Here are two videos that show racism in America today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNu-WZdHzaA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIVgMvuCM_k&NR=1
The first one has 3 white teenagers trashing a car in a park. The second one has 3 Black teenagers trashing a car in the same park.
The people at the park obviously see what is going on, and confront each set of boys. The people only call 911 once for the 3 white males trashing the car, while 10 people call 911 when the 3 black males are trashing the car.
Why don't both set of teenagers get the same kind of interactions with the people around them? Why don't people confront the white males as much as the black males? Why do they call the police 10 times as often with the black males than the white males?
Also, during the first clip, the black males were laying down in a car, and two people called 911 about them just laying in the car, afraid that they were waiting to rob someone. Why did they get more calls to 911 doing nothing than the white males who were actually doing something wrong?
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People have a discriminatory outlook on people that are any other color than white and assume the worst in situtations. This has to do with being color blind in a way because people say they are not racist, yet a lot of people are quick to judge and make assumptions on african americans, hispanics, and any other race other than white. If there were two suspects for a robbery a black man and a white man, most people would guess the black man. This shows there is still inequality in America and people have unfair outlooks on race. The question is how do we get over these inequalities? America has come a long way, but now racism is more underlying issue that people are "color blind" about. I personally have always thought people shouldn't even be described as black, white, yellow, purple and such because we are all humans, we all have the same bones and organs. The only differences are heritage and culture and I believe that the diversity of America is a really great thing that everyone should embrace.
ReplyDeleteI think people often assume the worst in people, even if they claim themselves to be not prejudice or racists, if they are of a different ethnicity from ourselves or other than white. In this situation I think that the people called 911 more frequently on the black males over the white males because people have this notion in their minds that black people tend to be more violent or dangerous and need more back up as opposed to the white males that probably would not cause as much harm. I think that this is a lot like the video we watch in class because of how people consciously or subconsciously judge and treat people of different races other than white not as fairly. It seems as though we will never get over these inequalities. Everyone is human and should be treated equally, but because of the notion we have about certain races and cultures, we unfortunately are quick to judge and act differently to the different races.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Melanie and Mckenzie are stating but also have a side note. When looking at the media, lets say the local news in specific, it seems that the crimes covered are majority people of color. The media puts spins on things influencing how people are reacting to certain situations. Looking back at Bowling for Columbine, while crime was going down, coverage was increasing. I think that peoples prejudices and discriminatory actions are the min reasons behind such actions but the media I believe plays a role. The crime rate for white people is similar to that of any other race but seems to be less known.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with steph. In these video's I think that is especially the case. Clearly ther are more reports with the black males than the white males. If there are more reports, that will be what is most reported on. It's really sad to say that if there is a white man and a person of color commiting the same crime, the man of color will be called out, and there will be some type of report on the nightly news about the incident with the man of color. If you were to break it down into one city, any city, you look at the make up of the city, even if the majority of the city is white people, the minorities will be reported on more for their crimes, when even the white people are commiting the same or worse crimes. I believe that no matter what color your skin is, if you are doing something wrong, I would treat those people all the same. A crime should never be overlooked no matter what color you are.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with the above four comments as well. The media has created stereotypes of African Americans to be very violate and committing crimes. This is very unfortunate because they are judged wrongly. Regardless of if someone states that they're not racist or prejudice, I’m sure they've done something that shows that. In the video one of the ladies mentioned that her husband had stated, "what if they had a gun?". However, this was never brought up with the white males. Although we'd like to think we live in a racist free and prejudice free America it's not true. This and other videos we have seen prove this point.
ReplyDeleteI agree also with the above also, but wanted to point out the lady who said they think they could come and do this in front of our children in "my backyard." With this statement alone she expresses the idea that the black kids are outsiders and should not be there. Yet even though this neighborhood is predominantly white, what would happen if people of other skin colors started moving in. What kind of reaction would she have. I almost wish the same set of people could have been tested to see their reactions, but at the same time we get a good impression of how that might go still. I still am amazed that the black kids sleeping in the car got the reaction they did. Really? Did they really look like they were about to "rob somebody"?? I know that's what most people plan as they sleep. These clips just show how a lot of people might say they are outwardly not racist, but as the saying goes, actions speak louder than words.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of the fear of people of different races comes from the media. We always see people of different races commiting crimes and doing bad things when we watch the news or read the paper. The media is a huge source of how we connect in society so if we see a black man breaking into a car on tv over and over again we are always going to assume when we see something suspicous in real life it is the same thing. Even though maybe people will not admit they have already prejudged a person of color it is very true. If we have these images and internal thoughts about them from what we have seen and heard from our media, we are almost always going to turn to those thoughts and feelings when we see them in public acting suspicious.
