A Little Bit Of Politics And A Whole Lot Of Race

Minority struggle to break free from poverty, due to systematic oppression and racism established in America. There is an odd belief that granting minorities rights would allow them to be on the same playing field as the majorities. However, the various death and injustice sentencing that has occurred for decades, proves civil rights were not the only problem. Pedro Pietri’s Puerto Rican Obituary and Wanda Coleman’s South Central Los Angeles Death Trip, 1982 both shed light on what minorities face, with some stylistic differences.

Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, is a one-woman performance piece written and originally performed by Anna Deavere Smith, who was commissioned to transcribe regarding the 1992 Los Angeles riots corresponding with individual’s experiences, outlooks, and concerns that contributed to those who were exacerbated by the abominable and nerve racking riots. For her production, Smith interviewed hundreds of Los Angeles’ residents who were present during the occurrence of the riot. The entire script consists actual quotations from members of the Los Angeles community and their reflection on their personal experience being surrounded in the midlife crisis atmosphere. She applied Smith strived to maintain capturing an extensive range of perspectives of the situation by interviewing several individuals from various ethnicities, financial backgrounds to different occupations for instance, Koreans, Latinos, Whites, Blacks, poor and rich people, police officers and gang members. As a result of her contribution, she received positive feedback for her own work. The composed piece is combined with historical research to provide a significant examination of the underlying cause of the devastating riot. The play, Twilight: Los Angeles 1992, provides assistance to illuminate speculations and emotions of numerous diverse viewpoints behind the horrendous racial tensions, the perceived police brutality, and the absence of leadership, which is desperately needed for restoration.

Claudia Rankine’s contemporary piece, Citizen: An American Lyric exposes America’s biggest and darkest secret, racism, to its severity. While she highlights a vast number of stories that illustrate the hate crimes that have occurred in the United States during the 21st century, the James Craig Anderson case is prevalent because his heartbreaking story is known by few individuals throughout the country. In 2011, James Craig Anderson, a 49-year-old man of Mississippi was nearly beaten to death by a group of white male teenagers due to the abundance of melanin in his skin. As if this was not enough, he was then purposely run over by a pickup truck as if he was just a random object in the road rather than an actual human being. These white young men stole the life away from Anderson, a devoted husband, and father similar to any other citizen of America simply because of him being black. While these Ku Klux Klan- reminiscent acts were thought to be “normal” in the 18th and 19th centuries, the 21st century is claimed to be the era of racial growth towards equality. Being that Anderson’s unjustifiable story was not nationally publicized further explains how the world seems immune to the racial injustice that is apparent today due to the cyclical nature of the occurrences. James Craig Anderson exemplifies how the world has yet to revolutionize, evidencing how we are still cemented in a racially insensitive epidemic. In other words, America is still racially insensitive to those who are seen as an inferior race, African Americans. `

Although the primary utilization of this book is centered on the psychological aspects of racial dialogues viz. “race talk,” it also exposes the irrational fears, attitudes, and beliefs, inherent in our (The United States) society. It is about the persistent avoidance of honest dialogues on race that may uncover the true inequalities and injustices inflicted on people of color. What talking about race does is open the dialogue and allow a view of the lived experience of those who suffer from oppression. It potentially grasps these experiences and presents the possibility of moving the reader from a perceived nonracist being into the realm of antiracism.

During these passed three years police brutality, racial tension, and gender issues have been hot topics in the media. On Twitter specifically, articles and hash-tags about police brutality and its victims spread like wildfire. With the running of Hilary Clinton for president and the transition of Caitlyn Jenner, women’s rights and the LGBTA+ community were thrown into the mix of political issues spoken about on the news and presidential debates. Not only are the United States’ citizens talking about race relations and gender issues, but the entire world is discussing these issues. In many places, discrimination and violent acts are committed against gender and racial minorities without punishment. In a world of injustice and chaos, random

For centuries, there have been ongoing cases of racism and discrimination against blacks in America, not only in the workplace, but also in the criminal justice system, the government, housing, and countless other establishments. One cannot describe America without slavery, the Civil Rights Movement, and other racially motivated movements. Race (and racism, unfortunately) is what makes America, America. For this essay, I will be exploring the question: Is there still a racial issue in America, predominantly, against blacks? Also, I will be exploring if stereotypes are related to racial profiling, if the media affects racism, and if racism is still present in the 21st century, in particularly, since President Barack Obama got elected as the United States first black president in 2008. This topic’s inspiration came about after reading Sojourner Truth’s speech “Ain’t I a Woman?” and after watching the famous, or at times, infamous Fox News program, Bill O’Riley. On this particular program, O’Riley and Martin Luther King III were discussing the situation in Ferguson, Missouri after the police officer that had shot and killed Michael Brown did not get charged with murder. O’Riley stated that blacks should ‘sit down’ and wear “Don’t Get Pregnant at 14” t-shirts in order for black relations/issues to get better. This topic is relevant because, as stated before, race and racism is what makes America and it is something that needs to be changed for us, as a country, to move forward

