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Race relation topics essay
Racial inequality topics
Race relation topics essay
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Roxane Gay, the author of this article, believes that Hollywood has a race equality issue. Also, she believes that the Oscars has a race equality issue.The opinions in this article are something I do not agree with. Roxane Gay shows a well thought out argument but she does not have a lot of hard evidence to show a true race equality problem. Leading me to not agree with her, on the topic of the Oscars having a race equality issue. I believe that whoever is deserving of a Oscar will win one, or be nominated for one. Actors and actress should be nominated for an Oscar based on how well they perform their role in the movie, not by the color of there skin.
The nominations for the Oscars this year were mainly caucasians. This is because they played
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This is the only job for the Board of Governors to do, decide who should win a Oscar. People can say that this not a good way to do the nominations, and that there should be no board. Within this article, Roxane Gay talks about a new rule that is going to be set for the board members. This new rule for the board member could help to get a fresh set of eyes on the Oscar nominations. This, in my opinion, will not change the amount of non colored people getting nominations for the Oscars. I believe this because by having just a fresh set of eyes does not mean there will be different opinions on who is the best actor or actress, these opinions could stay the same. The reason why these opinions could stay the same is because the board right now is nominating the best and that is what the new board would also do. Once there are more colored actors and actress there will be more people of color winning an Oscars and more getting nominated for Oscars. As of right now though there are very few strong colored actors and actress, and this is why actors and actress of non color are getting more Oscar nominations. Actors and actress of color will get more Oscar nominations when there are more actors and actress of color, right now there are larger amounts of actors and actress of non color, which is overpowering the actors and actress of
After watching the documentary “Race: The Power of an Illusion, Episode 1: The Difference Between Us” I believe the conclusion of the film is that Race has no biological base or significance, rather race was created by humans and then ascribed to biology in order to explain why certain groups of people shared similar traits. Throughout the film there are many pieces of evidence to support this conclusion. In the following paragraphs I will give an example and explain each of the four types of evidence which are all utilized in the film. The four types of evidence are, analogical, anecdotal, testimonial, and statistical.
The film Do the Right Thing is a film written, produced, and directed by Spike Lee. In the film the main character is Mookie, is played by Spike Lee. Mookie is a black male in his younger twenties who delivers for the neighborhood pizza parlor Sal’s Famous Pizzeria. The film takes place in the Brooklyn, New York neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant, also known as Bed Stuy. Throughout the movie we do not know if the weather plays a role in the story, but the tension between racial groups’ increases. We see tension increase within the Blacks and Hispanics, Blacks and Asians, and most importantly between the Blacks and Whites (Italian.) Sal 's Famous Pizzeria is a pizza parlor in the neighborhood that many of the kids in the area grew up eating.
...s that people like to watch other people who they can relate to, meaning people pay more attention when the person on screen is relatable. If this is the case this would mean that according to the statistics there is more Caucasian viewers than any other race thus, the money would go towards Caucasian representations etc. The first Disney African-American princess, Tiana was introduced in 2009 this made people believe that "the colour barrier is breaking down in Hollywood”. A majority of people may still see the thin line between Hollywood's "new" attitude toward race and their "old" attitude toward race. “The consolidation of a black presence in the movies and television did not signal the arrival of a post racial Hollywood any more than the election of Barack Obama in 2008 spelled the end of America’s 400-year-old racial drama.” Duke University Website (2007)
In today’s world, the American still has barriers to overcome in the matter of racial equality. Whether it is being passed over for a promotion at the job or being underpaid, some people have to deal with unfair practice that would prevent someone of color or the opposite sex from having equal opportunity at the job. In 2004, Dukes vs. Wal-Mart Stores Incorporation was a civil rights class-action suite that ruled in favor of the women who worked and did not received promotions, pay and certain job assignments. This proves that some corporations ignore the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which protects workers from discrimination based on sex, race, religion or national origin.
The book, Volunteer Slavery, is Jill Nelson’s account of the racial problems she faced as a Black employee in a White company. Working for the Washington Post was a terrible experience for Nelson whose race prevented her from fitting in with co-workers or agreeing with management. Alex Kajtar says, “...Jill Nelson's account of an authentic African-American experience is a disturbing, disappointing and upsetting image of present-day American society...” (Kajtar). Many people would agree with this statement if they read the book, too. However, the problem is that most Americans will never read her book, and will remain ignorant to the plight of the Black American. Thus, the problem is not that Blacks cannot assimilate into White society “properly,” it is that Whites prevent Blacks from developing their identity.
Although blacks have won Academy Awards for acting, screenwriting, and music production they still find trouble in getting quality roles within the film industry. (Common Black Stereotypes) Long before television and films were being produced, there were plays and different forms of entertainment where blacks were stereotyped. They were often played by white people in a demoralizing fashion. Over time blacks became seen as the same and that was bad people.
