No White Guys Allowed

“Guess who” is a comedy film about race and relations directed by in Kevin Rodney Sullivan in 2005. The movie is about an interracial couple Simone Green who’s played by Ashton Kutcher and Theresa Jones who’s played by Zoe Saldana. She took him home to meet her parents for the first time and planned to reveal to her parents that they are engaged but there is a problem Theresa parents never met Simone and they do not know that he is white. Her father Percy jones who’s played by Bernie Mac dislikes Simone from the first time he saw him walking from the Cab without even trying to get to know he automatically started to judge him because of his race. Both Simone and Theresa faced obstacles with being in an interracial relationship. Simone quit his job because his boss told him not to marry a Black girl. Theresa also struggled with being with a white guy she loved him but she never told her parents that Simone was white because she didn’t want her parents to judge her she was also scared of how society would accept her and Simone as a couple.

One thing that really stock out to me in this movie was the way the black family accepted the White guy in their family people usually think that only whites are Hispanics are against interracial marriage or dating but it is also if not as worse in the Black household. A lot of Black people do not like to see their own with different race. It is bad when a Black woman see a Black guy with a white Woman or Hispanics woman they some go as far as saying that the whites and Hispanics woman are taking all the good black man’s away from them.

 

 

 

 

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/16/us/interracial-marriage/

http://www.policymic.com/articles/56753/13-of-americans-still-do-not-approve-of-interracial-marriage

 

Jungle Fever: Do We Need A Doctor?

Jungle Fever: Do We Need A Doctor?

By: Betsy Bonilla

            There aren’t very many interracial couples in movies, if at all. So when looking at the very few that do have them we notice that the whole movie is based on the racism surrounding the “abnormal” couple or besides those kinds of films, the “Only way that Hollywood would pair a black man and a white woman would be if he were paralyzed from the waist down.” Gallagher 2012:368) As was Denzel Washington was in The Bone Collector.  

            Yet regardless of why interracial couples are on the big screen, especially in the past, it’s refreshing to see someone trying to break the mold. When looking at Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever (1991) we see “some” of the struggles that a black man and a white woman face.  From all sides of the relationship someone had something negative to say. Both families strongly disagreed with the relationship and so did their friends. While there was some support the bad out weighted the good.

            However the movie as a whole could have been laid out so much better. For a film trying to get a strong point across like racism it was still playing it safe. It was filled with a lot of stereotypical actions and behaviors for both Blacks and Italian-Americans. For example Flipper and his family seemed to be wealthy and well educated yet they were still surrounded with drugs and the possibility of future prostitution and Angie’s family and friends were portrayed as “Mafia” types who keep to their own and literally beat up whoever strays away.  

            I wonder how this movie would have turned out if Flipper wasn’t married when he got with Angie and if Angie wasn’t an Italian-American but just American. Also if Flipper hadn’t felt that his attraction to her was solely that he was only curious about being with a white woman and that he hadn’t told Angie that she should accept she was also only curious about black men. Leaving her with that only option where as maybe she actually liked him and wanted to have cute interracial babies with him, not just lots of “forbidden” sex. I fear that if that where the case then we would have never heard of this movie Jungle Fever.

            Not to say that the term Jungle Fever wouldn’t have existed but maybe used less frequently. That’s another thing I would have changed about this movie, the name. I understand it gets the attention of many people but not always good attention. Especially when the term its self, is demeaning when talking about people because it refers to animals and well to a disease. It’s to say that you are so sick “feverish” that you now act as an untamed animal from the “jungle” and that that is the only explanation that there is for you or someone else to be in an interracial relationship.

            So that interracial couple, not too long ago, had every right to get upset about their Valet writing on their keys “Jungle Fever” because that was racist, disrespectful and hurtful on so many levels. It didn’t really matter if the valet was white, black, or Asian. We must all get away from derogative saying!                            

 

 

             

Work Cited

Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo, ed. 2010. Racism Without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and Racial            Inequality in Contemporary America. 3^rd ed. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

Gallagher, Charles A., ed. 2012. Rethinking the Color Line: Readings in Race and Ethnicity. 5th

            ed. La Salle University

 

http://newsone.com/2824496/samuel-kandea-aarons-atlanta/

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-01-18/news/ct-met-spike-lee-speaks-0118-20110118_1_italian-american-groups-italian-american-directors-spike-lee

 

The Struggle is Real

    If ever there was a movie that could capture my attention so much that I don't speak for the whole duration of the film Crash is that movie. From the first time I watched it in my high school Sociology class I was amazed. At first I was skeptical because I thought it was one of those movies that make you cry and I hate those...but since it was an in class movie I had to watch it. Turns out it was one of the best movies I had ever seen. The way each person is connected in one way or another; a type of 6 degrees of separation, was what really made me think. This world isn't so large after all and everyone has their own struggles.

