The House We Live In: Post-viewing Activity

After viewing Episode Three: The House We Live In, please respond to the following question:

> Central to the concept of the American Dream is the notion that anyone who works hard enough will be rewarded—that anyone can “pull themselves up by their bootstraps.” How has this been made more difficult for people not defined as white? What is the long-term impact of that denial? What difference does access to financial resources make in terms of your life opportunities?

22 thoughts on “The House We Live In: Post-viewing Activity

  1. For those who are not defined as white, even if they work themselves up the pyramid per se, one will always have a disadvantage over the white people. I think it was the second part of the film where we saw these highly educated non-white people who still had greater amounts of stress than their white counterpart. The long term impact is higher percent of child mortality for the non-white, higher amount of stress and even chronic diseases. More financial stability may lead to a better lifestyle and better life opportunities. It also means a better environment to raise kids but yet what does better environment means? What does having better neighbors mean? We all have our own opinion but for me, better environment means a location will lowest amount of pollution, organic foods, a fair Police department, least amount of crime, etc.

  2. It is unfortunate to know that the outcome of housing lies in the hands of the perception of skin color. People who are hispanic or black are in a constant battle when it comes to white privileges. People from are non-white are denied suitable housing that are amongst white neighborhoods. No matter how hard they work, non-white’s face prejudice and discrimination from whites who come from Old and New Money. The wealthy keep getting rich. Chronic Diseases and stress factors play huge role in the acts of non-whites trying to accomplish the American Dream yet denied freedom from any racial attack.
    Wealth is related to Health. If you have financial stability then you are able to afford good health insurance suitable for age and needs. If you have more money then you are more likely to afford food that contains nutritious values. Whereas, someone living in poverty, who can only afford fast food off the dollar menu.

  3. The American notion related to the provision of opportunities to anyone striving hard in life does not apply to those who are not considered white in the society. The reason is the deviating laws and the verdicts of courts against the declaration of whiteness. They rulings of courts are self-contradictory, and there is a lot of unwillingness to declare someone white immediately. The reason lies in the age old psyche related to the superiority of whites and the American society rarely accepts the inclusion of any outsider in their white domain. The immigrants are the particular victims in this regard. Despite their lifelong efforts to assimilate into the American society, they are no appreciated and given the opportunity to excel in life. Many civilian facilities which are specifically designed for native whites are not bestowed upon the immigrants.
    Adverse impacts of denial include the inability of the non-whites to lead a happy and prosperous life in America. They cannot avail themselves of any facility which can help them fulfil their dreams. They are devoid of the equal rights and perks as the citizens. They also have to face the racial segregation by physical characteristics. It means that the American society is still in the state of denial as far as the assimilation of different races and ethnicities is concerned. The harmful impact of this segregation results in the development of frustration and class conflict in the community. The access to financial resources is also difficult because the availability of loans and assistance is highly dependent on the races according to the laws. In this situation, the non-whites find it tough to manage their life.

  4. > Central to the concept of the American Dream is the notion that anyone who works hard enough will be rewarded—that anyone can “pull themselves up by their bootstraps.” How has this been made more difficult for people not defined as white? What is the long-term impact of that denial? What difference does access to financial resources make in terms of your life opportunities? It’s been made more difficult for people not defined as white by them taking all of the credit of the hardworking people. Many Caucasians are usually ranked up top on the ladder of the working company so sometimes they make the people below them do all of the work, and take the credit for it. Regardless of race, Caucasians in some cases will get hired over any minority even if it’s the same class or education status.

