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Effects of racial discrimination in society
Effects of racial discrimination in society
Effects of racial discrimination in society
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Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?
Introduction
Tatum’s book “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” (1997) analyses the development of racial identity and the influence of racism in American’s culture. She emphasizes the Black-White interactions by comparing the terminology in which racism perceived based on David Wellman’s definition of racism. Tatum also believes racism is not one person in particular but is a cultural situation in which ethnicity assigns some groups significantly privileged compared to others. She illustrates how engaging children in terms of interracial understanding will empower them to respond to racial stereotypes and systems of discrimination.
Talking about Racism
Tatum:
The author states racism is all around us and we should talk about racial discrimination. Throughout her book she explains the hesitation people have about talking about racialism. She argues that people are silent out of fear of being impolite, indiscreet and infringing boundaries.
Response:
I find the statement people are silent out of fear to be true. I try to avoided conversations that could offend someone or could be misinterpret. It reminds of a conversation with a friend one time. We were watching the movie “Lion King” when he jokingly compared me to the laughing Hyena. I jokingly compared him to voodoo witchdoctor which happens to be a monkey. To my surprise, he asked, “Did you pick the monkey because I was Black?” I was so embarrassed and ashamed when I hurt his feelings, I never thought of it as a racial comparison. Although we laughed it off, it still bothered me that I hurt his feelings.
Just this week I thought I might of offended someone because I was reading Tatum’s...
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...at it means to be Black. Does that not still divide the lines of humanity based on the color of a person’s skin? I thank statements like, “race-conscious” parents teaching their children to be Black is forming prejudice. I teach my children to be kind to others not what means to be White. In interracial relationships if they have a child what should the child be taught? How to be black or white because I thank it is true, children are taught racial differences by their parents and other adults. Personally, I find most mixed racial children are the perfect skin color we all try to achieve. I am not sure I would recommend Tatum’s book to read to discourage racism even though she raises some valid points.
Works Cited
Tatum, B. D. (1997). Why are all the Black kids sitting together in the cafeteria? And other conversations about race. New York, NY: Basic Books.
This scholarly article discusses a study done on biracial identity development in children. The article discusses “the similarities and differences between Black and White racial identity development in the United States and address special challenges for the biracial child.” I hope to use it as a source when discussing the struggle to form an specific identity
In this article the author shares his experiences on racism throughout his life. As the author goes in to detail about his first encounter of racism from what he called a “well- taught baby racist” he presents an ugly setting. As children, we tend to imitate what we see and hear around us, evaluating the safe and unsafe places, people, and things. We determine and define our identities based on interactions with others. Dr. Jackson goes on to describe a time when he was in grade school which majority of the students were Caucasian seemed to be highly infatuated with the texture and tone of his skin as well as his hair.
Analysis of Why are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria by Beverly Daniel Tatum
"My Children are black. They don't look like your children. They know that they are black, and we want it recognized. It's a positive difference, an interesting difference, and a comfortable natural difference. At least it could be so, if you teachers learned to value difference more. What you value, you talk about.'" p.12
Racism exists all around the world and is a big part of our society today. From schools, to work places, to even restaurants, racism is there because we, ourselves have constructed it but, not everyone can see it through their own eyes because we were all born with different perceptions. In Racism Without Racists by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, racism is described in a variety of different ways whether it is due to biological factors or simply by saying that racism does not exist and people just need to work harder. Bonilla-Silva has experienced discrimination himself and he wrote this book to show that even though it is not extremely visible like before, such as segregation, it is subtler but still plays just as big of a role in our society as before.
One of the leading Jewish theologians and a philosopher in the 20th century, Abraham Joshua Heschel, once said, "Racism is a man's gravest threat to man - the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason." When the word -racism- is mentioned, ever wonder what a person thinks? Racism has been with us throughout eternity and has caused a majority of people in the America to be hurt and feel discriminated. The first people to ever experience this violence was the Native Americans, followed by black Africans and later on to other various degrees (Ponds). To heal racism, expanding ones capacity to experience the reality of others is a way of understanding how it feels to be discriminated because of the differences in race (Honour). Many people believed that the nation was entering into a color-blind society where racism could be healed if not then totally dismissed with the election of Barack Obama as president in 2012 (Ponds). With this prevalent going on in our society, questions arise: how do we teach our children not to be racists? How can we prevent this from going on? Teaching this involves taking one step at a time and going from there to the next level. By evaluating the two articles, "The Myth of the Latin Women," by Judith Ortiz and "Always Living in Spanish" by Marjorie Agosin, we can identify two sources that will help us understand how one can struggle and survive through living in a world full of racism.
