News, announcements, and commentary for the students and families of GAMP.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Making Sense of the 21st Century: Post-Racial?
Consider Toure's definition of Post-Racialism from the New York Times Op Ed we read in class. How does Crash
exhibit the subtlety of race and racism function in Crash? How can we learn
from what we see here?
14 comments:
Diana Youssef
said...
Post Racial basically is "a term used to describe a society or time period in which discussions around race and racism have been deemed no longer relevant to current social dynamics." The movie Crash defeats the term "post racial" because there was clearly racism towards Blacks, Whites, Latinos,Koreans and Persians. An example of racism is early on in the movie when Anthony and Peter were walking along the street, complaining about the bad service they just got at a restaurant because Anthony is convinced the waiter thought “we’re black and black people don’t tip.” Then when they pass a white couple on the street, Anthony notices the lady squeeze her husbands arm tighter as they walk by the black men. unexpectedly he pulls out a gun and carjacks the couple. This is the first big act of racism in the movie, following many other acts of racism. From what we see here, it's clear that racism still exists in America but it's not as intense as it used to be. In this movie "Different people encounter different things, yet all lead to one consequence: the accumulation of anger and the false assumption of the people standing before us. Their moods are affected by others’ illegal or unfair deeds, and they humiliate or bully the next people they meet just to release their pent up anger. In this way, one thing leads to another, and everyone begins to feel insecure in this multinational society."
I agree with Diana on the definition of "post racial." Racism clearly still exists in the society today. As Toure says, "racism is like weather - we only talk about it when it's extreme, but it's always there." In the movie Crash (2004), it depicts the racism that still exists today. It isn't to an extreme, but it showed how racial discrimination happens in minor details that the overall society lacks to see. For example, in the beginning of the movie, there was a car accident and the LA detective, Ria, approaches the Asian lady who refutes everything and just wants to leave. They exchange racist comments. At the end of the movie, there was a car accident involving Shaniqua and while she was arguing with the other driver, they begin to throw racist remarks at each other. As we can clearly see here, no one views those incidents as a big issue, but racism does exist. "Post racial" is just a term that people make up to cover up their insecurity of how America is suppose to be the "the land of the free, the place where dreams are achieved."
Toure's definition of post racism is saying that it exist so much that it is barely noticeable. Meaning that racism exist after the "racism period" but in the twenty first century it is hidden. Relating it to Crash, the racism is clearly obvious to us the viewers however to those characters it was not that easy to identify. After watching this film we can learn from the movie that racism is in our faces in more ways than one. It can be as simple as what someone says to us or how they look at us. Thoughts/assumptions are already being made. It doesn't even have to be about race, it could be social status or wealth.
Post racial describes society where racism no longer exists. This is untrue and I exhibited through the movie crash. In the "post racial" society in 2005 there is still racism against several minorities. The movie conveys racism through racial stereotypes. The actions seen in crash can teach us not to judge each other based on stereotypes and to see people for who they are rather than their race.
First: claims of “post racism” are false. Like Toure said, “Racism is like the weather…”It’s there and still exists. Crash indicated how racism while not overt can be detrimental. The movie highlighted the importance of power, poverty, and assumptions as races interact with each other. Thande Newton’s character was the receiver of abused power by a white cop. While some may argue his early violation of her was redeemed by saving her life, we must remember he is not a saint. Did he save her from the car out of guilt? Maybe. However, nothing is justifiable for his actions. He still was racist to the lady from insurance and still misused his power breaking his sworn oath to protect and serve. Sandra Bullock’s character belittled foreigners based on financial disparities. She didn’t trust the locksmith nor did treat her house-keeper with respect until she came to Bullock’s aid.
The worse character off all was the Persian father who shot the Espanic lock-smiths daughter. Forget a language barrier! He understood what the man was saying because he asked him, “we’ll who do you know who can fix my door?” and then when not receiving the answer he wanted proceeded to threaten the man. Keep in mind the lock-smith had given the Persian guy all his money and explained the situation in the drive way. His short tempered, loud, argumentative ways moved him to pull the trigger and shoot what was a blank bullet into the back of the locksmith’s daughter. NOT JUSTIFIABLE. NOT ACCEPTAABLE. AN ABSOLUTE DISGRACE. In short he needed to serve time for that incident.