    Struggles. That was the main thing I got from that movie. I used to only think that only minorities had struggles, and when I say minorities I thought only in terms of black or Latino. For whatever reason I only thought that that was how far the struggle went. It wasn't until we watched this movie that I realized that after we break down race, there is the actual ethnicity of each person that brings the most struggle. The store owner's shop didn't get vandalized because of him it was because of his ethnicity; the black couple were harassed because they were black. Race and ethnicity play into this movie and perfectly depict how it is to live in modern day America; especially in Los Angeles California, one of the most integrated cities in the U.S. In all three readings for this class we read the many different ethnicites that have issues and their long histories, the social standings of ethnicites, and the problems that came with that and even the covert ways that racism still exists. I believe that everything we learned in this class- aside from the history of ethnic relations in other counties- can be summed up in this movie.


    One takeaway that anyone can get from this movie is that no matter what one's social, racial, or ethnic standing in life, everyone has a personal struggle and we will never be united if we break others down for our own selfish reasons.

American History X

No Power in Racism 

American History X was made in 1998 and depicts the life of two brothers growing up in Venice Beach, California.  Edward Norton plays the main role of the older of the two brothers, and is a leader in a neo-Nazi racist group.  Norton was incarcerated at the beginning of the movie for voluntary man-slaughterer.  Norton gunned down two African American’s and graphically “curb stomped” another.  This is an extremely important scene in the movie because it portrays the level of hate breed inside him through his racist leader in the group.  When he gets out of prison, he finds out that his brother has followed in his footsteps.  Norton’s time in prison eventually lead to him having a change of opinion and opened his eyes.  Unfortunately, his brother was too deep and ended up being killed in the bathroom of his school.

            This movie is sociologically impactful because of the power of groups and socialization especially adding the family dynamic to it.  The death of Norton’s brother happened, in part, because of his involvement with the neo-Nazi group.  The racist life-style immersed his brother, and held on tight.  In the same regard, we can see a huge separation between the whites and African Americans through out the movie.  One of the major examples of this was portrayed through a basketball game between the two races.  Symbolically this is showing the separation between them through means of sport interaction.  Both teams did not show any sort of interest in the other.  This is a reoccurring role through out the movie.  However, the racial issues are truly portrayed through the role of extremist that is played.  This is obviously an extreme case in which people will pass as a fictitious role within society.  Even though there are gut wrenching racist acts within the movie, it does not hold much validity among many people today.  Most Racism today is not as radical as this movie plays out, and it is hard to relate and truly address the problem.  Race in America is masked by anecdotal humor and is minimized through “colorblindness”. 

            In conclusion the movie is a great portrait of an extremist situation through the lens of very few.  Due to the lack of reality for average people, it is extremely hard to learn a lesson through the film, or take away much.  Although it does build a grave lesson that is necessary through violence, the overall message loses strength through its connectivity to the masses.                   

What happens in the Hood!

Kenyatta Berryhill

Race and Ethnicity
Simon Weffer
Blog #4

What happens in the Hood!

 

                This movie played a great role under the umbrella of sociology. Boyz n the Hood shows a lot of racism via African American authority figures and just society in itself. Since this movie was filmed in the late eighty’s, color blind racism was probably in existence but it was definitely not disguised at this period. The main issue I spotted is the “Black boy dreams”. According to Bonilla-Silva, “If they are not admitted into a college, it must be because of a minority. This story line allows whites to never consider the possibility that they are not qualified for a job, promotion, or college" (Silva 83).  This statement shows racism blatantly and white people not taking account for their problems. Are African Americans only making it into colleges because of their athletic ability or simply because African Americans have great knowledge about what they are studying. White people will never think the acceptance is via education, so the judgmental mind of a white person would always assume athletics.

                Although that is a problem, it is now just one of many. As I stated the “Black boy dream”, in low income urban neighborhoods every young African American boy has dreams of getting famous through sports. Their ultimate goal is to get their family out of the ghetto and live with no struggles! In this movie, Ricky lived in Compton, California with his mother, brother, son and girlfriend. Ricky main goal was to get out of the hood, by going to college playing football working towards playing in the NFL. One main factor of racism stuck out which was environmental racism. The urban area of Compton, California was proven as the last item on the government priority list. In the movie Tre’s father, spoke to locals in the neighborhood about the things they should do to increase their knowledge and help their own community.