Tatum, B.D. (1997). Why are all the Black kids sitting together in the cafeteria? and
Even in our preschool years, we are exposed to misinformation about people different from ourselves.” From an early age, we start to pick up certain stereotypes of different races other than our own. We over hear these stereotypes from everywhere. Being in such a diverse environment and having attended very diverse school’s I am aware of all the different stereotypes but I learned to not judge anyone based on what is said about them. People who do not live in a culturally diverse area may be ethnocentric. Tatum also suggests that “the unexamined prejudices of the parents are passed on to the children. It is not our fault, but it Is our responsibility to interrupt this cycle.” Prejudices of other races based on what your family believes is something that should not be carried on because it is ignorant to assume certain things about someone’s race that you may in reality know nothing about. I agree with this quote because every race in some way will almost always feel superior to another race. Instead of feeling this sense of ethnocentrism and agreeing with the prejudices that were told from our generations we should be more open to learning about other races. What drew my attention reading Tatum’s first chapter was the fact that she addressed stereotype and
I was late for school, and my father had to walk me in to class so that my teacher would know the reason for my tardiness. My dad opened the door to my classroom, and there was a hush of silence. Everyone's eyes were fixed on my father and me. He told the teacher why I was late, gave me a kiss goodbye and left for work. As I sat down at my seat, all of my so-called friends called me names and teased me. The students teased me not because I was late, but because my father was black. They were too young to understand. All of this time, they thought that I was white, because I had fare skin like them, therefore I had to be white. Growing up having a white mother and a black father was tough. To some people, being black and white is a contradiction in itself. People thought that I had to be one or the other, but not both. I thought that I was fine the way I was. But like myself, Shelby Steele was stuck in between two opposite forces of his double bind. He was black and middle class, both having significant roles in his life. "Race, he insisted, blurred class distinctions among blacks. If you were black, you were just black and that was that" (Steele 211).
The film being analysed is the Breakfast Club, directed by John Hughes. Trapped in Saturday detention are 5 stereotyped teens. Claire, the princess, Andrew, the jock, John, the criminal, Brian, the brain, and Allison, the basket case. At 7 am, they had nothing to say, but by 4 pm; they had uncovered everything to each other. The students bond together when faced with the their principal, and realise that they have more in common than they think, including a hatred for adult society. They begin to see each other as equal people and even though they were stereotyped they would always be The Breakfast Club. The Breakfast Club highlights a variety of pressures that are placed upon teenagers through out high school. One of the most challenging aspects of screenwriting is creating characters that an audience can identify with, relate to, and be entertained by.
The whole system of racism is beneficial to white people in ways that Peggy McIntosh proposes in her article “White Privilege: The Invisible Knapsack”, whether it was done unintentionally or intentionally. In this article she states “I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege” (McIntosh 351). Dr. Tatum does understand though that blacks cannot be racists for they are in a oppressed state and are just caught up in the historical and standardized ideals of racial prejudice. She states “They know how to be black. They have absorbed the stereotypical images of black youth in the popular culture and are reflecting those images in their self-presentation” (Tatum
...to have such low esteem. According to another young girl named Princess Onwenu, she shared some of the same issues growing up, her views about being dark-skinned are “I have an attitude all the time. I 'm probably not as pretty as most other girls," Onwenu said. "They see light-skinned girls as being prettier and dark-skinned girls are ugly, and I don 't think that 's true.()" Surprisingly, those with lighter skin deals with this issue to. They are also being teased, another high school junior, Taylor Ivey states that people say to him, “Oh, you 're not black enough. '" "It 's almost become a running joke amongst my peers. If you don 't respond to a text message or a phone call immediately then, 'Oh, you 're light skinned. ' We say, 'Oh, you 're light skinned, ' because that 's kind of to suggest that you think that you 're better than other people or too good."()
Introduction We live in a society where race is seen as a vital part of our personalities, the lack of racial identity is very often an important factor which prevents people from not having their own identity (Omi & Winant, 1993). Racism is extremely ingrained in our society and it seems ordinary (Delgado & Stefanic, 2000). However, many people denounce the expression of any racist belief as immoral (Miles & Brown, 2003) highlighting the complicated nature of racism. Critical Race Theory tries to shed light on the issue of racism, claiming that racism is ingrained in our society both in legal, cultural, and psychological aspects of social life (Tate, 1997). This essay provides us with the opportunity to explore this theory and its influence in the field of education.
Racism and ethnicity continue to affect the sector of education in most parts of the world. More often, it influences adults and children’s experiences in education at all levels and in various ways. These include professional employment, academic performance, parental involvement, social interactions, assessment issues, and curriculum development. Certainly, the terms racism and ethnicity identify as problematic and arise socially. Therefore, many people fail to recognize that racism is a perception about the color of the skin and traditions of a particular group of people. Racism and ethnicity exist in quite blatant and subtle forms. As such, racism and ethnicity usually lead to negative consequences for the group that does not belong to the dominant culture. The contemporary racism originated from various avenues, one of it being the society norms and upbringing. Indeed, as children grow, they exclusively rely on their parents or guardians to learn new things. Moreover, part of the upbringing involves teaching the children things about the society and the
“‘Most of the racism in schools today is not born out of intense hate and does not come from this place of wanting the worst for students of color,” [...] It’s subtle.’” explained Jarrod Schwartz. Racism has become a part of our everyday lives, and it goes by unnoticed and unacknowledged on a day to day basis. Being the victim of unintentional racism, I know how it affects one emotionally and makes one question their own identity.