While we were talking about the letter to the New Trier School Board Jillian said something to the effect of the school board should have banned Huck Finn no matter the race of the person writing the letter. This got me thinking about how ever since Barack Obama became a major candidate for president everyone thinks that since we have an African-American running for president racism is over. This is just simply not the case. For one, he has gotten many letters himself threatening his life from racist people. Also, to believe that one African-American person can change the image of an African-American is preposterous. It certainly helps there image but it does not change instantly. This myth of progress, which Obama has so nicely tapped into, has made people believe that we have slowly but surely overcome racism, and now everyone is equal. Clearly we need to rethink this because not everyone is equal, men and women are not equal Black, Hispanic, White, Asian, no one is equal.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Racism Is Over
While we were talking about the letter to the New Trier School Board Jillian said something to the effect of the school board should have banned Huck Finn no matter the race of the person writing the letter. This got me thinking about how ever since Barack Obama became a major candidate for president everyone thinks that since we have an African-American running for president racism is over. This is just simply not the case. For one, he has gotten many letters himself threatening his life from racist people. Also, to believe that one African-American person can change the image of an African-American is preposterous. It certainly helps there image but it does not change instantly. This myth of progress, which Obama has so nicely tapped into, has made people believe that we have slowly but surely overcome racism, and now everyone is equal. Clearly we need to rethink this because not everyone is equal, men and women are not equal Black, Hispanic, White, Asian, no one is equal.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I agree with your statement. This really doesn't change anything. Its a huge deal, yes, but it has not, and wont stop racism! I think racism is a natural human trait, though negative, and honestly, it isn't gonna go away, no matter how many black or white or hispanic or native american people we elect to high office. Society has been racist since we realized we could control other people, which pretty much happened before we even evolved frontal lobes! It's not gonna stop, we just need to learn to counter it.
I agree that Obama being elected does not indicate that racism is "over," but I do think that it shows progress in our nation. Years ago, it would be completely impossible for an African American to be elected as president. Today, people have opened their minds to let this happen. I know that racism will always be present, but I do think we have taken major steps towards a less discriminative nation.
Post a Comment