  5. For year nonwhite people struggler in their daily basic, they were commonly judge for the color of their skin. The video express how fundamentally the possibility of whiteness is who’s incorporated, who’s a piece of the family and it has material results. After World War II, we started building larger and larger public housing projects, which were called “vertical ghettoes.” Non-white families began moving into traditionally white communities in numbers. It was called “block-busting.” Real estate agents preyed on the racial fears of white homeowners to get them to sell their homes quickly, for less than market value. The homes were resold to non-whites at inflated prices. Because of the long-term impact of that denial nonwhite people stated that they want to be a colorblind society that values the content of character over the color of skin.
    Contrast accesses to money related assets make regarding your life opportunities, since today, the normal black family has one and only eighth the total assets or resources of the normal white family. It is truly the legacy of racial disparity from eras past. No other measure catches the legacy, the kind of combined drawback of race, or total point of interest of race for whites, than total assets or riches. Indeed, even with the same salary, white families have all things considered double the abundance of Black families. A lot of that distinction lies in the estimation of their homes. When you make the right examination when you look at a Black child from a family with the same salary and riches level as the white child, um, from the comparative monetary circumstance, rates of school graduation are the same; rates of business and work hours are the same; rates of welfare utilization are the same. So when we’re discussing race as far as a social bookkeeping of these distinctions or a hereditary bookkeeping of these distinctions, we’re truly missing the photo, since we’re making the wrong correlation.

  6. Central to the concept of the American Dream is the notion that anyone who works hard enough will be rewarded—that anyone can “pull themselves up by their bootstraps.” How has this been made more difficult for people not defined as white? What is the long-term impact of that denial? What difference does access to financial resources make in terms of your life opportunities?

    The American dream is a myth! People from all over the world think and have thought of America as the land of opportunity, the land where you can be whomever you want to be. However the opportunities are not equal for everyone. I feel that if you are not born as white person with blond and green eyes you wouldn’t get the same opportunities or treated the same. In the film we saw that black people couldn’t or weren’t allowed to move to the newly built homes in the suburbs and when they were able to get a home the real estate were selling them homes for than, what they were worth. This has caused a long term effect in the black community. Denying that race does not affect opportunity will push other generations to be more racist. Those people that are denying this, will always keep using race differences and social status as a reason to racism that were created by the white man. Having financial resources automatically give you more opportunities. When having access to financial opportunities you would be able to live in a better neighborhoods, afford to go to better schools strong. Now a day’s money is power in our world. For minority, people they would work very hard and still wouldn’t be able to put food on a table.

  7. The notion that anyone can “pull themselves up by their bootstraps.” has been made more difficult for people not defined as white because it is extremely challenging to change people’s perceptions of people based on the cultural lens. Just because race isn’t a biological reality doesn’t mean it isn’t real. Being classified as Asian, or Black or Latino has never carried the same advantages in our society as being white since the start of colonization in 18th century.

    The long-term impact of denying the racial implications on equality can get worse and cause inequality. Since the beginning of colonization, the race have always played a part and If we look carefully, we can see how our institutions and policies have assigned racial identities and reinforced racial inequality throughout the 20th century and there is no end in sight.
    When we talk about access to financial resources, the story of the florists from the article reading comes to mind, which is about how the personal perception of a certain type of flower is given a certain environment to flourish in and the other types are biasedly grown in poorer environment, the results vary for each, the good environment leads to better flower growth and poor environment leads to poor flower growth, similarly, access to financial resources can have similar implications. People who are given access to access to financial resources can flourish better than the ones who aren’t given access to financial resources.

  8. There are a lot of advantages to those who are considered white and many disadvantages to people how are considered black, or of another minority in the United States. There is still racism today, which makes it harder for minorities to make as much money as people who are conceded to be white. When people have more money they are able to get access to thing people without money cannot get. The poorer in our society are a lot more limited, which end up affecting their families as will. In our society money is power, and getting it is a huge challenge for the poorer, but easier for the rich. The harsh reality is that some people have to work a lot harder in order to succeed in life because of all the extra obstacles that life has I store for them even before they where born, and a lot of times those obstacles have to do with the person’s race or something else outside of their control.

  9. How has this been made more difficult for people not defined as white?
    This has been made more difficult for people of color because there is policy that is and has been in place that singles out non white people in a negative way and prevents them from gathering wealthy by making it harder for them to participate in things such as the housing market or banking in terms or getting loans or simply getting a job.

