[Judah Coker]

For this weeks theme I chose a excerpt of lyrics from the song Chains by Usher. I first heard this song when watching the documentary 13th, and I felt like it really showed how people have been experiencing and fighting against these forms of segregation before larger society was seriously talking about it. The movie 13th is all about segregation of black and brown communities through the prison system as we physically isolate them and remove them from society, and these lyrics by usher represent that reality. I think that lyrical and musical representation of these oppressions, especially through hip hop, have provided a way to express the reality of these situations and maybe get across those ideas to the larger public for those affected by it.

Artist: Usher

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[Judah Coker]

For this weeks topic I chose an image from the movie Get Out. I think that this movie really represents the ideas of white space in an albeit extreme but effective way. The movie is all about black men and women being used by white people in the most extreme way possible, the taking of their bodies. While I believe this speaks heavily to ideas of cultural appropriation, there are multiple points in the movie that give reference to ideas of white space and experiences black folks or POC may have in white spaces. This image shows the one specific scene of the main character Chris being at his girlfriends family party where everyone is white and feeling uncomfortable and like a spectacle to all of the guests. He even goes up to the other black person at the party feeling relieved to see he wasn’t alone, like discussed in Elijah Andersons analysis of black peoples experiences in white space. There is also another scene at the beginning of the movie where another black character Logan King is walking through a white suburban neighborhood and expresses discomfort and even fear being in this space as a car follows him. I think this also speaks to this reality of white space as a system that fuels segregation making the intrusion of it by people of color a “threat” for the occupants and creating dangerous situations for POC.

Source: theguardian.com

Photograph: Justin Lubin

Movie: Get Out

Director: Jordan Peele

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[Judah Coker]

For this weeks photo share I chose an image of members of the Miwok tribe which is the tribe that originates from what is now Yosemite National Park. I wanted to do more research about Yosemite specifically because I have spent time there and while I very much enjoy the park I also was not conscious of the history. Living on indigenous land is an every day fact that I am usually at some level aware of but for whatever reason it is not something I have considered when it comes to national parks. I think I always saw the creation of national parks as something that was a good part of our past which is obviously naive of me. The Miwok people have inhabited the land for an unknown but long period of time, and when the park was established they were originally used as labor but then ultimately kicked out. It isn’t until recently that compensation is being considered in the form of renewed access to the land.

Source: onlytribal.com

Year: Unknown

Photographer: Unknown

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[Judah Coker]

For this weeks topic I chose a photo of an inmate helping fight the wildfires in California that took place last year. Inmates that participate in this program are paid $2 a day and when brought out for active service, $1 an hour. To me this speaks to the fact that the prison system is being used as a way to oppress and use those incarcerated to our advantage. We pay inmates a disgustingly low wage to do life threatening things, and then can’t even allow them a job once they are released. The article even said that most of those who participate in the program cannot get a job as a firefighter outside of prison. Programs like these are masked as rehabilitation programs that work to benefit the prisoners and teach them skills when in reality it is being used as a way to exploit the labor of those trapped in the system. These wages wouldn’t be acceptable in any other context but the label of felon is working simultaneously to cage and oppress poor people of color while also working them to our advantage.

Photographer: Josh Edelson

Year: 2018

Source: cnbc.com

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[Judah Coker]

When researching about modern day school segregation I came across this image/article which detailed the ways in which charter schools often reflect the most extreme levels of school segregation in comparison to public schools or even private schools. As shown by the image, a large percentage of charter schools in suburban areas are 99% white. When reading the article I saw that a big reason for this was that in an effort to rezone districts and encourage more integration in public schools, families if forced to change public schools as a result of these new zoning ordinances, will just go to the nearest charter school. This reminded me about what we talked about in class in relation to white flight and families leaving schools or neighborhoods in response to growing ethnic diversity but they claim it has nothing to do with race. In this case I think it would be hard to justify your reasoning for moving to a charter school in the wake of possible racial integration especially because the article highlighted how often times charters do not have high academic performance records. I also was interested because think adding the dimension of charter schools to it allows us to have a more productive conversation about the causes of school segregation today.

Source: neaToday

Author: Tim Walker

Year: 2018

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[Judah Coker]

I have chosen an image of a ghetto in South Chicago. I chose Chicago specifically because in “The Case for Reparations” Coates describes the experiences of a black tenant in North Lawndale, which is a neighborhood highly segregated in Chicago. Coates describes the experiences of this man who had moved to the city on hopes of more opportunities but ended up being taken advantage of and cheated out of fair housing like many others in his position. This man, Clyde Ross was the victim of predatory and discriminatory tactics that kept black people out of developed and fair priced housing while whites were able to flee to the suburbs. These tactics effectively cheated black tenants out of their savings as they were charged unfair amounts for poor housing and prevented them from being able to accumulate wealth as loans were strategically denied to those areas. This not only locked black communities into overcrowded and deteriorating neighborhoods with no way to escape but also kept them segregated from white people.

Photographer: Jan Voigt

Source: Pintrest

Year: Unknown

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[Judah Coker]

For this weeks theme: segregation, I chose an image which represents the housing segregation that still exists to this day as a consequence of tactics like redlining and restrictive covenants. These tactics effectively kept black and brown neighborhoods segregated from white neighborhoods, while simultaneously ensured the poorest conditions for neighborhoods with mainly people of color as they were overcrowded and underdeveloped. As we can see from the image, the white children are kept segregated in a mainly white neighborhood with safe and well kept conditions while children of color are forced into unsatisfactory conditions by limiting the means at which they can move out of the area or obtain the resources to help better their neighborhoods.

Source: rasingofamerica.org

Date: 2017

Photographer: Unknown

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[Judah Coker]

For this weeks theme, theorizing race and space, I chose an image which demonstrates the systematic and legal exclusion of certain communities based on racist ideologies of pure and homogeneous space. When talking about things like restrictive covenants in class, it is important to keep in mind how those things contribute to not only racist perceptions of those excluded, but restricted access to resources and social mobility. The conversation about the histories of restrictive covenants really allowed me to understand the foundations of modern day segregation even after they were outlawed and the lasting consequences. This photo serves as an important reminder of our history but also speaks to a larger discussion surrounding what practices and patterns are still in place today.

Source: Bronsevilleblog

Photographer: Unknown

Date Published: 2012

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[Judah Coker]

For this weeks photo share I chose an image of members of the Miwok tribe which is the tribe that originates from what is now Yosemite National Park. I wanted to do more research about Yosemite specifically because I have spent time there and while I very much enjoy the park I also was not conscious of the history. Living on indigenous land is an every day fact that I am usually at some level aware of but for whatever reason it is not something I have considered when it comes to national parks. I think I always saw the creation of national parks as something that was a good part of our past which is obviously naive of me. The Miwok people have inhabited the land for an unknown but long period of time, and when the park was established they were originally used as labor but then ultimately kicked out. It isn’t until recently that compensation is being considered in the form of renewed access to the land.

Source: onlytribal.com

Year: Unknown

Photographer: Unknown

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