                Overall, Boyz in the Hood is one my favorite movies. It shows the world a lot about what goes down in the urban communities and the factor that times doesn’t make a difference. These specific factors that are happening in this movie in the eighty’s are happening today. Bonilla-Silva as well as our class discussions is just some of the evidence that support all of the actions presented in this movie. My favorite scene in the movie is when Tre father spoke. Sometimes it takes that one individual that lives in the neighborhood to care and help others increase their knowledge. If the media and government won’t help, if has to be taken into African Americans hand themselves. Another factor that played a great role was the character of Ricky. The director proved the typical young black man searching for an outlet for him and his family. He chose sports, not only because he loved the sport, but he knew if that’s the only way then I have to exceed in what only opportunity is given to a guy like him.

               

Racism is Racism

The movie that I decided to watch was “Crash”, directed by Paul Haggis. This movie goes through a number of stories from different viewpoints. We are able to see whites, Latinos blacks, Koreans, Iranians, criminals and cops deal with a lot of issues of racism that we see today. The movie takes us through a few different stories with different families of different races. We will see many things that they have to go through on a daily basis. Each family is racist against a race that is not of their own, and we are able to see the different ways that racism can be portrayed by different people.

While watching the movie I noticed a number of things that we have talked about in class. One of the many things would be racial profiling. In the beginning of the movie, a young white couple is walking out in the street when two young black men come and cross their path. She seems afraid but doesn't react, but soon after the same two black men hold her and her husband up and steal their car. This brings all of her fears to life when she admits later that she was worried, but didn't do anything and wishes she did. This is one of the many examples that we are able to see in the movie. Later she takes racial profiling even farther and tells her husband that she wants her locks changed again because the man that was doing it was Hispanic and had tattoos, which automatically made her assume he was in a gang. We see this on a day to day basis. People judging those around them by their skin color when most of the time they are just like them. Going through the same things in order to take care of their families.

We can see that not only whites are the racist ones, but everyone from every race has some kind of racist belief in them. Whites are constantly being looked down on for being racist. We rarely ever call out other races their racist behaviors because we are so focused on whites. We have discussed in class that this is because of the past when whites owned blacks as slaves. Now it’s seen as okay for blacks or other races to say racist things without being seen as racist, but when whites do it, it’s completely looked down upon.

Racism is racism no matter who it is coming from. The only way that racism can come to an end is if everyone stops supporting it. In the last chapter of Bonilla Silvia, we are able to see the ten steps to get past racism. All of these steps are things that we as individuals must do in order to stop it. According to Bonilla Silvia, “Be a positive role model to all the younger people in your life – if they hear you use foul language, then all likelihood they will to.” (402) lead by example because the only way we can change racism is by changing ourselves.  

This movie gave its viewers a good idea of what it’s like for people who are different from themselves and what they have to go through on a daily basis. We are able to see that through we are different races, we all have the same fears and in the end we’re not very different from each other. 

https://www.aclu.org/racial-justice/racial-profiling

http://archive.adl.org/hate-patrol/racism.html#.U2SKzfldVBY

Racism….Even when African Americans are Making You Money!

Kenyatta Berryhill

Race and Ethnicity

Simon Weffer

Blog #3

Racism….Even when African Americans are Making You Money!

Although the blow up about Donald Sterling is recent, the comment that made this national was stated a while ago.  It is a lot of talk about racism in sports, but this incident was just a small token to show how real the rumors are. A lot of talk was about rather Donald sterling should be taken in to account for what he said because it was in private. Overall, yes I do believe he should be accountable for what he said.  Donald holds a higher position in society which has rules written/unwritten that has to be abided.

The punishment Donald Sterling received was a little too lenient for someone who has billions. The NBA commissioner made an announcement that Donald is fined $2.5 million and is banned for lifetime. In class, we definitely talked about the low pricing of the fine. According to CNN, the $2.5 million is the max amount allowed per league guidelines. The net worth of these basketball team owners are well over a couple million. Why threaten them with something as small as “pocket change”? This punishment was not good enough period! How can a national corporation inflict no racism tolerance, but make the consequences mild in comparison to a severe situation. This was supposed to be a lesson to the other owners, but their income is beyond this little fine. The racism in the NBA won’t stop unless more severe actions are taken. Someone who has a billion dollar net worth doesn’t care about being banned nor the fine inflicted. It’s time to switch these consequences up!

