Racism. Is. Real.
Racism is still a relevant topic today because it still exists today. This statement, unfortunately, is very true, yet there exist people who continuously assert that "racism is a thing of the past," and "everyone is equal today." Not only are these statements blatantly incorrect, they are also ignorant to the events that go on today. Take the BLM movement, for example. If racism truly was nonexistent, why would a movement such as BLM gain so much traction and attention? Answer: it wouldn't.
The podcast, "The Problem We All Live Through" was actually eye-opening for me. It talked about an incident that happened in the mid 2010s -- the murder of Michael Brown. However, the podcast went on to talk about the issue Brown's mother was so concerned about: his education going to waste. This is a very peculiar thing to be worried about when your son dies. So, Jones wanted to investigate why his education was so highly prized by his mother. When she investigated, she found something out of the 1900s. A very poor black district and a stellar mostly while school that didn't want the black student to integrate. When I read this, I was wondering if we were still discussing an event from the 21st century. That's how shocking listening to the podcast was. But it was very comforting to learn that the parents were the racist ones, worrying about "getting stabbed, or taking a drug, or getting robbed." On the flip side, their kids, were far less racist, "cheering for [the blacks] when [they] walked through the door." If the parents' racist ideologies got passed down, racism would never see an end. However, the students at Francis Howell being welcoming and less prejudiced is a sign that society, although for too slowly, is taking a step in the right direction.
I absolutely agree Ruthesh. Racism is very real today, even though it is always overlooked. It's sad how something that one would expect to be a simple idea (everyone is equal) is so exaggerated and blown way out of what it should be. Something I find ironic is how we tell our kids to treat everyone with respect and equally, but the parents in the podcast clearly didn't do the same.
ReplyDeleteI was also relieved to learn that the students were not racist as their parents had been. Though I wasn't exactly "comforted" by their parents taking on a more blatantly racist role, you made an excellent point about how "if the parents' racist ideologies got passed down, racism would never see an end." Also, I agree with your point about how racism exists today; I also believe it can spread like a wildfire on digital channels, so we need to be careful of what we post as our words have an emotional impact on others, as Mah'Ria felt firsthand being a Normandy student in a room full of racist white parents. Nice job, Ruthesh!
ReplyDeleteGreat job, Ruthesh! Something that stood out to me was your question, " If racism truly was nonexistent, why would a movement such as BLM gain so much traction and attention?" and your answer, "it wouldn't." This really just shows how racism is an idea that's really easy to understand and recognize that it's still very prevalent. I like how you ended you post with a sign of hope- the fact that the students are less racist than their parents shows that society is becoming more accepting.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of your points Ruthesh. I always think about topics like this, and it makes me question if racism is ever going to stop. I also find it interesting that people say racism is "slowing down" or whatever, but it's obviously not. I also really like the example of the BLM movement gaining so much traction.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Ruthesh, the podcast was very eye opening as it talked about a lot of topics that might seem old and a while ago when in fact they were within the last decade. I also found the different methods of school districts and even the parents trying to prevent the students from integrating to be tragic to say the least. I like how you also connected it to present time with BLM.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Ruthesh! I completely agree that the cheerleaders welcoming the black students or the teachers and white students being kind to Mah'Ria are all good signs that we are making progress in the right direction. I also think its important however that we understand change doesn't come naturally and a lot of effort must be put into encouraging a group of people to work with those of a different color. We saw for example in the podcast that there was a white student who called Rihanna a racial slur and made her even consider returning back to Normandy. Perhaps change is indeed being created, but I think its important that we put in even more effort to accelerate progress towards equality.
ReplyDelete