Do racism and discrimination still exist? Here are a couple of videos that try to answer this:
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
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These videos bring the sad reality to light: Racism is still very real today. I know that I certainly can feel at times like that isn't the case, but then I see things like this and it is a clear reminder of how society thinks and acts on clear racists ideals. The ideas that have been ingrained in our minds from the time we were born are apparent in these types of situations. What struck me most shocking of the both videos occurred when the group of white boys were taking part in the vandalism. It wasn't the fact that no one actually made the effort to try and stop them, (besides the one 911 call) but it was the fact that the people were more concerned with the black people asleep in the car away from the violent scene taking place. The group of blacks were ASLEEP and yet they seemed to pose a greater threat than the white boys who were completely destroying property (not of their own) in bright daylight? That is just extremely wrong, but it points out a clear view into the minds of how we as a society think today. We are too quick to make associations based on appearance, (color of skin in particular)and it is because of these misjudgments that we end up with situations like this. This video certainly got me to thinking how I would act if put in the same situation, and while I would like to say I would act one way as opposed to the other, the sad truth is that I really don't know how I would react. I have friends of all races and grew up in a very diverse community, but while manners may have taught me not to act a certain way, I can't say I was completely innocent when it came to first thoughts and impressions of people based on appearances alone. This video really caused me to evaluate my own views on the topic, and I certainly hope that if I was put in a situation like this I would act the same given either set of conditions, but regardless the truth still stands: racism is very much still a part of our society today.
ReplyDeleteThis video was defiantly an eye opener for me. I always liked to think that I wasn’t racist, and that I would treat people of one race exactly the same as I would treat people of another. I grew up in a very diverse area of Texas and I had friends of different nationalities and races. I also thought that the majority of people had this same view of racism. But, what I realized by watching this video is that these racist attitudes have been so ingrained in our society, through tradition, the media, and other sources, that being prejudice against someone who is different from yourself comes almost automatically. The people who called the police on the group of black kids who were vandalizing the car certainly didn’t think they were being racist. They all claimed that they would have done the exact same thing had it been a group of white kids. This made me analyze myself and my own motives for the way I act towards people of other races or backgrounds.
ReplyDeleteWhat I took away from this video is that we should all take a step back and analyze ourselves and how we view others, especially when race, sexual orientation or other controversial issues are at stake. If we have any ingrained prejudices in us, which almost all of us do, we should do our best to counteract those prejudices and try to really understand those people we may be judging. We should realize that they are people just like us, and no more or less than that. The old adage, “You can’t judge a book by its cover” has been renewed in my mind and I will make a greater effort to really view people of all races and backgrounds as equals, and not judge based on preconceived notions or prejudices. I hope that we can all try and do the same.
The biggest lesson I learned from these videos is how to go about committing my crimes. Rather than doing it myself, I just need to hire some white kids to do it for me. I will give them a cut of whatever they get because of their skills (being white) while I sit at home and eat hot cheetos.
ReplyDelete-Ben Garcia
This was extremely shocking, yet sadly very true. I have a really good friend (he is black) that has been confronted by the cops many times simply because he "looked suspicious" whether during the day or night.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is good to keep a safe distance rather than confrontation, but I also found it extremely disturbing that sleeping black males posed more as a threat in the safety of their car compared to white males actively breaking the law in front of many pedestrians. I think it would have been even more interesting to explore other racial variations, such as Mexican/Latino criminals as well as Asian criminals and gauged the responses of the public.
I think that this goes on very frequently. I think it is influenced by movies and other forms of media in a big way. Even though the media portrays african american's as more violent and suspicious, one would hope that people living everyday life would have the respect to treat races the same when they are participating in the same exact crime. This was surprising to see the contrary.
ReplyDelete