ReplyDeleteI thought these videos were really interesting, and rather disheartening to watch. This video made me wonder if prejudice and bias occurs at perhaps a subconscious level. I don't think any of the people interviewed in the second video thought they were being racist, or even having a prejudice against these three men. One woman in video even said she would have called the cops faster had the boys been white. But when you look at the patterns that emerged, it seemed clear between the 9 calls the black boys received and the 1 call the white boys received, that race was a factor. They consciously based their reasoning for calling the cops, or intervening probably based on the "De Jure" concept we talked about in class. The boys were outwardly breaking a law, destroying property that wasn't theirs. But what internal or covert factors caused there to be such a significant difference in the amount of phone calls received. This video just made me wonder what percent of prejudice and discrimination occurs in a person occurs at subconscious and conscious levels.
ReplyDeleteI too was disappointed with the actions that the onlookers took. I also think that Darcie makes a good point. I think that there is a huge possibility that prejudices happen at a subconscious level. Like Brittany said, because the type of stories that the media runs about people of different races are centered on violent activities, people are trained to think associate those people with those activities. That’s why there were calls made about the African American teenagers just sitting in the car. It’s like the onlookers were expecting them to do something wrong. But they would *never* suspect such a thing if they were White. I know that those people would not outwardly admit that they are racist, but still, they’re actions say otherwise.
ReplyDeleteIf racism and prejudice is subconscious, is it still racist and prejuciced? Why do you think so or not?
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with what everyone else has pretty much already said. People will be judgemental no matter what, even if they aren't racist, so when it comes down to it people will always report a person of color committing a crime whereas they may not so much if the person is white. I think it all kind of comes down to what Michael Moore was talking about in the movie. If you take a look at the news, you always hear about a colored, usually black, person doing something bad. People who don't interact with people of color might think that all black people are bad, or are out to do something bad, so hence their reactions when they do see something going on. It's really sad to say but I think that people will always be judged based on their skin color.
ReplyDeleteThe discussion that we had in class last Tuesday of whether racism still exists in America generated a lot of talk and I thought this link was interesting and poignantly speaks to how racism was so pervasive at one time. I personally think it lingers, and very predominantly in certain areas of the United States.
ReplyDeletehttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8318628.stm
What do you think? Why were the reactions against this author so severe at the time? You'd think that his enlightening time spent posing as an African American in the South would emphasize the unfair, inhumane, and inequal treatment.
After watching these two videos and thinking about the different treatment they received, it became clear to me that race does matter. Racial discrimination is seen everywhere. No one really payed attention to the the three caucasian boys but when the group was changed to three african american boys people seemed a lot more concerned. It was interesting to see the reactions that people had. It was also shocking that there was two calls for people that were sleeping in a car instead of more calls for when the boys were vandalizing the car. As people living in the same world i feel like we judge to easily. We judge by skin color and by what we have heard or seen in the media. Skin color should not matter but unfortunately it does.
ReplyDeleteWell when I think of racism and how it was defined in class as "the belief in the inherant inferiority of superiority of one group..." I don't think racism itself is likely to be subconscious. It seems racism in the past has often been very deliberate, such as slavery. I do however think that prejudice could potentially occur at level where we are judging based on preconceived notions about their race, without even knowing we are doing it. Discrimination is also acting on a certain belief so I think it too would be more conscious.
ReplyDeleteThis made me cry! It’s so disappointed to see, but sometimes the truth hurt and growing up in this world is not always a nice paved road for everyone. But why? I believe that in every race there are good people and there are bad people, we cannot let ourselves fall into the trap of assuming. Just because particular behavior is common in one race it not means that everyone who is a part of that race will participate in that behavior. Plus, if we look behind why certain behavior is more prevalent in a race we can learn why it occurs. I often believe that most bad behavior is caused because those who cause it want to earn respect and prove to others that just because society has set them up for failure that they are not dumb or are going to fail at life. Some of us will find others ways such as educating ourselves and finding our full potential to prove that point, however the sad truth is that not everyone has the opportunity to really find their full potential. Finally, all I have to say is treat everyone around you the same way you would like to be treated.
ReplyDelete