Home » Guest Lecture Reflections
Category Archives: Guest Lecture Reflections
Reflection on Annette Bickford’s Guest Lecture
I found Annette Bickford’s guest lecture extremely interesting, especially her discussion of liberal humanism and how it protects institutions using the example of the multicultural classroom. Specifically, she describes how the multicultural classroom is a site that makes racism worse, as the brief cultural celebrations give an allusion that everything is okay, but in reality reinforces a white standard. I think that this logic can extend to other inherently racial states. For example, what does it mean to “give a seat at the table” in corporate environments? What does it mean when you put Black and Brown people in executive positions of large corporations that have histories of exploiting laborers? If capitalism (and other racialized sites) do not become ethical solely by representation, why do we, as a society, continue to push for it? If not diversifying the place, what is the alternative? The Bickford discussion left me with numerous questions on how we should think about making space for people, both what it truly means and its implications in upholding the current system.
Reflection on Eladio Bobadilla’s Guest Lecture
I found Eladio Bobadilla’s guest lecture extremely interesting, and left the discussion most intrigued with the quote “we didn’t cross borders, the borders crossed us” and how this concept plays into the conversation of the racialization of borders and how that’s shaped immigration history and policy. I had only considered the racialization of borders when looking at processes like gerrymandering, but not how racialized borders informed who is associated with immigration, which is often Brown people. Furthermore, I was extremely intrigued to learn about how an the intentionally anti-racist Immigration Act of 1965 became racialialized as countries that had more people applying for VISAs were those with predominately Black and Brown demographics. As Professor Bobadilla described a proposed California law in 1994 that would’ve allowed teachers, hospital workers, school counselors, etc the ability to ask and reject someone for their immigration status, it was interesting to see how Foucault’s idea of the carceral archipelago translates to immigration as well and its role in policing and the carcel state.
Recent Comments