So in conclusion is racism still around? Yes. Will it always be around? Yes. Racism is deeply ingrained in our society and in the division of cultures. It is in humanity that we identify the differences amongst each other and use them to hurt others and aid ourselves.
Post racialism is a theoretcial way of saying that racial preference, discrimination, and prejudice is no longer relevant among a society. Like as Toure described, racism is only a big issue when it's extreme, but it always exsist. The movie, "Crash" reflects how racism still exsists in our society today. As America is a country with a diversity of cultures and race, people would clash with one another. In many ways “Crash” can be seen as sort of a post-racial movie in that every single character in “Crash,” is aware of racism and knows that it is a bad thing. In particular, there was this one scene where this non-racist white cop makes a snap judgment about a black male and ends up shooting him. In that scene, there had been an argument and the cop thought the black male was reaching for a gun, when in reality he had been reaching for something innocent. From there, we can learn that even a non-racist indidvidial can feel insecure about another race. This proves that racism is always there from the start.
The movie Crash contradicts Toure’s Post-Racial definition. Through the actions of each character, it is clear that racism still exist among society. For instance, the death of Peter Waters was caused through a stereotypical conscious. The white officer that killed him did it by mistake, in hope of protecting his own life which drives him into believing that Peter was pulling on a gun from his pocket. However as a result, it was just a piece of car decorator. This shows audiences that as much as we hate to admit it, racism and stereotypical myths still exist among us today. Although we may not admit to it, our actions will prove us wrong. This film has helped me understand the importance of self-awareness; being able to thinking before I talk or make any type of choices, that way, I will not regret it later on.
In Toure's definition on the 21st century being post-racial, racism is compared to the weather as always being present but ignored and only noticed when situations have gone out of line or draws attention to the public. There actually is no "post-racialism" because stereotypes in the 21st century still function society. The stereotypic mindset from one race to another is displayed in the 21st century movie Crash. Crash reveals prejudice crimes, the abuse of power by racist officials and how many races are still slighty inferior to the slighty superior "white man". With that being said, one can conclude that society has not changed from its racist period since equality has not improved greatly from the 20th century to the 21st century. From this, we can learn that the process of changing society and the way everyone thinks is a long and complex process, which will gradually improve.
I agree with what Khadijah says about what Toure's definition of post racism is and how racism in the 21st century is hidden. In the movie Crash there were plenty of scenes that have shown this. For one example, there was a scene where a black couple was pulled over and even had to be searched just because. This showed part of the racism going on against minorities. Another scene which was very important was when the white cop shot a black man because he assumed he was going to pull out a gun at him. Throughout the entire movie there were plenty of scenes that showed us racism and how it was portrayed. For most it was what the person assumed of the other person because of their race to the way they dressed.
As Diana said post racial is used to describe society where race is not a factor or relevant. The movie crash proves that there is not a post racial society no matter how many years after slavery or the civil rights movement we are. One scene in the movie where this is when a white cop who had been seemingly unprejudiced throughout the movie picked up a black man. In this scene the black man in the car beings to laugh and the cop becomes aggressive and tells him to get out of the car when the black man begins to show the cop what he was laughing at he shoots him because him because he feels threatened. All the black man was pulling out of his pocket was a statue that they both owned. The officer felt threatened by the color of his skin not by what he was pulling out of his pocket. Throughout the movie racial slurs are everywhere and it is not just between black and white every race is included. We can learn that race is an issue and always will be, no matter how far we come, there are people who are of different racial backgrounds and as much as people say that is not something they see it is truly the first thing they see and the stereo types that come with it.
