Socialization In The Awakening

The “Awakening”, part of the “Eyes on the Prize” series, addresses civil rights, or lack thereof, in the 1950’s. The film highlights two individual’s choices to take a stand against the white supremacy, and the ripple effect that acts cause. The first person featured was Mose Wright. His nephew, Emmett Till, was murdered by two white men. They were angered over the fact that Emmett had spoken to two white women in a flirtatious manner. Mose Wright made the decision to testify in court against the white men. This was a very dangerous act on Mose’s behalf. Speaking to, let alone, against the other race could easily cost him his life. At the end of a very long and public trial, the men were found not guilty.

Next to be featured in “Awakening”

Socialization is the development or way of learning one’s culture. It is originally modeled by family in the early concepts of values, roles, and overall sense of self. In an analogy, socialization creates the lens in which one sees and interprets the world. The lens that comes from family is like the actual eyeball. It is a part of the person, and cannot so easily be changed or removed to create a new perspective. From the time a White person was born they were shown that an African American was less than. They were seen working the dirty jobs, called derogatory names, beaten, and overall disrespected. On top of just seeing the behavior if a white child tried to test the norm of segregation by talking to an African American, they were punished; making the point of inequality even stronger. This was the process of socialization that was further solidified in their churches, education system, in the media, and in the

This means that the pain that was felt during those times is still here, and with that, the rawness and hurt. There are also those with very racist mind sets still alive today. The ones that were not re-socialized. They could still be teaching and passing down the concepts of racism and inequality as a norm and the correct way to live. This creates a cycle of negative socialization that will be many times harder to break down, and build back up with equality as a building block. As a positive, those that have been re-socialized are still with us as well. They have a special insight to teach the younger generations. They have the background to why equality should be a norm rooted deep