Yesterday and today we talked about how racism in Native Son was very apparent and discussed if we thought that the book still had the relevance it did in 1940 when it first came out. many people brought up many good points, and it came to the general consensus that racism is still a problem today.
After we talked about this I was watching The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He was talking about the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO. Usually he will show clips of Fox News, and other news shows that disagree with his point of view. He'll crack lots of jokes about how ridiculous they are. While he did crack jokes and show Fox News clips, he had a powerful message that left me thinking. He ended with "and that s*** happens. All the time. Racism is there, and if you're tired of hearing about it, imagine how f***ing exhausting it is living it."
As soon as the commercials started, I didn't care about the car commercial. Jon Stewart usually doesn't get this deep. He brings up many important topics, has some good opinions, jokes around, and is overall a very lighthearted show. When Jon gets fired up about something it is very apparent that it is a subject that he really has a problem with. While the commercials were rolling I sat there and my mind kept skipping from my own personal experiences of racism, to the discussion we had in class, to seeing it in social media. As Jon says "racism is there." Although things have gotten better since this book it published, things still could be changed.
While I haven't been called anything as offensive as the n-word, I have been called things like "stereotypical white girl," and "skinny ass white b****." I know that these things aren't nearly to the degree that other races go through, but it just shows that people discriminate based on race, if only in a joking manner.
Today Mr. Mitchell asked the class "How many people know a racist?" At first, I had to think, and then I remembered one of my friends in middle school told me that her grandmother wouldn't allow her to date someone, because they were black.
Another idea that was brought up was the idea that although racism exists, we are noticing the presence of it more, and it is becoming taboo to be racist. Within 24 hours I saw three articles about racism on my newsfeed. All three were about a white person putting down a black person. Although there were instances of other races being insulted, it seems that most of these racist instances that are in the media are black and white interacions. This can be traced back to the history of our country, which is where the n-word got its meaning, and why it is still so offensive to so many people.
So, although there is progress being made, there are still everyday instances of racism. We are making progress, and there seems to be pressure to be open minded.
It's pretty obvious that racism will never be completely eliminated from the world or even just the U.S. but it definitely doesn't mean we shouldn't work to reduce it. I really think we've come a long way from 1776 and even from the 90s. It seems every year we're exposing and raising awareness for more cases of racism, especially in today's technological era. It seems the best way to curb racism is to make it more and more difficult for racists to be accepted by society. It's worked pretty well so far but we can do a lot more. Education from the earliest age possible is key to raising open-minded minds for the open-minded world.
ReplyDeleteNice post, Beth.
I love watching The Daily Show with Jon Stewart as well! I think he does a very good job of using satire to bring to light problems in our country. Also, while I agree with Joon that it does seem that racism has decreased in recent years, at other times it seems worse. For example, everyone believes Bigger is guilty before his trial even begins in Native Son, and the way he he is treated is awful even if he did commit the inexcusable crime of killing Mary Dalton, and raping and murdering Bessie. However in Ferguson, Michael Brown seems to have just been shot because he was black. Reports have said that he was jaywalking and possibly shoplifted cigarettes, but whatever "crimes" he committed pale in comparison to Bigger's (I mean jaywalking? Seriously?). So recent events, if anything, make it seem as though race relations in America have worsened since Native Son's publication. While it's true racism has decreased overall, as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie said, "Racism should never have happened and so you don't get a cookie for reducing it." Anyways, great post!
ReplyDeleteI agree that racism has become a taboo, especially in the past few decades. When Mr. Mitchell asked if we know any racists, I really had to think. While I have my suspicions, I feel like those people don't make it as known as they would have in Bigger's time. I'm glad you brought up Ferguson, as I see this as a great reflection of the growing taboo to be racist. The ongoing protests and national opposition towards the situation really show that we've come a long way since Bigger's time. However, while the event has made way for a huge number of passionate protestors, the fact that there was a shooting in the first place is what's still worrysome. Michael Brown isn't the first victim of white on black aggression, and the fact that this happened not even a month ago really shows us that there are still some troublespots of antiquated beliefs in our country. I am glad that racism has become a taboo, and while we have improved significantly, I believe it may still take a long time for racism to be wiped out for good.
ReplyDeleteI wrote about this a little bit in my post on Ferguson and _Native Son_, but I am heartened at least by the greater attention that is being paid to these kinds of stories when they arise, and social media has a lot to do with this. Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown are now nationally (and internationally) recognized names, and in the wake of the headline-grabbing stories, we're seeing a lot of attention being paid to seemingly "minor" examples of racism in day-to-day life, stories that maybe wouldn't have gotten attention before. (Like the one about the filmmaker in LA who was mistaken for a bankrobber and cuffed and detained on the side of a busy street, arrested and booked, and eventually released with no charges. His crime was being tall, black, and bald, so he fit the description of the suspect, apparently.) And white people are seemingly doing more to expose the subtler forms of racism in everyday life. I just recently read a commentary by a woman who worked at American Apparel, telling how she was literally trained by management to "keep an eye" on black customers specifically. White "whistleblowers" need to call out institutionalized racism whenever they encounter it, too.)
ReplyDeleteDoes increased awareness mean that racism will decrease? Perhaps. It definitely seems a step in the right direction, as opposed to denying or ignoring the issues.
First of all, I agree, Jon Stewart is awesome. His humor cannot lessen the gravity of the topics he discusses, but laughter is the lifeboat on the stormy sea. Second of all, I once got into an argument with a friend over whether it is better to teach children teach children about racism -- educate them about its history, that is, not teach them to be racist -- or to pretend like it doesn't exist. When I was growing up, I had absolutely no conception of different races. Some people had different colored skin, but I thought nothing of it. As I grew up and learned more about this racial divide in our nation, I had trouble grasping it. I just thought, well, what's the big deal? Why does it matter what someone looks like on the outside? How do these people even think they have a justification for being so hateful? For a long time I thought that it could all be stopped by simply teaching children that there is no difference between one race or another (since 'race' is an entirely fabricated concept anyway), which is sort of how I was brought up. However, I've come to realize that it simply won't work that way. Racism is still a reality, and until it is no longer an issue in our society, we have to educate people. It can't be ignored, we can't pretend it doesn't exist. So, I agree, it's a good thing that there is an increasingly widespread awareness.
ReplyDeleteNice post! Although I love that the whole "pressure to be open-minded" thing is very true right now, I think it's sad that in a lot of cases it doesn't work. I'm taking a U of I psych class where we talked about belief perseverance- pretty much how once people get set in an opinion, they'll even ignore opposing facts that are right in their face just to keep their opinion. I've noticed this with my grandmother, who's been known to say some pretty offensive things about African Americans; even with all the progress that's been made towards becoming less racist as a country, there are still individuals that will reject newer, more open-minded ideas, just because they're so used to sticking with their old beliefs (which is pretty awful).
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