Although the fine is bad, my overall reaction to this whole incident was a little shy of what I thought it would be. As an owner of the Clippers, majority of the players are African American. They took a stand, by not wearing their jerseys, but wearing plain red shirts. I like the idea behind it, but as an African American in America it was not good enough. Racism in America is the main issue and if they would have forfeited a game or all African American players should’ve sat out to prove their point. Playing in the game is still making money for all of these people who agreed with his statement or those who didn’t. Although this incident did make national news, I still don’t believe it was a big enough to show that this country needs to change. It’s all about money, and if you’re not a part of the class that’s making six to seven figures then who cares how they feel. If these players were to take a bigger stand and enforce their true feelings it would’ve triggered all the other racial problems amongst the National Basketball Association.

As a result to this racist act, the actions were minor and effective, but not good enough for the African American community.  I am happy that the NBA did not take this too lightly, but in their eyes it is a business. I think my main issue is with the players. As African American men your race and self-worth is bigger than these contracts. The fact that money and basketball titles are worth more than the actions towards are race is an eye opener. Do racism in America still exists? Yes, but I am happy it is starting to slowly come about.

Run Ricky

There are many athletic African Americans in college, but not every athletic African American plays a sport for the school or is given a scholarship. In some white individual’s minds, when they see a black student who has an athletic stature, they believe that this person must be there because abilities. This is not always true but this is how a lot of people view African Americans in college. No matter what race you are, everyone makes an opinion of someone the first time they see them. “One of the first things we notice about people when we them is their race. We utilize race to provide clues about who a person is.”(Gallagher pg.20) In Boyz n the Hood Ricky was the athlete of the group. He would always carry around a football that his father gave him before he never seen him before. All Ricky wanted to do was make a better life for his family. He was a high school senior with a child he was responsible for. Ricky grew in to one of the top high school prospects in California and the only way he was going to USC was through football. He did not have the grades to get accepted to the school, so he had only one option and that was to get a certain score on his SAT to accept a scholarship. People do believe most athletic built black people in college do play football or basketball. In my mind I believe 1/10 students you meet in college are truly an athlete. Even if they are a black athlete and the school pays for their school to play; there should not be a problem with it because they work very hard to get and keep their scholarships. These colleges that are helping them escape the poverty they were born into because without these opportunities they probably would never go to school because of a financial stand point. “If they are not admitted into college, it must be because of a minority.”(Bonilla-Silvia pg.83) People of all races believe athletes get away with a lot more or were accepted because of their talents. What people do not understand is that athletes have to get the right grades also it’s not just about shooting, throwing, or running fast, you also have to get your lesson. Back in to the movie Ricky had to prove he deserved the scholarship in school before he could receive it. Too many people are worried about how someone else got into a certain school instead of sitting back and determining how they will get into the school they want. In all races has nothing to do with someone being an athlete or going to a school. You can be any color and get accepted to a college. Ricky proved he was college ready and passed his SAT to attend USC.

American History X: Hatred at it's worst

American History X is a powerful movie that portrayed the harsh realities of racism and the prejudices, stereotypes and injustices toward blacks and other minorities by white supremacists. The movie shadows the life of a teenager named Danny who looks up to his older brother Derek who is a Neo-Nazi and the leader of a skin head gang. Because of his involvement in a murder which was a hate crime against a black man who attempted to break into his home he was sent to jail. Danny and Derek had a very close brotherly relationship and Derek cared for and looked out for his brother very much. So much that once he found out that his younger brother had begun to follow in his footsteps after his departure to prison, he started to change his life and his views. Another reason for Derek changing his ways was a result of another inmate who he became friends with helped him gain a new perspective about his views of blacks and white supremacy. Derek began to realize that there are people in the world with good qualities who were not white and then on he abandoned those negative views to embrace more positive ones. He began to realize that hatred was the main reason he landed in prison. There was a pivotal moment in the movie that briefly explained a big part of why Derek had negative views of African Americans. Derek’s father was killed and that is one of the reasons Derek’s hatred for African Americans was shaped. This reminds me of an excerpt from Norman A. Naimarks book Fires of Hatred that stated that “the chief architect of the genocide, who was gunned down on the streets of Berlin in 1921 by Armenian nationalist” (Naimark, 57). This coincides with the movies story because of the way that Derek’s father was killed, the book referred to when the chief died, the Nazi’s hatred of the Armenians grew the way Derek’s hatred grew against blacks. Also, the Neo-Nazis hated blacks, Jews, Hispanics and any race other than Whites, similarly Nazis hated the Jews because they were a “threat” to their land and their supremacy. They also shared the beliefs that the negative feelings they had against other races were reason enough to kill them and annihilate as many of them as possible. The violence and aggression shown in the film truthfully portrayed the types of things that actually occurred as a result of the beliefs of Nazis and Neo-Nazis. This movie shined a light on the negative side of race relations. Due to racism and stereotypes, minorities and whites have a hard time getting along with one another. Different races, especially minorities have a long history of being portrayed as less than human and unfortunately this has long been the attitude of our culture. Much like during the Nazi era this movie has portrayed the pure hatred and severe brutality displayed toward minority individuals because e of the belief or white supremacy.

