The Idea of Race Throughout history, and in today’s society, race has been a debated topic. Even today the question about whether race influences intelligence, athletic ability, and creativeness is still discussed. Through scientific research it is known that race contributes nothing to how a person thinks, feels, or acts and that is it society that creates these standards. When looking into the past there was much controversy about blacks and their self worth. According to the Thomas Jefferson’s article “Notes on the State of Virginia” blacks and whites are naturally different and fixed by nature. In other words blacks are naturally not as intelligent as whites, but today’s knowledge argues, and proves, otherwise. There is also argument about the possibility that blacks are inferior to whites because of their environment. In the movie “Race, the Power of Illusion” teenagers of many different races and ethnic backgrounds were tested to determine how different they really are from one another. In the end, everyone finds out they may not be as different as originally thought. Society as a whole needs to realize we, as Americans, are more alike than we think. If everyone can get over skin color as a classification, then society will have overcome a huge barrier and the future for equality will become clearer. The article “Notes on the State of Virginia, QueryXIV” discusses the inevitable extermination of the black race because of the “real distinctions which nature made us…will divide us into parties, and produce convulsion which will probably never end but in the extermination of the one or the other race” (Jefferson 145). The differences Jefferson discusses are so drastic that blacks and whites seem to be of two different ... ... middle of paper ... ...by suspicion may blacks be any different than whites, then today society should be able to oversee the negativity put on race and legitimately discover race is only on the surface. It amazes me how far we have come as a society to overcome the idea of race, and still America, and the rest of the world, has a long way to go before equality is truly met. During Jefferson’s era I can see his point of view and the legitimacy of his argument, but in today’s society people still think in terms of the 1800’s. I too am guilty of thinking in terms of race and genetics, but after reading and listening to more than just what society tells me I see the idiotic ideas and know otherwise. Ultimately, under our skin we are all the same, and black is just being dark. Work Cited 1. Jefferson, Thomas, Notes on the State of Virginia, Boston, Lilly and Wait, 1832. 145-151.
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 “From Notes on the State of Virginia,” Thomas Jefferson includes some proposed alterations to the Virginia Laws and discusses some differences between blacks and whites. First, he describes one of the proposed revisions regarding slavery: All slaves born after the enactment of the alteration will be freed; they will live with their parents till a certain age, then be nurtured at public disbursement and sent out of state to form their own colonies such that intermarrying and conflicts can be avoided between blacks and whites. Next, Jefferson indicates some physical differences between blacks and whites, including skin color, hair, amount of exudates secreted by kidneys and glands, level of transpiration, structure in the pulmonary organ, amount of sleep, and calmness when facing dangers. As he notes, these differences point out that blacks are inferior to whites in terms of their bodies. In addition, Jefferson also asserts that the blacks’ reasoning and imagination are much inferior to the whites’ after he observes some of the art work and writings from the blacks. As a result, based on his observation, he draws a conclusion that whites are superior to blacks in terms of both body and mind. However, Jefferson’s use of hasty generalization, begging the question, and insulting language in his analysis is a huge flaw which ruins the credibility of his argument and offenses his readers.
Earl G. Graves said, “Fifty years after Dr. Martin Luther King expressed his dream that African Americans would someday be judged not by the color of our skin but by the content of our character, the line between the suspect is a black male and black males are suspect remains dangerously thin.” Our nation needs to follow the five-step plan outlined by ACLU to allow our members of society safety and equal rights for one another.
In today’s age, African-Americans are still viewed as the lower race. There are entire ghettos associated with housing only African-American individuals and cities are divided among racial lines. For example, our hometown of Chicago, the north serves as residence to the “whites” while the south end of the city home to “blacks”. There is a wide-spread belief that African-Americans are not as smart as the rest of the population, are in some way related to a criminal background, and/or do not care about their betterment in any way and are lazy. This is because, Mills argues, racial realists associate racial characteristics to the “peculiar” history of that race. This makes argument makes logical sense given the oppressive history of African-Americans in
Firstly, I am going to talk about the one video we all watched which was Race the Power of an Illusion part 2. I am choosing this one because I gained a lot of information on it. It started off by talking about our constitution and how all men are created equal. Well when you look back at it, was every man created equal? The answer is NO! Back when they first started this country they had slaves and men were more dominant then women. A slave had no rights at all and resorting back to the saying, they definitely are not treated equal. After that part, they talked about how race became to be, basically one man thought they were better than someone else because of their skin color. Race is more of an idea, no one is born to be prejudice, or even to discriminate a certain person because of their skin color. I believe if everyone tried we could get rid of this concept completely, but it will take a whole lot of effort and is not an individual task. When we went over this video in class, we talked about what if there was no such thing as race? Would our society be a whole lot better, or would we still have some other kind of hardship? I believe that we would have another hardship but to me, it does not matter the color of someone’s skin, it...
Before the Civil War, the black man was thought to be inferior to the white man. He was susceptible to diseases that did not affect the white man. Diseases like drapetomania “that induces the negro to run away from service” reduced the black man to a biped animal, incapable of thinking for himself. His decisions were based solely on animalistic instincts and influences such as disease and misleading temptations. In the Dred Scott case of 1857, blacks were decided to not be citizens of the United States of America. Consequently, they were not entitled to any more protection than a cow and could not sue for their freedom. They were not able to dispute the issue. They had no identity outside of their master, they were entirely tied in every legal way to that person’s decisions. Even when a man might admit that blacks are indeed human, blacks would still be looked upon as inferior. Abraham Lincoln, acclaimed liberator, declared tha...
