Prejudice And Racism In The Forrest Hills

The Australian film ‘Jasper Jones’ directed by Rachel Perkins showcases the ideas of racism, prejudice, sexual abuse and bullying. The film is based in the small mining town Corrigan in the year of 1965. In this period, the Vietnam War had Australia sending troops to fight. The war divided cultures, victimising the Vietnamese Lu family because of their race and frequently abusing against them verbally and physically. Sexual abuse and infidelity are other issues that lurk throughout the film as the truth of Laura Wishart’s disappearance displays how prejudice occurs within the small town in outback Australia in the 1960s.

Colorblindness has helped disseminate racism in the United States since the Civil Rights movements of the mid-sixties, by perpetuating anti-blackness and racial discrimination against other minorities. Colorblindness is a new form of racism, the new “Jim Crow” which “Legitimizes the state and society as racially neutral although they are not neutral” and creates the belief that we have become post-racial and we are all equal. While preaching homogeneity, colorblindness uses mechanisms by which white racial domination is structured and as a result, colorblind racism has caused a widespread of anti-blackness and racial discrimination against Latinos, Muslims, Arabs, and South Asians.

I have never seen the movie Pleasantville, which is what we watched this past week. Since I have never watched it before it was hard for me to have any prejudices towards the film. I do like the actors that were cast in this movie but that didn’t make me prejudice towards anything regarding the movie. I really didn’t know what to expect with this movie. The black and white made me wonder if it was going to be good because I have not seen very many black and white films. Nonetheless, having no prejudices and not really knowing what to expect this movie was pleasing to watch.

One of the most thought-provoking issues raised in The New Jim Crow is the concept of colorblindness, and how Martin Luther King’s call to create a society where people are not "judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character" has been badly distorted by

A popular notion says a child is born “color-blind” and remains color-blind until they reach adolescence. The problem with this concept is that people believe it to be a positive idea. However, it actually presents a damaging ideology – it suggests that race should not be a factor when trying to determine the type of person an individual is. I see it as an unsophisticated approach to view people because race is a vital part of our existence. Race is an attribute that makes individuals differ from one another, and the problem is not the differences in the colors of our skin. The problem is that we attempt to detach ourselves from the reality of being racially different. Racism will seem to inevitably exist, and in order to even try to end the malice, parents should begin teaching children about racism the right way.

The website Remembering Jim Crow gave useful information on the harsh lives endured by the African Americans in the South during the late 1800’s and mid 1900’s. This information expanded my knowledge of how the racist whites treated blacks unfairly and unjust. Places I visited on this site included “Bitter Times”, “Danger Violence and Exploitation”, and audios such as “Wrongly Accused” and “Mob Attack”. With this information, I was able to understand the cruelty that the African Americans felt. Listening to audios of peoples’ stories made me feel what they were going through, as I heard the fear in their own voices. In addition, I learned how the whites disgraced the blacks, and the blacks were put under the constant fear of the white man, even in their own communities. This material enhanced my understanding of Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird by helping me understand the circumstances of the Finches town and the biased judgement of the Tom Robinson trial due to the color of his skin.

It has been a common assumption that the moral character of an individual is linked to their race. Consequently, this has been a major propagator of racism. Furthermore, this has been spread people who the author refers to as “dog whistle politicians” who think that the whites have to succeed because they have the values, work ethics, and orientations required for success. According to Lopez, using colorblindness as a means of looking beyond the skin color of an individual would be helpful in dealing with racism as a whole. Colorblindness has a great role in fighting the establishment of racial policies and in dealing with dog whistle themes. Some of the chief advocates of colorblindness such as Martin Luther King, ending segregation were not the only drive in fighting for civil rights, but also changing the common mindset of linking some races with misery. (82) In recent times, a lot has been done to try and fight the racial stereotyping “deep connection between race and disadvantage” although some gains have been achieved, the author states that a lot has to be done yet.

She examines the colorblind approach to reaching a post-racial society. Using a very simple, yet elegant way of writing, Bostick clearly states that she believes this ideology is ineffective and does more harm than good. She supports her claim by referencing a recent tragedy concerning racism -- the death of Philando Castille, a black man from Minnesota. With a strong appeal to logos, Bostick discusses how this would have been less likely to happen if Castille was a white man. Through this evidence, Bostick is able to easily exemplify how taking a colorblind approach to racism avoids addressing social issues and oppression that people of color face. Bostick also addresses the damage that can be done by teaching children to be blind to race, saying that teaching people to not see color is essentially “stripping people of a fundamental aspect of their identity” and erases their history (par. 7). This text would be helpful in realizing that “acknowledging differences is not racist; it is the opposite of racist” and also in exploring the flaws with the colorblind ideology, as its effectiveness can be related to recent events surrounding the Black Lives Matters movement and issues with police brutality (par.

