First Semester Speech

Caroline Jones

December 15, 2014

USH

First Semester Summary Speech

            I was pleasantly surprised to learn about several events in the history of the United States, one of which being the role sports played in the consumer society. Sporting events are a great way to spend time with friends and to stay active, and this was the first time they had viewed leisure positively.  Theodore Roosevelt had a positive view on sports, but created new rules to ensure the safety of the players. He even hosted a white house meeting based around it. I was surprised that a president played such a large role in beginning organized sports, even though it is one of the most important topics throughout history. Football was an organized sport in college, which is why it is a more elite sport. 

            When I learned about the way business owners treated their employees, I was unpleasantly surprised. I believe that if a manager wants their worker to do the best job possible, they must respect each other. In the emerging industrial age, workers were worked until they physically could not go any longer, or until they were injured. Strikes were the only way these workers believed they would get noticed, even though the strikes were rarely effective. In instances such as the Pullman strike, the workers wages were cut and rents raised. The employers did not give their workers realistic living conditions.

            I will be able to discuss assimilation ten years from now, because it was interesting to learn about. This topic is one that I can relate to my every day life. I had not previously thought about how we wrongly use other culture’s religious symbols and print them on to common fashion items. I remember learning about the white people wanting the Indians to become Christians and forget their ways. This is important, because we need to be aware of other cultures so that we do not offend them.

            Race is a topic Americans have struggled with in the past and continue to struggle with today. At the conclusion of the civil war when African Americans were first granted their freedom, it did not make things easier. If anything, it made their life much harder because once they left their plantations there was nowhere for them to go. Most of them only possessed the clothing that they were wearing, and few had ways to work for money. Even though they were free, the gaps between the blacks and whites were very definite. Still today in the United States, neighborhoods are separated by various ethnic groups.

            I would name the era from 1865 until 1920 “The Rise to World Dominance”, because in 1865 the United States was taking the first few steps to begin to rebuild the south after the Civil War and in 1920 America was the wealthiest country in the world. Soon after Reconstruction, the United States began to expand further west, gaining more land and natural resources. The economy began to boom with the help of new raw materials, rising labor supply, technological innovations, entrepreneurs, a government willing to assist the growth of a business, and a large domestic market for manufacturing products. I was impressed with the adversity that the United States had to conquer, and it taught me a great lesson to always work hard for what I want.

Thinking About Success

In rank of importance: Skill, Hard Work, Opportunity, and Luck
   
     I rank skill first when thinking of success. Skill is the most important factor, because without it, it's impossible to be good at something. I rank hard work over opportunity, because I have encountered first hand people who do not succeed, yet have great opportunities handed to them. The difference in winners and losers is the effort the winners put in compared to the losers, even if the losers have been handed a maybe undeserved opportunity. I rank luck at the least important, because luck is just a saying, it's not actually a concrete thing. If a person does not have talent combined with hard work and opportunity, and still wins, it isn't because of luck, it's because they actually have talent, hard work, or an opportunity.

Exploring Business and Clothes Industry

My family's dinner table conversations have always involved business innovations and how to do improve on today, tomorrow. Reading these articles for me was things I'm used to hearing, such as taking new approaches on things, and constantly innovating the strategies yet remaining true to the companies strong foundation. For a retail business to be successful, they need to always have the customers wants in mind, and do all to their ability to make the customers experience with the company memorably impressive compared to others. Reading about the production of clothing was a new topic I learned today. I hear about car companies, which is quite similar to clothing, production always being prepared for the next new trend, but I have never learned about what goes in to the production. Zara and Uniqlo take different approaches to their clothing line production, but maintain the same goal throughout. What are these companies doing to be successful is a question constantly coming to mind as reading these articles. In the Bloomberg article, Felipe Caro states the negitive possibles Zara could encounter: "As soon as they decide to localize, to have two brains, one in Spain and one in China, it will be a different Zara." It is unclear to me the ways that the split would change the company, and what the pros and cons would be. 

