Mixed Blood

Eric Thai
April 29 2009
ANT 1001 / TV24A
Mixed Blood

Race is a social construct developed to divide people with similar physical features into categories. As a way to categorize people by physical characteristics it creates some false stereotypes used to generalize the all the people in each group. Jeffery M. Fish's ethnography discusses the term race as a myth, as a bad form of classification of human beings.

What I found most interesting in this ethnography was the way we humans classify everything in two opposites. Black or white, hot or cold, and lanky or rounded are just a few examples of the categories we form. In forming theses categories we then place things in one of the opposites without creating new categories for then one in between. This is much like the American term blood which we believe is passed down from our parents. If a child is a mix of two groups he or she is categories in the lower of the two groups. I understand it is within our culture to divide people into races but it is unfortunate how we have no control over what race we fall into. Even if someone is one millionth percent black, in our culture they are considered black.

Ever since I toke my first breath theses categories have been created. Male or female, black or white, there is no gray area in our culture. America has been enculturated in believing in the social construct of race, and this brings forth the ideas of racism and superiority. It may be difficult but maybe someday hopefully we can break free of the

Fish, Jeffery M. "Mixed Blood." In Conformity and Conflict: Readings in Cultural Anthropology, 12 ed. Spraley and McCurdy. Allyn & Bacon. 2006. 84-94 .

Baseball Magic

Eric Thai
March 25 2009
ANT 1001 / TV24A

Baseball Magic

Major League Baseball players have always been admired for their great skill. Whether they hit an outrageous amount of hits or pitch no hitter games, fans hope they can repeat their success each season. In George Gmelch's ethnography "Baseball Magic", he describes the many rituals each player goes through in attempt to maintain their success on the field. So even the players many admire, put their faith on rituals and magic.

Although I'm not a fan of Baseball, I am an athlete that hopes to maintain my success in Handball. This ethnography describes the many attempt to take control their success. Some examples include wearing the same clothes or not washing clothes which takes theses rituals to the extreme (Gmelch 132). George Gmelch also reminded me of some rituals and magic I have attempted but did not notice. During regular games of practice if I win intense matches with a certain pair of shoes, I would wear the same pair to a tournament. If I do a certain routine before a serve, I maintain that routine until it fails. I have found that eating healthy a week before my matches brings me more stamina during a game. I've also developed a taboo of not playing big ball when I'm about to play in an ace ball tournament. (Big ball and Ace ball are two types of handballs with different weight and bounce)

Overall I have learned in this ethnography to not let these rituals take over your life. I'm sure any athlete has some sort of routine that brings them success. The main point of theses rituals is they bring players confidence and focus which is the most important in a game (Gmelch 135). Like Gmelch says, if you believe in theses rituals and magics, most likely they will work.
Gmelch, George. "Baseball Magic." In Conformity and Conflict: Readings in Cultural Anthropology, 12 ed. Spraley and McCurdy. Allyn & Bacon. 2006. 126-135 .