“We must come to the point where we realize the concept of race is a false one. There is only one race, the human race.”(Dan Aykroyd) In this day and age people are constantly being influenced on how to treat others based on color. In “ Black Men and Public Space”, by Brent Staples, he suggests that African-American males are treated poorly due to racial discrimination. Judging the unknown, that is what we as humans seem to be doing now instead of getting to know the person first. However, sooner or later we have to realize in order to create a future worth living for we must stop and come together as one.
First, racism still plays a big factor in today’s society as it did fifty years ago. Some might say that everyone has equal opportunity, but some people in America will never see that blacks and whites are equal. Humans have the tendency to judge what is on the outside before seeing who the person really is. The South is the main area where the darker colors mean there is less opportunity and lighter colors mean that there’s more. In today’s society the ability to attain the American Dream is heavily influenced by race. While it is still p...
“Black, white and brown are merely skin colors. But we attach to them meanings and assumptions, even laws that create enduring social inequality.”(Adelman and Smith 2003). When I first heard this quote in this film, I was not surprised about it. Each human is unique compared to the other; however, we are group together based on uncontrollable physical characteristics. Eyes, hair texture, and skin tone became a way to separate who belongs where. Each group was labeled as having the same traits. African Americans were physically superior, Asians were the more intellectual race, and Indians were the advanced farmers. Certain races became superior to the next and society shaped their hierarchy on what genes you inherited.
The Association of Black Psychologist (ABP) (2013) defines colorism as skin-color stratification. Colorism is described as “internalized racism” that is perceived to be a way of life for the group that it is accepted by (ABP 2013). Moreover, colorism is classified as a persistent problem within Black American. Colorism in the process of discriminatory privileges given to lighter-skinned individuals of color over their darker- skinned counterparts (Margret Hunter 2007). From a historical standpoint, colorism was a white constructed policy in order to create dissention among their slaves as to maintain order or obedience. Over the centuries, it seems that the original purpose of colorism remains. Why has this issue persisted? Blacks have been able to dismantle the barriers faced within the larger society of the United States. Yet, Blacks have failed to properly address the sins of the past within the ethnic group. As a consequence of this failure, colorism prevails. Through my research, I developed many questions: Is it right that this view remain? How does valuing an individual over another cause distribution to the mental health of the victims of colorism? More importantly, what are the solutions for colorism? Colorism, unfortunately, has had a persisted effect on the lives of Black Americans. It has become so internalized that one cannot differentiate between the view of ourselves that Black Americans adopted from slavery or a more personalized view developed from within the ethnicity. The consequences of this internalized view heightens the already exorbitant mental health concerns within the Black community, but the most unfortunate aspect of colorism is that there is contention on how the issue should be solved.
The African American community is supposed to be united under the Black race, but that is where the problems come in. Under the ethnicity of African Americans, and have pride in their skin color and are supposed to be joined together, there is a system of separation within the different shades of “Black.” In the black community, there are all kinds of shades of black, yellow, light, brown, dark brown, and other shades. According to Dr. Ronald Hall, a social work professor at Michigan State University, "As a result of having been colonized particularly by Spaniards, the British, etcetera, a lot of people of color internalize and idealize values for lighter skin because that is considered the norm.... ... middle of paper ...
In this world we are constantly being categorized by our race and ethnicity, and for many people it’s hard to look beyond that. Even though in the past many stood up for equality and to stop racism and discrimination, it still occurs. In this nation of freedom and equality, there are still many people who believe that their race is superior to others. These beliefs are the ones that destroy our nation and affect the lives of many. The people affected are not limited by their age group, sex, social status, or by their education level.
Police brutality is rising heavily in the United States. Many cases of police brutality are being reported regularly by the media. There have been victims either physically injured, molested, permanently disabled, killed in the process or even die in the care of officers. Ethnic minority groups are major victims of most cases of reported police brutalities in America. There have been more injustice than justice in these cases and if there’s no serious legal consequences against police’s that engage in racial profiling and brutalities against their victims then it may continue to and eventually they will lose the public’s trust and respect for our officers. And in worst cases may lead to the breakdown of law and order as well as the destruction of lives, properties and communities.
This panel discuss is to help stimulate the mind of young women, who may struggle with feeling confident in today’s society, because of the stereotypes that women have to deal with. We will discuss many ways to overcome the stereotype of today’s society. This is open to the community, I would love for everyone to come out and help pour into each other, to help create more productive women in society.
For centuries blacks have suffered discrimination from the white society. They were thought to be uncivilized because of their dark skin color. Today, discrimination against skin color no longer exists legally in the United States. Public schools and workplaces are mixed with a variety colors and races from different countries. Though, it may seem that skin color doesn’t matter in society, the majority of society only make close friends or marry someone from their own race. Most of these feelings towards another of a different skin color are deeply rooted in our minds from previous generations. Their mentality prevents them from behaving the same. Difference in behavior from a multicolored society is evident in schools, in society, and in television.