    What is the long-term impact of that denial?
    The long term impact is poverty the lack of access to resources leads to less wealth potential and less knowledge on how to use resources being past down to family members
    What difference does access to financial resources make in terms of your life opportunities?it makes a world of a different access to financial resources allows me to take more risks, acquire more resources and more education.

  10. Yes the concept that “anyone who works hard enough you will be rewarded” is true, we also have take into consideration that certain people have to put in more work than others. That people even if they work hard still won’t be rewarded as much as someone else even if they put in the same amount of work. Life is unfair in that skin color and upbringing determine the amount of work/effort a person needs to “succeed” in life. In this example of the American Dream a white man can achieve success with less work compared to the minority. This is because the minority (non whites) are often oppressed by social norms and discrimination. The long term impact of this is that it causes the minority to constantly have a lower starting point towards the American Dream compared to their white counterpart. While lack of financial resources can cause people to have missed opportunities or lead to harsher sacrifices in order to obtain the opportunities.

  11. Non-whites have a disadvantages compared to whites because even if you do so much work and you work your way to the top it wont be the same compared to whites where they will do less work and end up where non whites did so much work for and its unfair just because your not defined as white. The long term impact of this will continue to keep on affecting future generations and the problem will never change. Access to financial opportunities gives you more opportunities in life and in jobs compared to someone who does not have the same financial opportunities where they wont have the same equal opportunities to someone who does have.

  12. Some individuals not defined as white are subject to discrimination which can obstruct their success in this country. The long term impact of this discrimination is economic in nature; with discriminatory practices nonwhites are destined to be impoverished and we all know poverty leads to crime. Access to financial resources makes a great difference in one’s life. These resources provide stability in all aspects of life whether it be housing, diet, health etc. Education which enables people to overcome poverty cannot be attained without access to financial resources.

  13. This has been made difficult to people whom are not white due to the fact that a stigma is portrayed behind the other races. They are discriminated against and is said to bring down the value of a community. The long term effect is the fact that it makes it harder for non white to be successful economically. The minute african americans or other races start to move into a white community, the value is considered to go down and we hear this daily presently. Having access to financial resources means one is able to avoid poverty, send their kids to better school, be able to provide for their family in a better way and not be thrown to the side in communities considered to be run down or slums.

    What difference does access to financial resources make in terms of your life opportunities?

  14. When people are not defined as white, they have difficulties getting jobs, jobs, buying house, etc. A great example is in the movie, when the black veteran goes to the suburbs and inquiries about buying a house and the salesperson tells him that the owner is not selling to Negros. In the long run, America may say it’s colorblind but everyone one knows that racism is real and exist to this day. Basically if you’re not “white” you can’t live in the good neighborhood, you can’t buy the good houses, and you can’t the resources white people have. Not having the same financial resources cripples nonwhites in the sense that we can’t go to the good schools, which means we don’t get a good education and in the end can’t get the high paying goods and are stuck living in poverty.

  15. During the history of the United States, the deck was always stacked against anyone who wasn’t classified as “white” with laws that only allow white to have citizenship to receive all the benefits of being an American or governmental benefits for better housing in place. This cause every other race to either accept what was given or fight 100 times harder to have semi-good life. Having access to financial resources does a lot to any individual which will start the growth of wealth for you and your kids future. The fact that you can buy a home now and take the home equity to send your child to college or just use equity for retirement makes a big different in your life.

  16. How has this been made more difficult for people not defined as white?
    This has been made more difficult for people not defined as white because non-white are denied citizenship, and opportunities such as land and jobs. Jobs are limited to low-paying and heavy labor. Whites are given privileges, and opportunities. Whites have a superior position while non-white don’t.
    What is the long-term impact of that denial?
    The long-term impact of that denial resulted in White and non-white are segregated. Many urban places are destroyed and not replaced. Also resulted in having to establish public housing for the minority. The public housing was in terrible condition. The property value goes down when a black family moves in.
    What difference does access to financial resources make in terms of your life opportunities?
    In terms of my life opportunities, the access to financial resources make it possible to have a higher-education, more job offers, and better health. The minority group does not have access to the same financial resources. Having financial resources would give you more opportunities. Help for a better life style for you and your family.