Chasing The American Dream

How does one go about succeeding in life when you're born into a life situation that includes struggle, poverty, no freedom?  What does one do when they hit the point in their life where they question the meaning of life and what it stands for?  For the family in El Norte, it is clear to them that they are sick and tired of being the rich people "working arms", and that as humans, they deserve a much more rewarding life.

Frontpagemag.com

El Norte is a 1983 drama thriller of a Mayan Indian family in Mexico that had their town torn apart from the Guatemalan Army after a massacre invasion.  After being the only survivors of their family, brother and sister, Rosa and Enrique embark on a journey to El Norte (America) for a new found life. They were in search of not only a new life, but a place where they can call home.  A place that was safe and where they could have freedom.  

Upon arriving to Los Angeles, they meet a few humble people that help them with jobs, learning basic english, and acquiring somewhere to live.  As Enrique tackles down a job as a waiter, Rosa begins to clean houses with her friend/mentor Nacha.  They steadily make their way, buy things for themselves, and learn a lot more English.  When Rosa suddenly becomes ill at work, Nacha takes her to the hospital.  Meanwhile, Enrique had just made the decision to leave Rosa behind for a job offer in Chicago.  When Nacha knocked some sense into Enrique about being by Rosa's side, he decides to go be with her.  In the end, Enrique tells Rosa that everything would be okay, and that they would soon be making more money and not have to worry about fitting in America.  Like many dramatic movies, Rosa dies while in the hospital, and Enrique is left heartbroken for he just lost his only family member left.  

I will admit, I did shed some tears on this one.  I cannot tell if it was because I was tired and hormonal, or because the ending came out of nowhere!  What I do know is that this movie really tied me in with it's plot.  Both my parents came to the United States as young illegal immigrants wanting nothing more than a better life than what they had back in Mexico.  On my mom's side, my grandma was a 22 year old with two daughters, making her way through the border and El Rio for a new life here in the states. And watching the struggles that the characters have in the movie, I can really see how immigrants come here with nothing, working to try and make something. 

womanhonorthyself.com

 The whole movie puts in perspective the American Dream that so many immigrants are after.  One part in the movie, Enrique was saying that if he dressed better more people would respect him.  Also, Rosa was cleaning houses and didn't know how to use the washing machine so she washed everything by hand.  When her boss asked why she did that she replied that she really didn't know how to operate a machine and that she felt silly not knowing.  

It was the ending, where Rosa had her last conversation with Enrique that ties the whole question about chasing the American Dream.  She states that they don't belong in America and that this country is too hard to live in.  She goes on to say that they are not really free in this country because they are constantly working their asses off, and for what?  Only to get really ill from working all day every day?  El Norte really surprised me by accurately portraying how one race trying to make a living in a place where they're the minority.  

http://business.time.com/2013/09/26/is-the-american-dream-withering-or-just-changing/
http://articles.latimes.com/2014/feb/21/nation/la-na-texas-young-migrants-20140222

American History X, or How I watched Edward Norton be a skinhead.

American History X is a movie that is entirely based on race relations. Needless to say, ever since I saw it the first time, I expected Edward Norton to be brutally assaulting minorities and throwing out slurs in just about every other movie he was in. The movie takes place in the 90's, and covers hatred in a way that left many people on the edge of their seat.

Edward Norton plays Derek, a white supremacist that stems from the death of his father, who was shot by a drug dealer. Derek grows up and decides it might be cool to start a white supremacist gang! What a thing to do! Derek becomes so good at the whole racism thing, that he goes ahead and shoots two guys that are trying to break into his car. He makes number three bite the curb, and then stomps his head. Now, this is just straight up hate right out of Naimark. Naimark documents cases of senseless murder, rape, and pillaging. Given Derek's love for minorities, he would have fit right in with Naimark's other villians. Sure, he has cause for his hate, but not towards an entire group of people, just the one.

