed widely, I can be o outlined that the t-shirt that my grandfather values sentimentally was made at the time when racism, slavery, and segregation dominated the world (Froio 67). At such a timeline, it was not easy to find people either assimilating or leading lives that are based on aspects such as interdependence as the case now. Therefore, the prints on the t-shirt, which is an object that dates back to the prehistoric times, sought to fight against the limitations and negative concerns that had been introduced by society.

As it stands, the desirability to come up with aspects that promote inclusiveness is the one key approach that was targeted by the artist who developed the words on the t-shirt. In this context, the object is a manifestation of a dark historical moment, which is strikingly different as compared to the present-day experiences where cultures and societies are integrated to the extent that it is almost impossible to agree that there was a point in time when racism emerged and marked a significant pinnacle in the lives of the people, and most people did not care about the negatives that resulted in the process.

What it meant to the person who owned it

The t-shirt has a significant effect on the culture of the person, that is, my grandfather, who owned it. At the time, when I was trying to talk to him about the clothing, which he believed that no one was aware that it was still in the yard, wrapped up in some nylon that cannot be decomposed easily in view of the environmental factors that characterize the universe. In the quest to become empowered at the workplace and emerge successfully, JH faced racism at first hand but was quick to move on notwithstanding. At one point, he narrates that he felt he was out of place when some of the executives issued preferential treatment to the whites whenever they made random visits to the premises. This can be seen at “What I felt the most was race, ethnicity. There were some white executives at the former company. But they would not work hard and ignore the company and other employees.” While JH views this racism, this takes another twist due to the fact that he was equally offered decent treatment by the executives who visited the premises. The above stance confirms that the idea of racism is rather subjective when defined in the ethnicity context. For example, JH does not complain when being given decent treatment by the leaders but points on racism when the whites are showing appreciation and value to members of their race.

In my experience, racism is nothing short of creation by the social-psychological factors. I have lived and grown with parents who believe that since we are all humans, it is only right that each one of us is accorded similar opportunities. My first experience with racism was during my high school years. I remember one instance where a black student failed to get some mathematics prompts right, and he was the only person from the race in my class. Although he was everyone’s favorite, as evidenced by the fact that he had excellent basketball skills, we were surprised when he called the teacher “racist.” The issue escalated for weeks, until when the administrators reviewed his responses and found that they were not right. Also, the student served a punishment for stereotyping the teacher. I must assert that this is the closest stance for racism that I have interacted with. The other experience was in a Russian restaurant. I was not happy with the assumption my one waiter who always talked to me in the language since I would easily be confused as one (Froio 67). After she noticed that I was not getting what was being asked, the waiter profiled me negatively, hence, moving to the next table of Russians speaking in heavy tones. I felt lost, disrespected, and undermined. From this experience, it is unequivocal to highlight that if biological factors were to be considered when construing racism, I would have been served in English. However, since racism is a product of the social elements of society, I ended up being on the receiving end of negative ethnicity.

Overall, in view of the above deliberation, it is evident that my grandfather’s experiences are fundamentally different from those that I have witnessed while growing up. Evidently, this can be alluded to the stance that we have been raised under different circumstances. If I make a quick gaze and evaluation of my clothes and personal belongings, I cannot even trace any item that has such wordings as the ones on my grandfather’s T-shirt. From the narrations made by my grandfather, I can relate that the T-shirt connotes some dark past that he would not want to be reminded about. However, since I am part of his genealogy, he is still happy that the world has embraced the significant change that means the best for each and every person concerned.

How it fits into the broader issues and themes, we have discussed this semester

The t-shirt discusses the interplay of culture, race, and cultural conflicts, as discussed in class. The social, economic, and political facets that define the society have a direct effect and influence on how a person identifies and perceive himself or herself. Research evidence points to the fact that biological indices and factors that define a person have a role in what they become or think about themselves. Equally, the environment has a significant mandate on human relationships and the viewpoints that people tend to understand and believe about themselves (Froio 68).  The one social psychological issue that is integral when handling people from different cultural setups is race. It is fundamental to highlight that one’s race may make them generate stereotypes, whether positive or negative, about the others. Still, belonging to a particular race calls for the given individual to act and behave, as designed accurately by the specific racial grouping. In reference to the race theory, the manifestation of a race means that the respective racial factions have a direct impact on the attitude, behavior, and perceptions of those who belong to it. Therefore, inclining to particular ideologies of a race would not be necessary when existing in a social context that is characterized by people from different races. In view of the fact that racism has the potential of defining people, assumptions have been coined to suggest that the different characteristics defined by race are a reflection of the personal differences as well as psychological properties.

The primary role of the present deliberation is to differ with the idea that the identity inculcated by racism can be used to interpret biological properties. In this context, it must be argued that racism is a creation of the society, where pervasive attitudes and viewpoints are encouraged by one community towards the other. For one to be racist, they are required to interact with the environment that makes evaluations of different races, classifying the factions that they know, and finally institutionalizing what is later defined as racial prejudice (Biolsi 78). The above stance is a confirmation of the verity that there is no link between the social-psychological elements that define racism and biological properties. Research evidence completed by reputable psychologists points to the fact that nobody is born a racist until when he or she finds themselves in a society that sees the others only from their cultural and social differences (Biolsi 78). In the present deliberation, I interviewed one subject, JH. It is through the lens of his experiences pegged on the impact of race on immigration, mobility, and ethnicity will be compared and contrasted with my own experiences.

Conclusion

As witnessed in the above discussion,  it is desirable to highlight that oral history has an indispensable impact when it comes to an understanding of how communities are integrated, their histories, and the positive stances that can be inculcated to make life better. In my case, an evaluation of a T-shirt that has been owned and possessed by my grandfather for years denotes that the historical moment characterizing the object was marred by racism, discrimination, and injustices. However, my sentiments on the statements made by my grandfather are corroborated by the themes and deliberations that we have discussed in class over the previous weeks.

Works Cited

Biolsi, Thomas. “Racism, Popular Culture, and the Everyday Rosebud Reservation.” Native American and Indigenous Studies 6.1 (2019): 77-110.

Froio, Caterina. “Race, religion, or culture? Framing Islam between racism and neo-racism in the online network of the French far right.” Perspectives on Politics 16.3 (2018): 696-709.