"Our
true nationality is mankind" -H.G. Wells
I decided for this post, I wanted to spend some time looking into what the main concerns with racism are today. The points I found are that white people are seen as the root and problem, black people feel alienated and stereotyped, and everyone seems to be stuck in not knowing what to do about any of it.
The first article I found interesting was from the Gaurdian online newspaper. (http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/nov/24/white-student-unions-campus-racism-protests-university-of-missouri). It is a story on white students at a university who begin small "white student unions." A quote from the story shows why these students were doing this. "UT Austin’s WSU describes itself on its page as a “group to promote the ethnic interests of white students and to protect us from BLM [Black Lives Matter] terrorism”. The spokesman said the group started as a collection of like-minded friends who began meeting to discuss topics like pride in white heritage and a sense that, in college classes, students are “drowning in an anti-white narrative”. This really turns the table on this heated topic that while the black students were supposedly trying to decrease racism attitudes at their school, they were in turn alienating another race. I thought this response from another reporter was a little unfair- “It’s a parody that wants to belittle the language of black student movements and to try to show them as ridiculous,”. My issue is why can't we all be proud to be the race and gender that we were born into, better yet why can't we all be proud to be human? Why is it okay for some races to be recognized and celebrated and not others? Is that not racism in its most obvious form?
I continued on looking for other examples or talks on racism and stumbled upon these two articles on the Huffington post written by the same author, Karen Fleshman who is Caucasian. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karen-fleshman/how-white-is-your-world_b_7772062.html) and (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karen-fleshman/yes-racism-is-still-a-problem-in-america_b_7732498.html). Before these two articles, she had written another one titled "white people- if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem." However, I am only going to discuss the two I gave links for. She talks about how white people are in this "bubble" and deny that racism even exists. I will agree that there are many individuals who feel that way but not ALL white people do for example myself and many of my colleagues and friends. She believes that white people need to be accountable for racism and take the necessary steps to resolve it. This is a direct quote from her second article- "They[black people] are understandably wary of white people, and our motivations. We are going to need to make the first move. And when we do, we need an approach that will not further alienate, but will begin to build trust." What most stuck out to me was the word "wary" which means to feel or show caution about possible dangers or problems. So was she implying that black people are afraid of white people in some way? If so, how is racism not a problem that we all need to work together to improve? Sure, I will agree that the white race is by far the highest populated race in the United States but is that really a racist intention or simply a demographic one? I really liked this comment on the article written by a black woman (as far as I can tell from her profile picture) that sums up my point of view, Keondra Grant · Lawrenceville, Georgia
I decided for this post, I wanted to spend some time looking into what the main concerns with racism are today. The points I found are that white people are seen as the root and problem, black people feel alienated and stereotyped, and everyone seems to be stuck in not knowing what to do about any of it.
The first article I found interesting was from the Gaurdian online newspaper. (http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/nov/24/white-student-unions-campus-racism-protests-university-of-missouri). It is a story on white students at a university who begin small "white student unions." A quote from the story shows why these students were doing this. "UT Austin’s WSU describes itself on its page as a “group to promote the ethnic interests of white students and to protect us from BLM [Black Lives Matter] terrorism”. The spokesman said the group started as a collection of like-minded friends who began meeting to discuss topics like pride in white heritage and a sense that, in college classes, students are “drowning in an anti-white narrative”. This really turns the table on this heated topic that while the black students were supposedly trying to decrease racism attitudes at their school, they were in turn alienating another race. I thought this response from another reporter was a little unfair- “It’s a parody that wants to belittle the language of black student movements and to try to show them as ridiculous,”. My issue is why can't we all be proud to be the race and gender that we were born into, better yet why can't we all be proud to be human? Why is it okay for some races to be recognized and celebrated and not others? Is that not racism in its most obvious form?
I continued on looking for other examples or talks on racism and stumbled upon these two articles on the Huffington post written by the same author, Karen Fleshman who is Caucasian. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karen-fleshman/how-white-is-your-world_b_7772062.html) and (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karen-fleshman/yes-racism-is-still-a-problem-in-america_b_7732498.html). Before these two articles, she had written another one titled "white people- if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem." However, I am only going to discuss the two I gave links for. She talks about how white people are in this "bubble" and deny that racism even exists. I will agree that there are many individuals who feel that way but not ALL white people do for example myself and many of my colleagues and friends. She believes that white people need to be accountable for racism and take the necessary steps to resolve it. This is a direct quote from her second article- "They[black people] are understandably wary of white people, and our motivations. We are going to need to make the first move. And when we do, we need an approach that will not further alienate, but will begin to build trust." What most stuck out to me was the word "wary" which means to feel or show caution about possible dangers or problems. So was she implying that black people are afraid of white people in some way? If so, how is racism not a problem that we all need to work together to improve? Sure, I will agree that the white race is by far the highest populated race in the United States but is that really a racist intention or simply a demographic one? I really liked this comment on the article written by a black woman (as far as I can tell from her profile picture) that sums up my point of view, Keondra Grant · Lawrenceville, Georgia
"It needs to be taught in every home
regardless of color. There needs to be an acknowledgement that anyone,
regardless of color and status, can be racist. Yes, there are people other than
white people, which includes black people, that are racist. A discussion is
needed in every home, because it's becoming a problem. Constantly pointing the
finger at white people as if they hold a monopoly on being racist, far from the
truth. Constantly pointing the finger at white people gleefully so we don't
ever discuss individual racism, but rather institutional racism, is a problem.
