Vivian Lo's blog

Vivian Lo

Hi my name is Vivian and I was born in NYC. I am part Taiwanese and part Chinese-Malaysian. I spent my childhood in both Malaysia and NY, alternating every few months. I have a strong sense of cultural identity and I love showing off my culture, especially introducing food to my friends =)

A Successful Intergration?

In "Race and Community in Postwar Brooklyn", the Brownsville Neighborhood Council wanted to integrate white and blacks into forming the ideal and model community. For setting such a high goal for a project, they are commendable, especially considering the time period. They were not able to perfectly integrate the two races, but I still think it was successful. Even today its something that might be close to impossible to accomplish. People of different races don't live in complete harmony, there's still a lot of compromising involved.

A New Discrimination

New York City is a place that many people go to for more opportunities, including less racial discrimination compared to what they may have faced before. Yes, there may be less discrimination here, but of course it still exists. In our reading "Freedom Now", whites and Puerto Ricans were hired over black people. I'm sure people still do racist things like that, but it's done in a less obvious way, and there are many reasons that employers can come up with to cover it up.

Cultural Similarities

I think everyone has already touched upon what the two readings were about and have related it to their own experiences. There are many reasons as to why people of the same races or ethnicities tend to stay together. Seeing Justin's picture of him and his friends reminded me of my high school crew. I was part of this large asian group that tended to do everything together, from hanging out on weekends, doing community service, movies, eat lunch, prom, and senior trip. I wouldn't say that we bonded just because we're Asian, but rather that we're all interested in our Asian culture.

The Projects

The creation of public housing was a good sign because it showed that the government cared about its middle class. The government wasn't just building small cramped spaces that would cost it the least to build, it took people's needs into consideration and included community services and facilities. Housing Projects have a very negative connotation tied to its name. It is associated with lower class minorities and gangsters (or at least that's what I've been scared into thinking). As a kid my mom would warn me not to take the other route which would lead me to walk past the projects.

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