We put people in groups without even knowing. We automatically call a group a minority, if we would have never used that word in terms of racial groups we may not have as many problems. This term puts a label on the group before you can even think of anyone as an individual. It is interesting to think about this. I read a article about whites becoming the minority now. It was very interesting to hear that people do not want to bash white people for being the minority like others were while they were considered the minority. In the article it talked about people being aware of this and taking it with eyes wide open. This is a change that will take place i the next few years and we need to be aware of it. I still think that media will always affect the way we look at things and the bashing will not stop only because it is on someone else.
Do we realize what we are doing to certain cultures when stereotyping? How can we change the racism one step at a time? Will we ever be able to change? Will the media ever stop choosing one race to represent the "bad" in our society?
http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/22/opinion/anderson-white-minority/index.html
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ReplyDeleteStephanie,
ReplyDeleteI wrote on the topic of the Anderson Cooper video as well, and so totally found your post to be interesting and intriguing. I spent a solid amount of time reflecting on the clip once I left class too, as it truly covered such an enormous issue in our world. It amazes me how it's 2013 and we still struggle so deeply with racism in such high levels, and sometimes I don't understand how more progress hasn't been made. I thought your term 'brain-washed' was a pretty good descriptor, because I honestly don't believe - as you said - many of us even realize we're at least a little bit racist. We are though, and so recognizing it is the first step towards change. You pose a very good question asking why we put ourselves in the situations we do and why we continue to pass down such negative mindsets onto our children, rather than recognize where we're at and put an end to it now.
The Anderson Cooper experiment really had me thinking futuristically and about how I hope I can raise my kids in a different light than that. It was so awful seeing the African American children point at the light skin and say they were the 'nice one' or the 'pretty one,' and truly centers in on the problem. It shows how 'brain-washed' they are and how they've let societies cruel ways influence them enough to the point where they don't even see themselves as beautiful - and that's an extremely terrible feeling for our youth (or anyone for that matter) to be forced into experiencing. Children absolutely absorb what is placed in front of them, and it's been made quite obvious we aren't doing a great job at cleaning up our societal mess.
I feel that some of us (the more educated) realize what media and our surroundings are doing to us, though I honestly believe the remainder don't. People who don't take courses on the material or never land in a class of mixed colors and race are never getting enough exposure to realize what a concern it all is. Many choose to live ignorantly and sheltered, refusing to make their familiar strange or to step outside their normality and realize skin only goes so deep. I think if we pushed to spread more awareness and perhaps begin incorporating classes into high schools we could start making some movement, though I still don't know that I believe even that will do the job. Changing society as a whole is going to take a long, long time. These types of emotions and outlooks sometimes seemed engraved into us, not at all simple to fight off. Media filtering would be another good start.
Also - enlightening article! Perfect for our topic.
Cortney McCarthy