The White Flight of Derek Black is easily one of the most heartening and hopeful articles assigned this semester. This was surprising, given the subject matter and the fraught nature of the current political landscape (particularly relating to white nationalism) that a story like this was published, which is equal parts astonishing and timely. I have heard my entire life that it is impossible to change people's minds, especially in the realm of politics and ingrained values, but the story of Derek Black has changed that belief in a very tangible way for me personally.
My Reactions and the Shabbat Dinners:
The primary aspect of this story that makes the eventual outcome so surprising is the environment that Derek Black was raised in. A world where bigotry and hatred were the norm, with no opportunities for exposure to differing opinions, political or otherwise. For a time he was the heir apparent to the future of the movement, encouraged by his father and other people in his family to nurture and evolve the ideology of white nationalism for the twenty-first century. His father chose to use Derek as a tool, the culmination of his life’s work, even admitting that Derek had all of the qualities he possessed, while also exhibiting the qualities that he did not have, making him the perfect continuation of his “legacy”. Given the environment in which Derek was raised, as well as his seemingly ironclad dedication to a hateful belief system like white nationalism, it is truly
“The kidnapping and savage lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till” (Chandler) is a title in the news that would surely catch your attention. Racism has played a major role in American history. It still plays in society today, but not in as much of a big case. Having somebody kill a boy because will cause a lot of fighting between the whites and the blacks. In the end, somebody is going to come out on top. But that takes a lot of sacrifice. That all ties into this, the death of a boy that caused major support to the civil rights of African Americans. The death of Emmett Till has a lasting effect on the Jim Crow opposition, court trials, and the failure of racism in American culture today.
The film The Black Balloon was filmed in Australia and the UK and was produced by (Tristram MiallToni Collette) The story is about the members of a family, the parents and two teenage boys, as they cope with a unexpected challenge. Complications arise because one of the teen age boys, Charlie, is intellectually disabled. The family has relocated to a new area. Because the father has a new positing in the army. Thomas is turning 16.Thomas finds Charlie an embarrassment in public, so when Thomas is attracted to Jackie, a girl in his swim class, Charlie presents any number of obstacles when she drops by their house, The three of them go for a walk during a family birthday dinner. Can Thomas find a
Racism is a big part of this book. It shows the absurdity of what people thought back then, which is an important lesson. It is important for us to learn what people’s views used to be, and how important it is not to go back to that mindset.
(insert an attention grabber, such as a quote or question). In Erik Larson's “The Devil in the White City”, (a nonfiction novel that spans the years surrounding the building of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair) that recreates the lives of two real men, Daniel Burnham, the architect who builds the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and H. H. Holmes, the serial killer who exploits the fair to find his victims. Larson uses intense imagery, juxtaposition, and allusion to create pure and immoral tones between Daniel Burnham and H. H. Holmes. In the novel Larson uses intenses imagery to thoroughly illustrate the coexistence of good and evil.
Reading the content in this book made me get a picture of what it was like to be a colored person in this time. My eyes were opened to the meaning of the word “nigga”. Nigga is such a derogatory term, yet now-a-days it is used by people so much. Kids in this generation use it as a term of endearment when they see their friends, or they say it when they are shocked by something. Frankly, I don’t believe they know how serious it really is. The fact that white people could look at a person and see less than a human being when they did nothing wrong distresses me. They (white people) treated them as if they were property and below them. Even though we don’t have racism to this extent
Have you ever wondered how far back in our history the world has been full of hate, prejudice, and rage? It has been seen in the form of war, mass genocide, enslavement, and even something minimal compared to the others, like riots and looting for centuries. Despite this common knowledge, there are many forms of violence, injustice, and rage that go unseen. Carol Anderson’s, White Rage, dives deep into the idea that maybe the worst forms of rage do not come from the most obvious and attention-capturing events, but the ones who stay hidden and subside deep in their privileged and ‘noble’ positions. She wants to show you, through the eyes of a minority, what it is like to constantly be looked past and looked down upon. Anderson argues the fact that no matter how many laws and regulations are put into place to cease the existence of racism, the rage in America continues to thwart African American advancement. Through precisely compelling choice of words and a structural design that pulls everything apart only to piece it back together to form a much larger picture, Anderson brings rage, the white rage, into a new and different light. This shows readers the depth of the racial problems in our country through a recap of groundbreaking historical events, advancing or obstructing African Americans, along with the white backlash.