Blacks all around the world have received prejudice against them all the time, being judged, not by their actions but by their skin color. Their lives have been segregated since the start of civilizations, and only recently have they been granted the same equality as everyone. But still, this does not hinder people from continuing to show racism and prejudice against blacks, putting labels on them, and treating them as inferiors. Lee depicts the racism and prejudice against blacks in the Jim Crow era, describing how they were viewed in the eyes of the white population. Atticus, Scout’s lawyer father, is sent to court to defend a black man accused of raping a white woman. At the end of his case, he pleads the jury to not let the evil racism of the society affect their decision, but have justice and proof be the real judge, “...the evil assumption---that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women, an assumption one associates with minds of their caliber,”(232). Atticus makes his firm statement trying to go against the ideals and morals of that time period. He is asking a jury of white men to vote against the word of 2 other white and judge on. man as innocent. These type of people are those who can firmly see through the blinds of racism and foggy mist of prejudice. They are those who strive for a bigger difference and the bigger picture in the future. They see what can become of the world if prejudice continues to undermine our society and form new values. They aim to identify people based on their true actions and intentions rather than rumors and judgment. But the amount of these special people is dwarfed by blind men believing in rumors and never questioning the innuendos. The jury still after hearing the final words of Atticus, are still going to declare the black man guilty, because of the judgment that all blacks are immoral, and will harm others. These assumptions determine the fate of this black man and will determine the fate of other black men in the future as stated in Tim Wise’s article, “Year after year, and case after cases it continues, with black lives viewed as expendable in the service of white

Colorblind ideology is a covert form of racism that emerged as a racial ideology in the late 1960s concomitantly with the formation of the new racism as America’s new racial structure. Colorblind Ideology operates in four mainframes, Abstract Liberalism, Naturalization Cultural racism, and Minimization of racism. These four frames are plaguing the quality of the nation’s education. Colorblind ideology, at face value, is the belief that acknowledging a person's race is synonymous with being racist. In other words, Peoples of Color’s races are being ignored and disregarded because evidently, the only way some white can’t be racist is for race not to exist at all. This makes sense when

The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, addresses the issues of racism and discrimination in the south during the 1930s through a trial concerning rape. Tom Robinson, though convicted of this crime, was innocent. The evidence within the case shows that Tom Robinson is innocent because of Mayella Ewell, the young lady that claims she was raped, has most of her bruises on her right side, however, Tom Robinson’s left arm is completely useless. To add, Tom sounds more trustworthy than the other two witnesses, Mayella and Bob Ewell. The first witness, Heck Tate, says during his testimony, “‘It was her right eye, Mr. Finch. I remember now, she was bunged up on that side of the face…’” (Lee 225), with this information, it makes it less likely that Tom Robinson had assaulted Mayella because “his left arm was fully twelve inches shorter than his right” (Lee 248). However, it is more probable that Bob Ewell abused Mayella because, during Bob Ewell’s cross-examination, Atticus asks him to write his name, and Judge Taylor realizes Bob Ewell is left-handed when announcing, “‘You’re left-handed, Mr. Ewell’” (Lee 237). During Heck Tate’s testimony, he says that Mayella’s right side of the face was beaten up, however, Tom Robinson’s left arm is shorter than his right, so it is implausible he would have pummelled Mayella’s face, but it’s more likely for Bob Ewell to do so because he is left-handed, and, in general, is a horrible person. This proves Tom could not have walloped Mayella’s right

Patricia Williams testimony demonstrates the negative impact the color blind ideology can have on others, in this case her son. The “color makes no difference” statement that the teachers were declaring formed a resistance in her son when identifying colors. This ideology shapes how people understand different races consequently letting racial matters be ignored and avoided. This ideology is indeed problematic is it impacts the way people respond to situations and events. Race must be taken into account in order to address issues of race. Without it, there will be a misunderstanding of, racial hostility, discrimination and other issues. Without it, they will continue to go consciously unnoticed and unsolved.

According to Merriam - Webster dictionary, prejudice is defined as “a preconceived judgement or opinion”. Now, since it’s known worldwide that ever since African Americans stepped foot in the U.S. , segregation was placed upon them simply because of the color of their skin and is a prime example of prejudice. The unfair and violent treatment of blacks never quite stopped up until recent times. This type of unjustified segregation and discrimination can be seen all throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee. The prejudice inclined portrayal of the black community is reflected by the way Aunt Alexandra feels towards Calpurnia, the Tom Robinson case, and Jem and Scouts experience in the black church.

Racism is the prejudice directed against someone of a different race based on the belief of superiority of one’s own race. This belief has been rampant in the United States, especially in the South during the mid 1900’s. Segregation was evident in schools, facilities, and eateries to keep other communities separate from the white community. Our country has been taking steps to rid itself of racism, such as eliminating segregation, but incidents are still occurring today that have shown it is still around. Some use their words to express racist thoughts while others resort to violence. An assassination from 1963, To Kill A Mockingbird written in 1960, and a shooting in 2015 are all centered around racism that turned into violence. The people that were hurt in each of these examples were trying to oppose injustice when others would not. Medgar Evers, Atticus Finch, and five Black Lives Matter protesters were trying to stand up for the black community and defeat racism; each becoming a target for white men.

In the time of To Kill a Mockingbird, people’s views on others were very unjust, as they judged people solely on the color of their skin or the clothes that they wore, rather than their personality or past experiences. This racist approach took place not only in everyday lives, but it took a high seat in courtrooms. The judgemental views on people took the seat of the judge when it came to deciding the fate of the person at hand. However, this acumen is not exclusive to the time period of the novel, but it takes place in trials today. As time has gone on, society’s discernment on people has changed, but it is still there. Because of differing racial views and ideas in society from the time period of To Kill a Mockingbird to present day, there are numerous differences and similarities to how it would develop in the current time period including such concepts as racism, sexism, and other similar biases that affect a person’s thoughts on the subject at hand.