Letter Home

Dear mom,
   I miss you and dad a lot, but I couldn't be happier with my decision to move here. Baltimore is a great city and I have been meeting other immigrants that I've become friends with. The Americans aren't very welcoming, but I have found a great job. I'm working for a man who's family also moved here from Europe. We all stay in very tight knit groups.
   Baltimore has been hard to adjust to, because cities are so much louder and smellier than our peaceful farm. There are so many people all searching for the same things: a good paying job and to fit in. Finding a job was more difficult than expected due to all the others just like me. The waste disposal us nasty, and I do not think the town leaders know how to deal with it.
   Our culture is being assimilated by the Americans, which is challenging to accept. I know you always tell me to control the controllable , and I know that there is nothing I can do in this situation, because they never asked for permission, but it has been hard for me to stand by as they take advantage of us. This is a good home for me, but I feel as if I shouldn't live in a place where the people wear our religious systems without knowing the meaning. The best way for me to continue happily living here is to assimilate with their culture and try my best to fit in. I hope all is well.
Sincerely,
Caroline

Native American controversy in Fashion Industry

Caroline Jones

October 28, 2014

Appropriation Controversy in the Fashion Industry

            Fashion innovators look to the past for inspiration, which recently has led to major disputes. Native American labels, motifs, symbols, and products are the latest trend in the fashion world. Many well-known companies are appropriating the Native American culture, taking ideas for their own use without permission, and “playing Indian” for profit.  The Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1935 clearly addresses that imitating a government trademark or offering to sell any goods as if they were Indian products are guilty of a misdemeanor. The American fashion industry has for years and still today illegally and wrongfully used motifs, symbols, and products of the Native Americans. Urban Outfitters, Gwen Stefani, and Victoria’s Secret have misrepresented Native American culture to the public and ultimately withdrawn these products with an apology.

            The American band, No Doubt, produced a music video for their song “Looking Hot” with a wild-west theme. The music video features Gwen Stefani on horseback decked in Native American attire, a party in a saloon, a gunfight, teepees, smoke signals, and even the band dancing around a fire. The music video is stereotyping their culture, and disrespects many Native cultures that the producer of the video does not understand. It showed their culture the way as Hollywood does, which is misrepresenting their heritage. Adrienne Keene speaks about how the appropriation makes it difficult to be seen as a live culture: “[…] to be seen as modern, successful people if we are continually represented through plastic tomahawks and feathers.” No Doubt pulled the racially insensitive music video after Native Americans pointed out that it was mocking their culture, and they were using native-designs for profit.

            Urban Outfitters is just one of the many stores that are marking items as “Navajo”, when Navajo does not handcraft the items. This not only violates their trademark law, but it also misinterprets southwest native cultures. The prints may be beautiful, but they also contain a religious significance. It is insensitive when big name companies, such as Urban Outfitters, create an entire line of panties and flasks using this sacred imagery. The Navajo Nation attorney general speaks of the controversy: “[…] undermines the character and uniqueness of the Nation’s long-standing distinctive Navajo name and trademarks.” Urban Outfitters removed this line from their collection, and released an apology to the Native people.

            Victoria’s Secret’s supermodel, Karlie Kloss, sported a floor-length headdress, a leopard-spotted bikini, and turquoise jewelry as she strutted down the runway at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. This ensemble holds minimal resemblance to traditional Native American apparel, yet again falsely representing their society. Victoria Secret makes it seem as if there’s only one tribe, when there are over five hundred tribes all with different cultures. The Native culture is a existent culture today and not stuck in the past, “They are byproducts of systemic racism that perpetuate the idea that there’s no such thing as contemporary Native Culture.” Victoria Secret followed with a formal apology, and removed this attire from their collection.

            The American Fashion Industry has misrepresented the Native American’s to the public for years and still today. They have illegally and wrongfully used these products, which is illegal according to the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1935.

Victoria's Secret model, Karlie Kloss, wearing a Native American style headdress on the runway.

No Doubt's music video for their single, "Looking Hot".

Gwen Stefani in the "Looking Hot" music video standing in front of a teepee.

Urban Outfitters marking items as Navajo. 

Urban Outfitter's "Navajo Flask".

Caroline Jones

Works Cited

CNN

I used this source to educate myself on the cons of fashion industries using Native American’s designs without permission. This website offers recent examples of well known companies appropriating Native American culture, such as Victoria’s Secret and Urban Outfitters, as well as No Doubt’s wild-west themed music video.

The Daily Texan

The Daily Texan provides first hand information about how people of Native American heritage feel about the Urban Outfitters controversy. I used it to strengthen my argument on the legal issues behind naming their label “Navajo”.