  17. For those not defines as “white”, systems have been put in place to make success much more difficult. This includes job opportunities, access to education, access to homes in certain neighborhoods, access to financial aid and at some points access to certain public facilities. The people that DO have access to these resources believe that since it was/is easy for them there should be no excuse for anybody succeeding, despite obstructions in the non-white path.
    The long term impact is that some groups are able to accumulate wealth, while others struggle. This widens the wealth gap and further increases the limitations and exclusivity of certain resources. The effects of laws made in post civil war era United States are still being felt to this day.

    I’m unsure of the author of the quote, but an interesting and relevant statement:
    “To those that are privileged, equality will feel like oppression”

  18. Even if people work hard and want to succeed in life but are not consider or defined as “white” there are always going to be obstacles and disadvantages for them. They will always find themselves being discriminated in different ways no matter what they do or their economic status. I think that the consequence of denying people the right to be consider as white will create more racial problems in a long term. It can lead people, especially young people to go through the wrong path. It will also create. It can limit education and health insurance for a lot of people which will cause health problems. In my case, financial resources have helped to obtain a better and higher education, a health insurance and a positive future.

  19. This has been made more difficult for people who are not white because of the many discriminative policies that were created for the benefit of whites. Examples of the this the FHA’s redlining and their other policies that create ghettos.

    The long-term impact of this is that 1.) many whites do not see that because they benefit off of this system, and actually contribute towards the oppressive nature of these systems that give non whites limited opportunities. 2.) Due to the fact that many non whites are not fully aware or educated about these policies they fall into the matrix of the system that keeps them oppressed.

    The difference that access to financial resources make in my life is that by getting more privileges it would allow me to acquire wealth through owning a home, and that wealth could be generational, as long as the neighborhood remains in a state of prosperity. Meaning, everyone will have a job, and/or a business, some sort of asset. By having the revenue coming in, they would be able to maintain their properties. I will also be able to ultimately live a less stressful life, so that alone would enable me to live life.

  20. How has this been made more difficult for people not defined as white?
    *Well, according to the film its not that easy. “Whites” had it easier to own a house and own land.It was all up to the court on who was considered “white”. I picked up during the film that the court would tell you what are not the categories that fits in being “white” but not what being white actually means.
    What is the long-term impact of that denial?
    * The people that were not considered whites would have to work twice as hard and be living in conditions that they should deserve. Some would have the standards and better education than whites but if the court dose not approve ,it basically didn’t matter.
    What difference does access to financial resources make in terms of your life opportunities?
    * I can work and have an income based on my education and not my race. I have the right to take out loans and open any types of business of my own if want to

  21. The opportunity for success would be the other word for American dream. Being born into a non-white race is already an obstacle itself. An impact of being a race other than white is that it can be harder to get a career when compared to a white person. Access to money certainly makes an impact in one’s life. People who have low incomes, they are less likely to afford a high cost living. The long-term impact of the renunciation made people to suffer from poverty. Financial resources would be helpful to get a higher education and live wealthy

  22. People who were not white were given less opportunities to start with, which in the long run led to that particular group to do comparatively worse than their counterparts. If two people are handed the same things as a child, given the same opportunities educationally and financially, then they will usually have similar outcomes in the end. But when two people are given an unequal shares, then by default the person with the most will fare the best. Race part 3 even showed us how the government partakes in segregating people based on skin color when they color coded areas green for all white and red for mixed race area. The people in the green area had higher property value than the people of the redlined area just because more white people lived there. So, if a white family were to sell their property, they would make a bigger profit off of it than a black family, even if the property is the exact same. Things like that happen everywhere and lead to negative outcomes for non-whites. For this reason, the argument of pulling themselves up by their bootstraps is unfair and not applicable.

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