Nothing will be solved, issue continues, racism will still exist.
We can only improve "race" [there is only one race] relations if we admit how it affects everyone and what everyone can do to heal it."
We can only improve "race" [there is only one race] relations if we admit how it affects everyone and what everyone can do to heal it."
Now before any of those reading this think that I am denying that racism exists and is a delicate problem in the United States, let me clarify that is not the case. I think it is so wrong that so many people in this country are bias to those of a different race. I think it is awful that children of any race are being bullied because they are "different". I think it is scary and upsetting that some policeman are acting too rash and violent especially to those of a different race. That being said, I found some other talks and articles that bring things a little more into perspective for those of us who are in fact Caucasian. The first is a Ted talk by Rich Benjamin (http://www.ted.com/talks/rich_benjamin_my_road_trip_through_the_whitest_towns_in_america)
who shares his experience of visiting 3 of the most "white" towns in America. He refers to these towns as "whitopia" because they seem to portray a sort of sanctuary for white people. This one is a must see because ironically Saint George, Utah was the first place he visited. I sort of laughed when he said it but couldn't deny the truth of it because according to 'city-data.com' the percent of white people residing in St George is about 81% followed by Hispanics at 13.2% and blacks at .9%. I didn't feel as though he were bashing these "whitopias" as much as he was trying to show his perspective as a black man being immersed in this white community. He spent three months here and said that he felt almost exotic yet everyone was really nice and welcoming. It made me imagine for a moment if I could do that right now. Go to a "blacktopia" and feel like the only white person for miles, how would that feel? I'm sure I wouldn't feel like the community was racist however I do think a certain level of uncertainty and unfamiliarity would be great just like Rich experienced. I am not doubting that black people or any other minority race would feel uncomfortable here in Saint George however I would hope they wouldn't automatically assume we are bias or afraid of them and at the same time I would hope my fellow residents would welcome them and be kind and helpful, that is how I would act.
One more interesting point of view is another ted talk by Clint Smith, who is black.(http://www.ted.com/talks/clint_smith_how_to_raise_a_black_son_in_america) Of all the links and videos I shared, this is one I would recommend definitely watching, it is only about 5 minutes long and really powerful. It really supported my belief that your perspective and expectations on the world and in this case racism are not rooted in society, but in our homes. What the parents are teaching us, what they are showing us. What was being instilled in us as children and how do we now translate that into our adult lifestyles? I think the biggest area of improvement and where we can really start to advocate change (and I'm speaking as a parent myself) is re-evaluating how we are parenting and ensuring that we are doing the best we can to raise respectful, kind, and loving children who grow up to be respectful, kind, and loving adults.
My
final thought on this is that Racism is not defined as "white people
having an issue with and/or hating black people." Racism is defined as
{the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities
specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or
superior to another race or races.} I believe if we are ever going to resolve
these conflicts and misunderstandings with one another, we need to start
communicating better as well as being better parents. We need to ALL take
responsibility for our actions as humans and realize we need to start helping
each other instead of fighting with one another.
"Our true nationality is mankind." H.G. Wells
"Our true nationality is mankind." H.G. Wells
Hey Holly! I really liked your post. It was well researched. It is so interesting that St. George was listed as a "whiteopia." I can't imagine what it must be like to feel like an outsider here. I remember my sophomore year when I was working at swig some of the girls and I had noticed that on campus we seemed really diverse, but the second you walked away you would rarely see races other than white, or even some of our international exchange students. We all noticed it, working at such a busy place you eventually feel like you have seen the whole town.
ReplyDeleteSo, work with me on this, I'm trying to wrap my head around what you wrote about Clint Smith's poetry piece, "...that your perspective and expectations on the world and in this case racism are not rooted in society, but in our homes." Are you saying that Clint's father's concerns about how his son acts in society are rooted in his own racist perspective?
ReplyDeletePerhaps I interpreted his speech differently but the message I took from it was his concern that racism does still exist and while society is a major factor in that, our teachers and parents play a definite role as well. I don't discredit his father for what he did and how he raised his son because I think there was validity to it. However, I do believe if children are raised their entire life being told they are "different" and that they should automatically expect the world and society in general to be a certain way, how is that going to help solve the problem. We as parents, cannot teach our white children that they are privileged and better than others and to fear black individuals. In the same respect, we cannot teach our black children that they are different and lesser than others and to be cautious of white individuals. Both of these are very damaging to the core concept of what equality is and how to be human. I do realize that parenting only reaches so far until media and other factors impact ideologies in people as well but I think erasing racism in our homes is a good place to start. Hopefully I made sense in trying to explain my take on Clint's piece which I thought was very powerful and moving.
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