In her personal documentary, The Eyes of the Rainbow, Assata Shakur expresses, “I want to live in a country where freedom means something”. The word ‘freedom’ is frequently tossed around, misused, and exaggerated in our society. A government has the authority to declare that a particular group such as African Americans are ‘free’, possibly from the binds of slavery or explicit racial segregation, but such declaration does not erase discrimination by other ethnic and social groups or the economic gap that has been developed for the past two hundred years. The autobiography of Assata conveys that it is the ignorance of the United States people and the sinister nature of its government that has led to the many years of oppression. This ignorance

The movie “Crash” illustrates the reality of the society in which we live. Race, stereotypes, oppression, and marginalization played a major part in the reaction of the individuals in the movie, as it still exists today. Many will say that times have changed and things have become better since the days of slavery, but I cannot agree that this statement is true. This learner was yet young during this era; however, my ancestors endured much agony and pain for no particular reason. Today, minorities continue to deal with misinterpretation of the character without the opportunity to prove who they are individually; regardless, this reader can identify with some of the stereotypes that minorities have been subjected to over the years.

The documentary “The Central Park Five” discusses two New York nightmares through riveting cinematography. The first being the rape and beating of a 28-year-old white woman, inside Central Park within the early morning hours of April 20th, 1989. She was found fighting for her life, bound, gagged, practically naked, her head crushed and shirt soaked in her blood. For years she was known only as the Central Park jogger. Her assailants were believed to be the five teenagers of color, aged 14 to 16: Antron McCray; Kevin Richardson; Yusef Salaam; Raymond Santana; and Kharey Wise. These men had become known as the Central Park Five. This documentary was created to provide a solid argument to the fact that the convictions of these teens were racially

(1) bring in as many topical inquires as possible, (2) discuss the interlinkages between those topical inquires with your interpretations and critical analyses, and (3) base your answer on illustrative ethnographic studies and empirical examples.

Many minorities are targets for oppression. Oppression is defined as an unjust treatment or control. This can be seen as being taken advantage of or being made inferior. There are many ways to resist and fight the oppressions. Some of the ways I will discuss include civil disobedience and forming declarations. In order to break from the oppression, the most effective way is to stay persistent with the movement being created. To support my thesis, I will compare and contrast “Class and Race in the Early Women’s Rights Campaign” and, a film, The Workers’

People of color, mixed race, gay, alternative, immigrants, and those in poverty are just a few of the people that America chooses to ignore. In worldwide commercials, national movies, or mainstream magazines coming from America, you see the people America would like the world to see. The saddest part of it all is that some people choose to take it. In Nella Larsen’s novel Passing, even the strongest of women can’t fight racial attacks when her husband calls her friend a “Nig,” “It was hard to believe that even Clare Kendry would permit this ridiculing of her race by an outsider, though he chanced to be her husband.” Clare Kendry let her husband speak to her friends freely in that rude manor. This resonates a lot with modern day outcasts in this “home of the brave” who simply take the abuse to their

The movie Crash, demonstrates the lives of various individuals from divergent socioeconomic classes, who have life changing experiences in between their conflicting prejudices and stereotypes. In this brief essay, I am going to discuss the impact racism and stereotyping have on the lives of some main characters in the movie, considering the development of the storyline and the impact of various incidents that change their perspective towards themselves and each other. Martin and Nakayama define racial identity as being based on physical characteristics, but they are also constructed in fluid social contexts (pg. 105). The theme of multiculturalism has also made its influence on the major characters of the movie: a white American district attorney and his wife constantly scared of "the other"; two African American thieves, a racist police officer who offends an African American TV producer and harasses his wife, a non-racist police officer, a Latino lock maker. The plot of the movie intersects all characters ' lives and their attitudes towards each other, while making the audience question the validity of prejudices and racial stereotypes.

While reading Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed and Gloria Anzaldua’s two articles from Borderlands and This Bridge We Call Home many concepts were discussed that caught my attention. Freire and Anzaldua offer great, shocking revelations that focus on change in the oppressed and the oppressors, as well as bringing to attention the false sense of altruism, the seven stages of conocimiento and moving away from cultural assimilation to enculturation. Throughout the readings there were also an abundance of connections made to concepts within community psychology such as first order vs second order changes, the relationship between power and oppression and meaning focused coping. Reflecting on the reading material made connecting to the concepts presented effortless as much of what is talked about is easy to understand and relatable to people of color, both authors intended audience. I personally connected my life experiences to Freire’s theory of how the oppressed are portrayed and its effect on the oppressed as well as Anzaldua’s seven stages of conocimiento.

In reviewing this week's video of Ursula Burn's her journey mimicked the struggle of the black American of her era, reflecting a shared generational experience with her story. During the 1960s running a single-parent household, while trying to raise brown-skinned children in a world that says they did not belong was not uncommon.