Cornel West spoke at Texas A&M University-Commerce as a guest speaker on September 28th in order to discuss why race matters in 2016. He talked about different subjects including race in politics, social justice, social economics, police accountability, and prominent social justice warriors. Filling the shoes of Martin Luther King Jr., Dr. West kindly educated the students and faculty by discussing the current racial justice movement, what the movement stands for, and what they intend to do. The insight that Dr. West offered helped me better understand the difficulties of racial tension, and what we can do to stop both racial and social injustice. What I found particularly interesting about his speech was the way that he captivated the audience.
All four pieces were enlightening, but there was one particular piece that really opened my eyes about race and the different reasons that individuals may or may not use the concept to help define who they are. The article by Johnston, Pizzolato and Kanny examined the ways by which individuals may or may not utilize the concept of race to form their sense of identity. It may be self-centered, but I had never really thought that other people might have a different way of thinking of race as part of their identity. I had just assumed that everyone understood race as I understood it; and so that everyone else’s race also was ingrained and played a part of their identity in the way that I believed race played a role in my sense of self. However, as I read the piece and the authors explained the ways by which the participants identified race s playing a role in their identity I was surprised. I
The reason I chose this book was because the title jumped up at me and my curiosity was aroused. I wanted to find out more about it. I was also drawn to the fact that the book was based on a true story. True stories interest me a lot and I instantly knew that I wanted to read this book. I also noticed that the book was a best seller and sold thousands of copies. As I read this book I’m glad that I choose it because it broadened my perspective on racism and the lengths that an individual is willing to go to in order to personally experience or understand a situation. This book has clearly
Richard Wright was born after the Civil War but before the Civil Right Era. If he were writing an autobiography titled Black Boy today (2016) about a black boy growing up in the United States, he would write about racial profiling against African Americans, the wide education gap between black and white, and the unequal job opportunity for African American.
Charlie is a severely autistic character in the film The Black Balloon. This collage was made to represent the world that he perceives around himself, and those things that he finds important. Whilst making this collage, I focussed less on Charlie’s interests and more on how he would see things in the world and how they affect him. His interests are not widely focussed upon in the film, but there are large references to the affect his condition has on his view of the world.
This book was filled with passages and quotes that made a lasting impression on me not only for the content they contained but also the way that they were written. One passage that really stuck with me was the bottom passage on pages 202-203. This passage left an impression on me for many reasons but mainly because it described such violent events that happened in Chicago that I never knew about which was quite a wake up call. I did not even know that race riots ever happened in Chicago and to find out that they were as violent and deadly as they were shocked me quite a bit. Now a days, I never hear anyone talking about the race riots that happened in Chicago which is surprising because by looking back at those times in our history it shows how much our society has grown and improved. These race riots changed the course of Chicago's history which is why it is surprising to me that I have never even heard of them before.
David R. Roediger displays the history of how the theory of “whiteness” has evolved throughout the years in America in his book, The Wages of Whiteness. According to Roediger, “whiteness” is much a constructed identity as “blackness” or any other. He argues that this idea of “whiteness” has absolutely nothing to do with the advantage of the economy, but that it is a psychological racial stereotype that was created by white men themselves. He claims that it is definitely true that racism should be set in class and economic contexts, also stating that “this book will argue that working class formation and the systematic development of a sense of whiteness, went hand in hand for the U.S white working class.” Roediger basically lays out the fact that “working class ‘whiteness’ and “white supremacy” are ideological and psychological creations of the white working class itself.
He acknowledges that the resentments of the black and white communities “aren’t always expressed in polite company,” but these resentments are manifested within our society in destructive ways, like racism (Obama, par. 31). The audience feels that he is knowledgeable and credible on the immediate topics affecting our future and our daily lives.
The racism that runs deep in the blood of the United States is a complex issue to tackle. As white supremacy was the foundation on which the country was born, many believe that society breeds this racism and deny the possibility of change. bell hooks eloquently addresses the problems faced by those who seek to make change and establish equality in her essay, “Loving Blackness as Political Resistance.” She discusses these problems through the lens of her instruction by using responses to lectures. This brings to light the contemporary struggles in a very real context as most of her students are those who believe that they are progressive, yet hooks demonstrates where they lack: loving blackness. This notion goes