Over time, Derek has some great (read awful) experiences in prison and decides to change his ways because his brother is following in his footsteps. I, personally, thought this was a great thing to add to the movie, Derek becoming a person instead of walking hatred. It shows how a person can align themselves with people that are also hate driven, and if they start to stray from the path the haters deem wrong, they'll focus their hate on them just like they would anyone else. To a person filled with hate to that degree, theres only black and white. There is a line, and its very thing and very cross-able. We see this go on through the entire movie, and of course, people die because of hate.

Theres something to be learned from this movie, and it goes right along with Naimark. People will hate senselessly. One person can do something wrong, and an entire race gets the flak for it. Whats worse, is that these things happen in the world. Skinhead gangs are still a part of the world, and they still continue to do what happens in this movie, and worse. People are driven by one wrong deed, and then go get swastikas tattooed on them and then just start mindlessly beating people they hate, and ruining lives. Don't let one bad apple drive you to become a white-supremacist.

Stereotypical Media

Television has been is one of most effective ways mass media reaches the eyes and ears of the masses. Its uses range from broadcasting the news, providing entertainment, educating viewers, and the list goes on. Unfortunately racism still makes its appearance in the media today in a few different ways. One of the biggest ways media today exhibits racism is through promotion of stereotypes in shows and movies. There is a multitude of different situations in TV shows where people of different races and ethnicities are playing roles that promote certain stereotypes. It is so common that it generally goes unnoticed by viewers because of how often these situations make an appearance in every day TV shows.

               If you think about it, how often do you see black people depicted as criminal thugs? Have you ever noticed how police are always arresting minorities in cop shows? How about how Hispanics in shows seem to be a part of a drug cartel or gang? Things like that occur so often in TV shows that it almost seems normal that people of other races are generally depicted as the “bad guys”. I know when I see situations like that in shows or movies, “that’s racist!” is not the first thing that pops into my head.  It is unfortunate because the media has made it so common that the stereotypes shown carry over into real life. This can lead to people thinking and believe things such as “All black people are criminals!” or “All Hispanics are a part of a gang!” because that’s all they see on the TV. The audience receives constant is exposure to these stereotypes which leads to its enforcement as it being normal. In Gallaghers book: Rethinking the Color Line, he makes a comments on stereotypes that black people receive from the media in his book that I believe is accurate in todays media. “Today’s criminal – black man is not much different from the historical stereotype of bucks who are always big, bad niggers, oversexed and savage violent and frenzied as they lust for white flesh” (pg.293). If someone has very little interaction with people of other races, they make take the appearance of these stereotypes to be true about every member of that specific race or ethnicity.  Though it is very apparent that there is racism in the media, there is very little being done about it.

               Not only does the media enforce stereotypes, but it even turns stereotypes into a source of comedic entertainment. There are many comedians that only focus their material around racial stereotypes and turn racism into a laughing matter. Not only do they promote stereotypes by blatantly exposing them as jokes, but it also sheds a positive light on racism in general. It can potentially cause the audience to think racism is more of a joke/ than an actual serious matter. As a result, it may even hinder attempts to reduce the amount of racial stereotypes in todays media.

So the next time you watch a movie, comedian, or even your favorite TV show, keep an eye out for the appearance of racial stereotypes. You may be surprised as to how much the media promotes these stereotypes without you even being aware of it. The more awareness that people have regarding how racial stereotypes are enforced in the media, the more likely there is a chance that they will not be influenced into believing them. If people start catching on to how riddled the media is by racism, something might actually be done about dismantling these widespread stereotypes once and for all. 

http://stereotypebyinternet.wordpress.com/2010/02/10/stereotype-in-media/

http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-racial-stereotypes.php

The Colors of Stereotypes

The movie “Colors” is a 1988 movie about two white cops who are paired together to patrol the gang ridden streets of LA. One cop is an older veteran that knows almost everyone on the streets, while the other one is a greenhorn rookie with little experience on the streets.  The older cop and his methods are respected by the inhabitants of run-down neighborhoods, while the younger cop has more aggressive overkill tactics that are looked down upon by the veteran. The 2 cops are members of a unit that target gangs and the crimes that they commit. The streets they patrol located in primarily Hispanic/ Black communities that view the police in a negative light. If crimes are committed, the general populace has a policy of silence if asked about the crimes by the police.  Throughout the movie, the cops encounter multiple instances of minorities committing crimes and gang violence. As gang violence continued, it eventually escalated into a full out gang war between multiple gangs. The younger cop deals with many criminals with such excessive aggression that he eventually becomes known for his brutality. This draws the attention of the warring Crips, Bloods, and Barrios gangs who end up targeting him to kill him. Unfortunately, at the very end it was not the aggressive rookie that ended up getting killed, but the older veteran cop instead. The veteran is replaced by a younger black cop at the end of the movie and they continue to patrol the streets.  

