Clippers owner, Donald Sterling, has been caught in the act of classic racism. His personal assistant/girlfriend recorded him in his own home during a fight they were having. Sterling made the remark that she cannot bring a black person to one of his basketball games, even though she herself is African-Mexican American. Racism still exists today and will continue to exist if people like Mr. Sterling do not get the message that it is erroneous to think of another man or woman as a lesser human being because of the color of their skin. Donald says that, “People feel certain things. Hispanics feel certain things towards blacks. Blacks feel certain things towards other groups. It’s been that way historically, and it will always be that way” (TMZ Sports). In Toni Morrison’s novel, The Bluest Eye, she writes about the way that the black community felt about the white people in Lorain, Ohio. Racism itself has its own horrible effects, but when people of the same skin color begin to turn their backs on each other and discriminate towards their own people, it is worse than the typical racism between blacks and whites. However, when parents resent their own children because of the racial genes that they have passed on, the effects are far more destructive than just the oppression from whites. Aunt Jimmy was the adoptive mother of Cholly Breedlove. His birth mother, Jimmy’s niece, thought that she could simply throw away baby Cholly. When Jimmy saw this, she went outside and picked up newborn Cholly out of the garbage heap and saved his life. She was always blatantly honest with Cholly, and she told him the truth when he questioned the truth about his real mother and father. “He wasn’t nowhere around when you was born. Your mam... ... middle of paper ... ...decreased over the years. It may be more subtle and more occurring in private settings, like Mr. Sterling’s home, but it is still present today. The thing is that black people will fight racism when it is coming from whites, but on the other hand when it comes from lighter skin tones of the black race, they will sit watching it torture them from the inside-out. Claudia, Frieda, and Cholly were given not perfect, but semi-normal childhoods where they could grow up and live an ordinary life. Sadly, Junior and Pecola mentally suffered from their lack of whiteness and were punished by their unloving and unforgiving mothers. Works Cited Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eye. New York, NY: Vintage International, 2007. PDF. TMZ Sports. "Clippers Owner Donald Sterling to Girlfriend: Don't Bring Black People to My Games (Audio)." YouTube. TMZ, 25 Apr. 2014. Web. 6 May 2014.
Walter LeFeber's book serves as a cornerstone of reference for its content as it relates to race, black business and the expansion of global capitalism since the late 20th century. With regard to race, it shows how race effected middle-class Michael Jordan at a young age and how he grew in the star he became, yet still could not es...
One of the major stands that were made during a black athlete’s tenure during his or her sport were their statements on racism. Racism in America was an ongoing situation in the 1900’s that seemed to have no resolve before black athletes took a stand. One prime example can be Jackie Robinson who became the first African-American athlete to play baseball in the modern era. Jackie grew up in one of the most racist towns in Pasadena, California and came from a poor family as his parents were sharecroppers and...
Based on the title of the book alone, it is easy to say that racism is one of the many social issues this book will address. Unlike the normal racism of Caucasians versus African Americans, this book focuses on racism of the black elite versus African Americans, also known as colorism. Colorism is the discrimination against individuals with a dark skin tone, typically by others of the same racial group. Margo Jefferson says, “Negroland is my name for a small region of Negro America where residents were sheltered by a certain amount of privilege and plenty” (p. 1).
In society there are always people who act like they are the great white father. When someone is called out for being a great white father, it is used to describe someone who abuses their high position to control the people that work for them. Someone who acts like that in today’s society is former NBA Clippers owner Donald Sterling. Sterling is a prime example of what a modern day Brother Jack or Mr. Norton is like. In Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, white dominance is further portrayed by Brother Jack who controls the brotherhood and is using it to achieve his own selfish goal, but pretends to be helping the black people gain equality on the outside. In both the book and today’s society, there are people
...ack American. Whites of both urban and rural sectors of the country relied on their families during good and bad times. They were tightly knit and wanted to see them grow up to be the best they could be. Blacks of the South were left to grow up on their own, and were treated violently by both blacks and whites alike. All of them saw the world in their own way, and thus instead of wishing the best of others, simply wanted others to follow their own ideals. The key differences between the experience of whites and blacks can be found within the mentality of the family, the extent to which they were influenced by their families in their respective lives, and the shielding from the outside world, or lack thereof, by their families. Only the passage of time would tell if this manner of being would ever change.
Cholly has trouble expressing the care he has for his daughter Pecola. Cholly’s twisted attempt to show affection to his daughter is through sexual intercourse. In this scene, Cholly demonstrates his internal battle, “the hatred would not let him pick her up, the tenderness forced him to cover her” (163). He encounters these mixed feelings in a state of liminality when he leaves her on the kitchen floor covered by a blanket. Cholly thinks he shows her the only loving attention she has ever received, he touches her when no one else would, and he also took pleasure in a body everyone calls ugly. Cholly’s rape of his own daughter culminates, as his surname implies, he can only breed, not love. His aggressive act against his daughter leaves her with nothing but her fantasy of having blue eyes, thus leading to her
Jordan attends an elite private school and an exclusive summer camp. So as much as I want to believe that our upper-middle-class status will protect my son from many of society’s social ills, it could not provide him the white privilege he seeks.” (Canedy 887 )Even though Canedy sent her child to a private school and lived in a big house, she believes that the racism wouldn’t affect him. similar to canedy, Chung worries about racism affecting her children Chung wanted to keep people with racist comments away from her kids. “I consider my children, who probably aren’t tracking this conversation — not just because they don’t watch the television show in question, but because they are still young and, for all our intra-family conversations about racism, they do not yet expect to encounter it in their everyday lives. I generally try to push back when someone says something offensive in their earshot, especially when it’s something I think they might understand.” (Chung) Canedy’s son being afraid of accepting his race is a good example of the problems racism causes the color people to want to be “white” because they have many opportunities that color people don’t if we go back to segregation the whites were able to go to good school and have nice house while “color” wasn’t able to, Many “color
The “big” problem is Donald Sterling. Late April TMZ reported the racist remarks, the NBA investigated almost immediately, releasing statements and more about why the argument between Donald Sterling and his girlfriend was started by a social media website, Sterling’s girlfriend, V. Stiviano, posting of picture of her and Erving “Magic” Johnson, and bringing African-Americans to his games.