The Academy Awards have been an event many movie lovers and people a like, look forward to each and every year. It all started with a group of people in the movie business that just wanted to get recognition for being an artist and seeing movies as an art form. Who would have thought it would become one of the biggest events of the year, even eighty-six years from when they started it all.
Throughout the history of the country, America has been considered a fairly racist union. From the workplaces to the society, as an Asian, I felt there's a strong barrier between white and black people, although I felt a little bit of racial among us. In this essay, I will talk about the major racial issue of this country through out my experiences.
Nontraditional casting is also known as colour-blind casting and integrated casting. Non-traditional casting is defined as the casting of ethnic minority and female actors in roles where race, ethnicity, or sex is not considered. Watching Hollywood movies, there is much diversity in a movie depending on what the genre is. Hollywood looks for actors that fit the physical and talent description directors are looking for. Hollywood work with what they only have, not based on color. Hollywood actually takes advantage of the multicultural world. If they need an African American, American Asian, Indian, Mexican actor they’ll scout out for the ones they desire. It’s true that majority of movies and TV shows are Caucasian actors, that is only because this is America. If we were to go to Mexico, majority actors on movies and TV shows are Mexican and if we go to Korea, Thailand, or Japan, majority of the actors on movies and TV shows are Asians.
Those who deny the existence of the racism rooted into modern day Hollywood are far from reality. They may think that in the United States we are getting closer to equality when it comes to casting but we in fact are not. While there is the belief that America has progressed when it comes to social issues, the percentage of roles held by black actors in film and TV has dropped from 15 to 13 percent from the early 2000’s to 2011 (McClintock and Apello 2).
At the end of the NPR article they discuss the problem between keeping television shows diverse, “without amplifying the problems of stereotyping and prejudice” (Feld). Television shows feel that in order to a successful show with diversity, the people need to be cast-typed or take on every stereotype that is associated with that particular race or gender. The Erigha article discusses how, “many of actors were type-casted, or put in racialized roles, that fit their ethnicity” and some of these people do not necessarily fit that type, “they used Asian Actors as an example, many of the actors that were born in America, were asked to speak in a Chinese accent.”
Hollywood producers have a target demographic to adhere to. Film demographics usually mirror the demographics of the country in which the film is produced, in this case, America. In 2013, people reported as 'white' made up 77.7% of America's population. It is obvious the reason for filling up these movies with white actors is to pull a larger audience. But, to answer the question, can they be blamed?
They think “If they can do it, I can do it too.” Stories motivate people to make change in the world. “I don’t like what I saw; I want to do something about it.” Therefore, how can we create meaningful change in our society, if we are perpetually fixed to view life from the point of view of one type of person? The white male moviegoer gets broad experience that transcends genres. A white person could watch a comedy, sci-fi, horror, drama, biopic, historical drama, time-travel or space film, and find someone that looks like him. However, minority moviegoers have a limited selection to choose from and we are force fed the same stories, over and over again. For black people, we are given slave films (see 12 years of a slave and Birth of A Nation), biopic (Ray, the Hurricane, Ali, Malcolm X), over-coming segregation films (Glory, The Help, Driving Miss Daisy, Selma), or romantic/black comedies (anything Kevin Hart), and the occasional thriller. Hispanic and Asian representation in films and television is abysmal and practically non-existent. Yes, there are women in films and multiracial casts, but they mostly all serve to aid the white male protagonist in his journey. And yes, there are movies with female and minority leads, but it makes up only small percentage of the movies produced in
Media has been changing a lot and this is extremely true with regards to the representation of stars. Movies from older generations are much more ‘standard’ and ‘in-line’ with other forms in media, whereas today what is seen as ‘normal’ is starting to become more non-existent. For example, Thompson & Carew (no date) found that “from the mid-1910s to the 1930s a few film companies were established with the sole intention of putting on “all-colored cast” productions. Within these productions, roles were not stereotyped into the normal standard of black being seen as poor and weak to them being seen as a more powerful and influential
...at each character plays, giving priority to one over the rest even though the movie is not just about that one character. So the poster can be seen as influenced by one character. All of this sums up to an unbalanced Hollywood that statistically shows how inclined it is toward having an extreme amount of white male leading characters vs a very reduced amount of women and minorities as leading characters making it hard for a change to occur. All Humans enjoy being among people who are similar to them so Hollywood is more likely to keep on choosing white males over other types of people because of the fact that they share similar traits. So even if in the future the minority population grows and say that more women apply for jobs in the movie industry, the trend is most likely going to survive and it will still be seen that they always prefer white males in Hollywood.