This chapter helped me answer a question that has been discussed in a couple of my classes now, "Has racism really gone away?". After reading the personal stories about beatings and other types of racial violence, I feel that racism has not gone away. The tension between different races is still present in American society today. Even though more attention has been put on racism, I think that the hatred of people who are different then us has been too embedded within our minds in order to go away. Are there any factors contributing to this type of violence? The first thing that came to my mind was the media. Advertisements, movies, and television all bring some sort of racial influence to the table. For one, we do not see as many colored actors or models as white actors or models. We also continually see the same racial roles. This helps to influence who we think is superior and who we think is not as well as the types of roles they should play (profession etc).
This chapter helped me to reflect on previous instances in which I experienced first hand violence between different races. Growing up, I went to a private high school located in an area known for violence especially gang violence. Throughout my high school career there had been two shootings at the school down the street involving gang members of different races. My high school consisted of all white people except for about ten black people. I remember how the white students, including myself at times, thought that seeing a black person at our school was basically weird. Even though this situation did not exhibit any physical violence, it was more so a mentally subdued violence because black people were automatically looked down upon and thought of as out of place at the school. Even though their parents most likely had the same types of jobs and some even lived in the same neighborhoods as other white students, the shock of their presence was still there. In the chapter, it talks more about the prevalence of hate crimes and racial violence throughout time. I feel that my experience in high school is a perfect example of a starting point that eventually contributes to racial violence. If kids today are noticing others' race as the first thing they see when they look at a person, then it is apparent that race still matters a lot to individuals as well as a tension between them.
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First of: yes, racism is very much still alive today. I agree that we do not see as many colored actors or models as white actors or models, but I think it does more than influence who we think is superior. I think it is also just exposure. Often the white majority and the racial minorities are separated by neighborhoods, schools, class, work, etc. When people have little real life exposure to different types of people, it is often harder for them to understand other racial experiences unless they actively try to immerse themselves. I think a lot of racism is based on misunderstanding and fear of the unknown. People make assumptions to easily and fear things out side of their comfortable little worlds because they are different and they don’t understand them. If people take the time to learn, those differences that seem so drastic wouldn’t seem all that scary or strange. When people interact with people of other races they can have first hand experiences of their humanity and realize “oh, their human just like me”.
ReplyDeleteI experience a similar phenomenon all the time being a homosexual male. Some people meet me never having met a gay person and not knowing what gay people are like at all besides what they get from the media, which often is negative. They get to know me and realize that gay people are just normal people with different attractions then most people. That small difference is so big and scary and offensive after all. I have made several friends who once would have been considered homophobic before they had a positive experience with an actual homosexual in their life. That doesn’t mean I have them walking with me gay pride parades and advocating for same-sex marriage, but they at least stop making hateful jokes or remarks and see my sexuality as valid.
Not everyone is as open to giving different types of people a chance. In fact, had some of my friends not met and connected with me before they knew I was homosexual or had some of them not been put in situations where they had to get to know me, they probably would have avoided me and others like me. The suppressed kind of undercover racism, or prejudice in my case, you talk about experiencing at your high school is a difficult one to overcome. Opening people’s minds isn’t easy and there isn’t just one way to go about it. I do feel positive personal experience has a lot to do with it and negative personal experience often leads to stereotyping of the entire minority if that’s the only experience they’ve had.
This is a really good way to analyze the reading that you chose. I think by looking at current examples in our society, we can often find answer to questions like "does racism still exist throughout society?" And I think you are absolutely right--when racial tension and gang violence still occur because someone is of a different race, racism and hateful mentalities definitely still exist. What I gather from the analysis of the article you read is that the scholar agrees. Your post is a strong example of using our social position to understand and discuss a current social, economic, racial, political and gender problem
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Candice
I can identify with your high school experience. I grew up in a largely white-dominated town and our high school had a very small handful of students that were black, asian, latino, etc. I do remember thinking it almost out of place when I would see a black peer walking down the hallways. This article makes you question your own racist sentiments, whether you are aware of them or not. I'd like to consider myself free of racism, but I'm beginning to question whether or not this is even possible. In reality, don't we all harbor some sort of belief in the truth of certain stereotypes? Granted, we are all better educated than to start shouting racial epithets, but I think it's fair to say that everyone has some sort of inner demon to battle in this regard. I know I'm not perfectly innocent of this; that doesn't mean I think certain races and religions are superior or inferior to me, but I think as human beings we all have certain insecurities that we should attempt to confront.
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