During the movie, I was constantly reminded of the class readings involving media and racial stereotypes. There were tons of racial stereotypes that were exhibited in the movie. Black people were constantly depicted as being sleazy, thuggish, violent criminals. Hispanics were also held in the same light as being criminal gangbangers who all had ties to crime in some shape or form. It also enforced the stereotype that minorities were all anti-police and they all held no respect for them. If they saw a crime being committed, they would withhold information from the cops if asked. Almost every minority that was shown in the movie held some sort of racial stereotype. The most common stereotype was that minorities were all members of gangs and partial to criminal activity. Not only did it show stereotypes of minorities, but also of white cops and their interactions with minorities. The younger cop constantly performed acts of police brutality on minorities. Even when an adolescent committed a petty crime such as vandalizing a wall with spray paint, the rookie would react with excessive force against the kid. It seemed like every other scene in the movie demonstrated some type of racial stereotype or racial discrimination by the cops. In my opinion, though it was a movie based on cops combating gang violence, it was very heavy on these stereotypes which seemed demonizing to the Hispanic and black community. It seemed like everyone that wasn’t a cop was either doing drugs, drive-bys, homicides, gun battles and other gang related crimes. Overall, this movie is a fantastic example of how media can be an influence to the audience in believing or fortifying beliefs about racism and racial stereotypes.

http://racerelations.about.com/od/hollywood/tp/Common-Stereotypes-Of-Minorities-In-Film-And-Television.htm

http://racerelations.about.com/od/hollywood/a/Five-Common-Latino-Stereotypes-In-Television-And-Film.htm

CRASH

The movie CRASH: 

        This cleverly crafted movie intertwines the stories of several individuals into coming in contact with or in some way influence each others life’s. Each person has a story of some kind of oppression. Race was a major theme in this movie and showed the different ways race effects people. There were many moments that exemplified racisms, prejudices, stereotypes discrimination and the like. The characters in this movie were from a wide rang of races. There was a wealth married couple that were White, two African American males, an Hispanic couple with a daughter and an middle Eastern family. There was also another married couple with the husband being African American and a half White and half Black wife. And the last group I believe worth mentioning that is related to race issues are two White police officers. 

There was a scene that involved the White couple and the two African American men that had perceptions of racism, discrimination and stereotypes. In the beginning of the scene it shows the two African American males stepping out a dinner. One male was complaining about the poor service he received in the restaurant by an African American female. He was saying that because he was Black she did not want to provide service because she probably thinks they wont tip. In the middle of their conversation the White couple were walking in the opposite direction from them on the same side of the sidewalk. When the Black male looked up and noticed them he also observed that the White female grabbed her husbands arm as they walked passed the two males. The Black male felt offended and believed that she did that because she did not feel safe due to their presence. He described how they did not look threatening and that they were in a well lit affluent part of the city and yet she still felt unsafe. 

Of course the comments the African American male was saying were opinions he felt this way because of his experiences. Through out the entire movie all the characters are faced with direct racism and some with the perception of racism. I believe that the purpose of this movie was to bring light on how sometimes the ambiguity of racism can be the cause of racism in the first place. Some people in this movie reacted to certain situations differently once they were exposed to a different aspect of what beliefs they had about certain races. By the end of this film everyone felt as if a new light shined on them because of their realization of how having preconceived thoughts of things blinded them from realizing that they themselves are the cause of those perpetuating prejudice beliefs.

Staying Alive

Staying Alive

            The title “Staying Alive” stems from the song by the Bee Gees. When giving CPR, people say to perform CPR to the tune of “Staying Alive”. If done properly, the person can be saved.  The thought of keeping a person alive and the title reminded me of racism in our society. Racism still exists in our world today. One of the biggest topics that captivated everyone’s attention was the incident of Donald Sterling. This is just one of few examples of how racism still exists in our society today. Although Donald Sterling did not openly say he is racist, the things he said were interpreted as racist. Racism does not only exist in sports, but also is being depicted in movies.

            The movie 12 years a slave is a great example of how racism is still being depicted in our world today. In the movie, there is a part where Solomon Northup was held captive and the whites will not let him go. He told the two white gentlemen that he was a free slaved and did not belong here. For speaking up, they beat him repeatedly. The movie was based on a true story which makes me imagine the struggles Solomon Northup had to experience in real life. The whites did not give him a chance to speak up and thought he was lying. Solomon was not able to show the whites that he was an educated man because he would have received a harsher punishment. Whites thought of African Americans as property and did not believe they should be educated. Mostly all African Americans were refrained from learning. They could not read, write, or speak clearly. Although the movie wasn’t a true representation of what African Americans faced, it enhances our understanding of some of the obstacles they faced.