Native Appropriations

I used this primary source to support my argument on why it is offensive to wear a Native American headdress. It provides a clear, and first hand, explanation of why these dispute's we may overlook everyday, are extremely offensive to their culture.

Last Real Indians

This blog was used as a primary source, and it educated me on the way No Doubt's music video personally offended Native American's. It offers quotes from other Native Americans, as well as the writer, Linda Tioleu's, personal opinions. It was the first source to make a statement about the lyrics having no relation to the culture. 

Indian Arts and Craft Board

I used this government site to learn the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1935. I found specific laws that protect Native American culture against fashion industry appropriations. This website provided proof that Urban Outfitters, Victoria Secret, and No Doubt broke the laws of the Act.

The Daily Beast

This article provides a specific description of No Doubt's music video, and the problems Native people have found with the video. It also has a quote from NCAI's Robert Holden commending the band for removing the video, because he knows the production was costly and timely. There are useful quotes of arguments on whether the music video is or isn't racist. 

Film Essay

Caroline Jones

September 15, 2014

Mrs. Lawson

In Class Essay

Learning through a textbook is how the majority of teachers teach their students new information.  It is easy to get lost and confused while reading a textbook, so most students convert to memorization over physically understanding a topic. In my history class this year, we have watched Glory and Twelve Years a Slave. I have learned more about the Civil War and slavery by watching these two films, than I would have if I memorized from a textbook. It is essential to watch videos or films of historical events to get a better understanding of a certain subject.

            Ed Zwick, the director of Glory, intended for his movie to be used in curriculum. This film made 27 million dollars at the box office, which is proof it was entertaining. Although Zwick had to make a few changes to make it more compelling, and dramatic for those who are not history buffs, he did a fabulous job at making the viewer feel present in the scenes. The screenplay of the movie was based on Colonel Shaw’s letters, which helps students to understand the real circumstances during the Civil War. Eventhough Glory has a mix of fiction and nonfiction information, but the fiction scenes are not off-the-charts false. They could have very well happened, but there is no official record of it. This film demonstrations the perseverance of soldiers, which is clear to the students in the classroom. The battle scenes explore the real bravery in those soldiers fighting in hand-to-hand combat, which is common in the film and reality. The attack on Fort Wagner, the climax of the movie, is very similar to the actual battle, proving to the student just how horrific war can be.

            The movie 12 years a Slave depicts life in slavery. Soloman, a free talented black violinist, is enslaved and kidnapped by two white men who convince him to work for the circus. John Ridley, the writer, “sticks with the facts” while writing this educational yet gruesome film. The filmmaker, Steve McQueen, is driven to engage people about the visuals of slavery, “no sugar coating”. The makers of this award winning motion picture, explain their desires’ of explicitly to interviewers in order to respect Northup and his family. Students gain analytical skills by watching this film to notice the fight for dignity and soul, and as McQueen explains Soloman’s desires, “it’s a war for his spirit.”

            Students benefit from watching historical films, because they feel as if they are present during these events, giving them a better understand about the truths of history. Their skills develop in analytical thinking, and their focus is kept while watching a film in class. Historical movies are a positive learning tool for the classroom, by increasing the students understanding of a certain time.

Works Cited

"12 Years a Slave." IMDb. IMDb.com. Web. 09 Sept. 2014.

Cieply, Michael. "An Escape From Slavery, Now a Movie, Has Long Intrigued Historians." The New York Times. The New York Times, 22 Sept. 2013. Web. 09 Sept. 2014.

"Glory Awards." IMDb. IMDb.com. Web. 09 Sept. 2014.

Shoard, Catherine. "Steve McQueen on 12 Years a Slave: 'It's Not about Sugarcoating History'" Theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media, 07 Sept. 2013. Web. 09 Sept. 2014.

Canby, Vincent. "Glory (1989)." The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 14 Dec. 1989. Web. 14 Sept. 2014.

"Ed Zwick, Director of Glory." History Net Where History Comes Alive World US History Online Ed Zwick Director of Glory Comments. Weider History, 13 Sept. 2009. Web. 14 Sept. 2014.

Kohn, Eric. "Telluride Film Festival Review: Steve McQueen's '12 Years a Slave,' Anchored By Brilliant Chiwetel Ejiofor, Is a Slavery Movie For the Ages." Indiewire. N.p., 31 Aug. 2013. Web. 15 Sept. 2014.