"There is a strange kind of enigma associated
with the problem of racism. No one, or almost no one, wishes to see themselves
as racist; still racism persists, real and tenacious"--Albert Memmi
(quoted in Bonilla-Silva, 1) Racism is not the same as how it was back in the
early 1900’s, it changes as society does. In today’s society you can make fun
of other people’s race to be funny and would not be considered a racist because
to be a racist, you must have systematic power and be prejudice. For example,
the comedian Russell Peters is Indian and all he does for his standups is make
fun of other races and mocks the way they talk and would have people laughing.
When Kraimer, a white actor from Seinfeld did his standup, he was booed off the
stage and called a racist because of the inappropriate language that he used.
The way I see it, is that he was called a racist because he is white, which is supposed
to be the superior race; while Russell Peters being Indian received laughs and
claps from the audience when he uses inappropriate humor. My group of friends
and I are very diverse from each other. Within my group of friends there are Whites,
Indians, African Americans, and Filipino. We always make fun of each other’s
race, but do not consider ourselves to be racist because we do not really mean
the things we say to each other and it is all for laughs.
If I were to ask one of my friends about white
privilege and they said “Oh I don’t see color, I just see people individually” I
would tell them that you do not have to see color to be able to see white
privilege because whiteness is seen as “the standard”. Everyone is supposed to
be treated fair and have equal opportunity, but whites have an advantage,
meaning they have more open doors and are treated differently from people of
color. For example, in the movie “Don’t Be a Menace To South Central”, there is
a scene where two black people walk into a liquor store and is harassed by the
owners, who went to the full extent to make sure that they do not steal anything,
while a white guy that they were not paying attention to steals their money and
food. I find that racism and white
privilege is still around us every day, but there is nothing we can do about it
because it is seen as the norm and we are blinded by the façade of society.
Hi Phong,
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate the example you gave with the two comedians- I think it speaks to the different power between people of color and white people. Anti-racist speaker and writer Tim Wise writes about this ( I will post the link)- but basically he says that because when people of color use racial epithets and language there is no societal power behind it, so it is comical; whereas, when white folks use racial epithets there is the real connection to violence and white supremacy- so it is not funny. Even though this dynamic emerged out of Jim Crow racism in the pre-1950s- the relics still remain, which is why it is appropriate for some, and not for others. This is an example of the colorblind racism we will be talking about this week. I think the Bell and Hartmann piece may help to give us language to talk about how white privilege is still around us- try keeping this in mind while you read!
--eas
oops! here is the link: http://www.timwise.org/2002/06/honky-wanna-cracker-examining-the-myth-of-reverse-racism/
ReplyDeleteHeyy,
ReplyDeleteI like how you made the connection of the movie with this unit. I have seen that movie and that entire scene in the store shows multiple examples of racism and proves that it does still exist to some extent.