Above image reads "Look me over, Buddy... I'm a real brunette!"
As I was researching this I tried to remember my first real encounter with racial divides. Although this is not the very first, I thought I would share it anyway. I was in second grade and I went to a mostly white Catholic school. In second grade a large family moved from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Champaign and they came to my school. One of the boys was in my class. I was a little confused at first why there was someone of a different race who had a rather thick foreign accent come to our class, but after about 5 minutes I got over it and went back to doing whatever second graders do.
I wasn't raised in a culture with these harmful pickaninny toys and cartoons that could influence my opinion of another person before I actually met them. Children are usually easily influenced by things they see on TV or play with. They have to have that new cereal because it obviously tastes better than the generic kind, because that's what the commercial said. If I had grown up in a place where these toys and cartoons were common, I probably would have judged my new classmate on things that may not apply to him.
Although racial prejudice is still out there, I think things like getting rid of these toys and making sure people know where they came from, and how hurtful they are, we are taking steps in the right direction.
I agree that racism is something inherited, not innate. Given these racial icons, I wonder what it would be like growing up a century ago. Considering the sub-human feel of these dolls, I think it would be easy for white children to learn African Americans are inferior to them from an early age. I like your focus on the child aspect of racist propaganda, as I feel that's when it hits home the most. It is much harder to brainwash an adult than it is a child. I think this is what made racism so effective for so many generations. While I agree that we have moved forward by banning such icons, I also feel it is important not to overdo it. After a certain point, emphasizing the racial aspect of certain things simply results in the further exposure of racism, and that's not ideal, either.
ReplyDeleteI think that you're right when you mentioned that our society is moving in the right direction. But I think that racism is still out there, it has just become a lot harder to identify and pinpoint. A lot of things which we take to be innocent and benign (ex. eeny-meeny-miny-moe) can actually have a racially charged history. So although there are no longer overtly racist tokens and toys sold to children, some forms of racism can still seep in and affect us when we're kids.
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy how our views are shaped so strongly by the world we grow up in. I remember my dad saying something about how "all true Asians eat rice!" when I was a kid, and for years I would pile heaps of white rice on my plate, trying to earn my place. I've stopped now because wow, that stuff has carbs, and amazingly I'm still Asian. Other views, however, were and are harder to drop. I can definitely see the danger in that. I'm really glad that classes like this exist, though, that allow us to really look at our beliefs and put a "why" behind the "what".
ReplyDeleteBeth,
ReplyDeleteit's cool that you included those images in your post -- I didn't completely understand if you thought the fact that they were eating those Southern foods (watermelon, fried chicken), was the way their parents neglected them, or because they were naked and unkempt... I am assuming the latter haha. I do agree with you that if their were some of these characterizations in place when we were little kids, our views may have been shaped more by those images. However, I still find it surprising how many jugements and assumptions I make on a daily basis -- whether it is about race or appearance etc (one common one that many people share is the way we look at tattooed people). I agree with Iulianna that racism is much "harder to pinpoint" nowadays, and covered up by things that it used to not be. I think our society is moving in the right direction in some ways, but in others, we are creating more excuses to be racist etc. Definitely good post and has got me thinking a lot! A couple questions around this topic that I definitely have are:
- Because we go to Uni, and are around more people who are "like us" (in comparison to a bigger public high school), does that contribute to the kind of racial blind we might have here, and is that really more negative than being around people of many different classes and cultures?
:)
I think that there are many different opinions about your question, but I'll answer to the best of my ability. I think that because we go to Uni there is some racial discrimination we don't see. There is also some social aspects we don't experience. I talk to some of my public school friends and they are talking about how their gum got stolen from their locker, meanwhile I leave my $150 pair of basketball shoes in my open locker. In response to your first question, I went to a private grade school where I experienced privileged white people. That is how I expected everyone to act, I expected everyone to have a nice car and fancy shoes, but when I went to s large public middle school, my theories proved false. I saw a totally different side of our city and I think I got a great education, and learned a lot about social and racial injustice. I personally think that we are missing some of that at Uni, but I think that most people at Uni are well aware of that fact that there is still discrimination and social injustice
DeleteFirst of all, Beth, great post! I completely agree with the points you make and also to the following comments. However, I would like to respond to Carmen's posed question. We actually discussed this exact question earlier in the year in our gender studies class. Uni High is considered to be a progressive school. If you walk down the halls, enter the lounge or warm something up in the kitchen you will encounter vocabulary that you wouldn't normally expect in a high school. Uni High students, myself included, also pride themselves on being progressive individuals and open-minded people. The small size of the school encourages us to interact with one another and also integrate into a common culture. We have friends from all cultures and walks of life. However, being around such a "progressive" environment has kind of desensitized me to certain notions
ReplyDeleteI am not really offended when someone comments about my race. That is because I assume that person is "progressive and open-minded", just like me. I don't ever think that he/she means anything malicious with those comments. In some ways that can be a good thing. Hey, I feel like I am at a school with individuals who respect me and my culture and although they may say some risqué things now and then, I am not offended.
Uni is a safe place for learning and the pursuit of knowledge and the individuals you meet can be outstanding. Unfortunately, Uni can also shelter us in many ways from the realities of the world outside. So an answer to Carmen's question is that I don't really think that racism isn't as blatant in our society as it once has been. But that viewpoint is also heavily influenced by my time at Uni High. We haven't been on our own in the real world yet. I think in a few years time, we will accurately be able to judge whether our society has progressed or not.
I definitely agree. I think that we grow up in a day and age where we are almost expected to laugh off racial jokes like "basic white girl." Or any other racial slur. I think that although it is nice to be able to learn in an unthreatening environment, I think that by forcing us to witness harmful racism we can form our own opinions and learn from it.
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