The book “why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria”, written by Beverly Daniels Tatum, Ph.D., Adresses the situation of racism and how it effects everyone blacks and whites. This Book was intended to inform adults. Adults do not tend to educate their children of the facts of racism and the seriousness of it. Sometimes adults are scared they might create a problem rather then to fix it. Beverly wrote this book to educate educators that way they can better teach or train. In certain situations kids don't understand or know how to react because they have not been told the truth on what was happening. The impact of racism begins early. She uses her own circumstances to connect with her audience using ways that she had to deal with certain racial
Although the early years of television in 1950’s saw some diversity and visibility of African Americans, they were always portrayed and subservient roles to white Anglo-Saxons. Most of this racial diversity stemmed from the legacy of radio where numerous ethnicities were portrayed in accents and dialects, many radio shows were transferred to television. Not only were black Americans portrayed in subservient roles, they also performed very stereotypical acts like the submissive Uncle Tom character, or the overweight black maid. “For most fictional programs of the 1950’s, black characters functioned to support white characters, offer comic relief at their own expense, and passively justify a segregated American society.” (Television and American Culture, Jason Mittel, pg 317) One example of this would be the television show Amos ‘n’ andy where the producers hired and all-black cast to portray the minstrel acts that the radio show had been known for. In the show, the characters were highly stereotypical in their antics; usually every character was either a crook or an out of work lazy man. It’s no surprise that many African American viewers took great offens...
Marie, who is a product of an abusive family, is influenced by her past, as she perceives the relationship between Callie and her son, Bo. Saunders writes, describing Marie’s childhood experiences, “At least she’d [Marie] never locked on of them [her children] in a closet while entertaining a literal gravedigger in the parlor” (174). Marie’s mother did not embody the traditional traits of a maternal fig...
Classism has existed for many years within the Black community. It introduced its self to the slaves and has continued to reveal its self to Blacks well into the 21st century. Having a great presence within the Black community, classism has caused a disunification within the Black community. In the years of slavery the house Negro considered himself better than the field Negro. Today the middle-class black considers himself above the lower-class black. Both the house Negro and the middle-class black family have strived to disassociate themselves from those Blacks of lower status. Consequently, Blacks have suffered a great separation among their community.
Racism against African American began in the American society during the seventeenth century, when the practice of slavery started to flourish in the South. Racism is “a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one’s own race is superior and has the right to rule others.” (Dictionary.com) Over the centuries, efforts have been made to equalize the lives of African Americans to their White counterparts. Though acclaimed that the days of racism against African Americans are over, it is infused in all parts of American life and therefore still affecting the victimized. The stratification of racial classes of olden days has left a mark in today’s society. African American racism though said not to be present today has influenced discrepancies in economic classes, self-esteem, and perception of one another, and stereotypes that affected the victimized.
Historical and sociological research has shown, through much evidence collection and analysis of primary documents that the American sporting industry can give an accurate reflection, to a certain extent, of racial struggles and discrimination into the larger context of American society. To understand this stance, a deep look into aspects of sport beyond simply playing the game must be a primary focus. Since the integration of baseball, followed shortly after by American football, why are the numbers of African American owners, coaches and managers so very low? What accounts for the absence of African American candidates from seeking front office and managerial roles? Is a conscious decision made by established members of each organization or is this matter a deeper reflection on society? Why does a certain image and persona exist amongst many African American athletes? Sports historians often take a look at sports and make a comparison to society. Beginning in the early 1980’s, historians began looking at the integration of baseball and how it preceded the civil rights movement. The common conclusion was that integration in baseball and other sports was indeed a reflection on American society. As African Americans began to play in sports, a short time later, Jim Crow laws and segregation formally came to an end in the south. Does racism and discrimination end with the elimination of Jim Crow and the onset of the civil rights movement and other instances of race awareness and equality? According to many modern sports historians and sociologists, they do not. This paper will focus on the writings of selected historians and sociologists who examine th...
Even though many organizations claim to be about equality and respect for their players and even their spectators—of color. It becomes evident that respect and equality is not the priority of the organization, which are headed by majority White males. For example, in 2014, the Atlanta Hawks, a sport organization with a roster majority of young Black men and its fans being nearly 70 percent Black came under criticism and investigation for racist comments made via email and phone conference. The racist comments that were made were by former Hawks owner, Bruce Levenson, and Hawks GM, Danny Ferry; Both White men. Both Levenson and Ferry were involved in two race controversies. Former Atlanta Hawks’ owner Bruce Levenson sent out an email to other Hawks CEOs stating that the audience and it entertainment (the team, cheerleaders, halftime talent, music selection, etc.) are all Black. Levenson continued to say in his email that because the audience and entertainment were majority Black, it was scaring aware White fans and investors from coming to the games (Joesph, 2014, USA Today. On the other hand, Hawks’ GM Danny Ferry was recorded during a conference call making defamatory remakes about free agent, at the time, Luol Deng who the Hawks were trying to acquire. During the call, Ferry professes that “ ‘[Deng] has a little African in him’ ”(ESPN.com). In the