                According to Stephen Marche who wrote an article titled How Did Racism Get To Be So Popular, he states that the new era of movies that involve racism have a fusion of virtues of white and the barbarism of slavery together. In movies like 12 years a slave, it is clearly visible how whites portrayed African Americans to be. This new era of movies gives us an idea what African Americans had to overcome and face during the times of slavery. This is what makes today’s movies intriguing to viewers. We see and understand what they had to go through. As mentioned previously, whites did not believe that African Americans did not deserve the same rights as other white people. They degraded and used them in every way possible. Some movies are open about the idea of racism and others are hidden.

            In an article posted by Jeff Gonzalez in SpartanDaily, he questions if today’s movies give the notion that racism is okay. He used and example from the movies Transformers. In the 2^nd movie of Transformers they incorporated two cars Mudflap and Skids.  Mudflap and Skids were the two cars that added the humorous side in the 2^nd movie of Transformers. People laughed every time they appear because they were portraying another side of cars. They were dehumanizing and exaggerating the black culture. They made seem like a bunch of people who cursed all the time and had no manners. They were not portraying an ideal image. Not all African Americans talk or act like that. However we all laughed at it because it was funny.

            In the book Rethinking Colored Lines, Gallagher states that “not laughing at racism is one of the ten ways to improve race relations” (Gallagher 401). That is difficult to do when it is being portrayed everywhere even in movies. People laugh because it is funny and that is what they see around them in their environment. The media is generalizing a group every time they display images like Mudflap and Skids. It is not easy. How can we not laugh when it’s being shown everywhere in the media and society? If the media were to stop supporting the culture they are displaying then maybe racism can stop. Unfortunately, they do not. By mocking cultures, people start believing that it is okay to continue making fun of issues like these. The media is the reason why racism is staying alive.

http://www.esquire.com/features/thousand-words-on-culture/how-did-racism-get-popular-1213

http://spartandaily.com/106598/movies-taught-us-racism-ok

We're All Humans, Right?

We’re All Humans, Right?
Twelve Years a Slave, where do I start? This was a movie that had me going through the motions throughout the entirety of watching it. To summarize the movie fairly quickly it was about a man named Solomon Northrup who was free by law, but was kidnapped by slave traders who pretended to be entertainers that owned a traveling circus. They then had him shipped to New Orleans, Louisiana where he lived as a slave and was eventually returned to his family 12 years later. The amount of injustice I had seen in this film was extraordinary. Now, I know injustices and terrible treatment have come to be expected in movies that deal with slavery, but in my opinion these occurrences never get old. To see human beings getting treated the way they did just because of their skin color is just deplorable. They were literally treated as if they were property. Like, actual objects that can be bought, sold and owned; which sadly is what happened. There was actually a part in the movie where one slave owner stated “A man does how he pleases with his property” in reference to one of his slaves.
One of several parts that stood out in this movie was when a man came to a plantation looking for slaves to buy. The way they were “described” I guess you could say when the slave owner was in the process of selling them, boiled my blood like no other. It reminded me of the selling of a horse or some sort of product that would benefit him if purchased. They were sold naked and would be used for particular tasks depending on the usefulness of their body parts. The women for cooking, cleaning and sexual pleasure, and the men, more so for manual labor. Aside from the brutal beatings of the slaves, that had to be the most difficult part for me, especially as an African American to watch.
While watching this movie it made me think of the treatment of the Nazis by Hitler and his followers. How they were also enslaved and treated immorally because of “differences” between them and the Jews. I found myself picturing myself in that type of situation and debating back and forth with myself on how I would handle it. It is easy to say things like “I could not possibly live during that time” or “I would more than likely be killed because I wouldn't tolerate any of that treatment.” Believe me I caught myself saying that plenty of times, but they were people just like we were people. They felt the same amount of disrespect we would feel had we been in their shoes, but they didn't have much of a choice. The only option was obey or be beaten, more than likely to death. Now, truly, how many of us would rather be beaten mercilessly opposed to obeying the commands of a slave-owner? Not many, so it is difficult to say what I would have done in their situation.
Overall, this movie was a decent film. I cannot say that I enjoyed it at all. It really made me think about all the injustice and immorality that occurred during slavery and how far we have come as African Americans. I’m not going to lie, I sort of resented every white person I saw a few minutes after watching this, but it eventually passed. I just have to constantly remind myself that it was all in the past.