Tuesday, November 19, 2013
A Moral Regeneration: How Racism Still Isnt Over
During the Civil Rights Movement there were many victories for african americans. Legislative action coupled with the efforts of grass-roots activists helped change the lives and futures of many african americans. However, I still don't believe the war on racism is over. In today's society, an african american american can achieve any level of success any other ethnicity or race can. So what's the problem? I believe that the moral corruption is still a factor that is evident in today's society. For example, an african american in the US is subject to stereotypes, which can be hurtful and demeaning. I believe that at the root of stereotypes is a belief that is connected to moral corruption. In the business world, if an african american and a white male are competing for a high level job, i think that the african american cadidate has to present an even more impressive resume than the white candidate. Why? Because the the stereotype of african americans being less intelligent or less capable is still a factor that some people believe is true. I was recently in conversation with a black friend of mine who is taking a class where this topic is being discussed. He demonstrated this issue by saying "if a black dude and white dude have the same honors academically and the same accomplishments outside of school, the black guy has to present all these accolades, and then some, in order to break him/herself out of the barrier of a stereotypical african male."As we talked this issue became more and more apparent. This is a very tender topic, but it is true, and it is because; despite all the legal changes and progressive movements since WWII, none of these factors are going to change the belief system and morality of individuals. We are still in need of changing the morals of certain individuals that were corrupted since the very first day racism existed. The route we need to take to a moral regeneration is educating the ignorant on the black history of this country, and break away form the master narrative that is so prominent in today's schooling. After taking this african american history class I am walking proof that being educated on this topic can reveal an unbelievable amount of truth that has somehow been hidden from the world for so long.
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As President Johnson learned, you can't legislate open-mindedness. Those people who view one race as superior to another are products of the society within which they were born. I don't feel, however, that racism and stereotyping is necessarily a product of "moral corruption." Morality is relative, and therefore what is "corrupted" can be debated. What isn't debatable, however, are the racist conceptions of "blackness" that are perpetuated throughout popular culture: listen to contemporary hip-hop; watch any traditional Hollywood film or popular TV show; watch the MTV music awards--many of these elements take advantage of perceptions of "blackness" for their own benefit. Miley Cyrus is the most obvious example: Cyrus's recent performance at the VMA's lays bare both her own, and white society's, perceived accents of blackness (through slapping a voluptuous African American woman's behind, "twerking," and exploiting white perceptions of African American sexuality, Cyrus exhibited her idea of what is "black"). In 2008, many people questioned Barack Obama's "blackness" for these reasons--he did not exhibit the notions of "blackness" that society had come to understand through popular culture and media representations. I don't know if the issue at hand is a moral issue, or is rather an issue of popular representation that perpetuates these racist stereotypes for profit.
ReplyDeleteJust as we discussed in class, when "legal" discrimination ended, people began to use other rationales as reasons that African Americans were not to be hired, sold a house to, trusted, etc. Simply put, some people could not and cannot get over "blackness." This exact same racial profiling and racism still exists today. People create non-existent things that are wrong with someone in order to depreciate him or her.
ReplyDeleteThe discrimination toward Obama comes to mind. Because some people could not accept his physical appearance, they found other ways to demean and attack him. Specifically, the accusation of his birth certificate being fake as well as the accusation of his beliefs to be that of a radical Islamist terrorist prove to have been (and still be) key methods of attack. This is a direct example of what was discussed in class on Friday: because discrimination has become illegal by law, people are able to use other, more "subtle", means of attack to discriminate against someone.
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ReplyDeleteThere is no debate about whether or not the African American community experiences barriers in education, employment opportunities, etc., but I think that much of the racism we see today is an unconscious act. While there are certainly people who are very overtly racist, I would say the majority of people do not realize that they have racist ideas. I just made a post about a study where they sent out comparable applications for black and white sounding names, and the white sounding names were more likely to get a callback. I don't think employers looked at the application, thought to themselves,he/she is black, and tossed the application aside. I think that just black sounding names bring stereotypes, negative feelings ect, to the surface without one really noticing. I don't think these employers were being intentionally racist, thought their intentions do not make their actions any less racist. Race clearly matters in almost every arena of life, but people do not always recognize it. The idea of us being colorblind or post racial as a society prevents us from being able to break down our socially constructed ideas of race, and confront the unconscious racism that continues to play a huge part in African Americans lives. I think you are completely right that people need to be educated on African American history and "colorblindness." If employers for example became aware of an unconcious bias they had against resumes with black sounding names, they could actively confront this issue and effectively solve the problem.
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