Toure's definition of post racial basically states that race doesn't matter anymore and there should be no reason for serious discussion about race because it is no longer a concern. However Toure's adamantly disagrees with this term, calling it a "mythical idea" , which can be proven by watching movies such as Crash. Crash is a movie based on race relations set in the 21st century. In the movie it is clear that racism in still thriving, it is not as extrovert as in past decades, but more subtle. For example the Arab's family store is vandalized "Osama" is written over the store and the people did it without even knowing the family's nationality. Also when Sandra Bullock's character stubbornly refuted keeping the locks the same after they just been changed because she was "scared" that the Hispanic guy would give the key out so other people would break in. Furthermore the cop at the end thought the black guy was going to pull out the gun, therefore he shot and killed him. An example of more extrovert racism is when the other white cop, Matt Dillion's character keep on referring to black people as "you people." It it obvious that race is still an issue and will probably always be an issue but not discussing the problems can leas to more problems. It is our job that our generation is fully educated on the concerns of race and racism so that we can teach the next generation about it. Hopefully if we efficiently teach this new generation then every generation somebody's race or ethnicity should not be described as a negative attribute.l
Post racialism is defined as being without racial conflict. Post racialism does not exist currently even though some seem to believe it does. Crash proved that post racialism is non existent. Although Crash was a fictional movie, the conflicts that took place are not far off from what happens in reality. For example, stereotyping was prevalent in the movie. The Hispanic man was stereotyped as being a convict and in a gang. But in actuality he was a hard working, married man with a family. People a stereotyped everyday based on their race and are underestimated and judged based on these stereotypes. Another conflict in the movie was the white cop taking out his anger and resentment over a situation with a black woman on a black couple who had nothing to do with the situation. He used his power and authority to make the black man feel inferior. In real life this happens frequently especially in suburban areas. A lot of white cops pull over primarily minorities for very small reason or no reason at all just because of the color of their skin. Racialism is all around us. It isn't as blunt and open as it was in the past but it still exists.
Racism is like the weather: we only talk about its extremes, but it’s always there.-Toure Toure's oberservation of racism hits society right on the head. Although society (relvant to the past) is sunny compared to the hurricanes of the past. We still experience to some degree racism sometime it hits stronger then usual but it does occur. In the film Crash it showed the world that racism still occurs which helps repeal the theory of an post racial society. Although racism is not as dramtic as shown in the film it still occurs and can continue to decrease if we educate and come together on key issues of society. If people continue to correct their wrongs and correct/improve their ignorance we can began to develop a real post racial society.
A post racial society is defined as a society where race no longer matters, the ethnicity of an individual is no longer relevant in todays society but I disagree with Toure's idea. Yes it is true that racism has come a long way but is it really true that race is completely irrelevant in today's society? Crash revealed to us that though there are'nt nearly any racial acts of violence and race is much mre subtle than it was 50 years ago but it shows that a lot of people seem to suffer from like stereotyping and immediate classification. Without even opening your mouth someone begans to judge you just by looking at you. From this we should learn not to judge one another, we are all Americans
14 comments:
Post Racial basically is "a term used to describe a society or time period in which discussions around race and racism have been deemed no longer relevant to current social dynamics." The movie Crash defeats the term "post racial" because there was clearly racism towards Blacks, Whites, Latinos,Koreans and Persians. An example of racism is early on in the movie when Anthony and Peter were walking along the street, complaining about the bad service they just got at a restaurant because Anthony is convinced the waiter thought “we’re black and black people don’t tip.” Then when they pass a white couple on the street, Anthony notices the lady squeeze her husbands arm tighter as they walk by the black men. unexpectedly he pulls out a gun and carjacks the couple. This is the first big act of racism in the movie, following many other acts of racism. From what we see here, it's clear that racism still exists in America but it's not as intense as it used to be. In this movie "Different people encounter different things, yet all lead to one consequence: the accumulation of anger and the false assumption of the people standing before us. Their moods are affected by others’ illegal or unfair deeds, and they humiliate or bully the next people they meet just to release their pent up anger. In this way, one thing leads to another, and everyone begins to feel insecure in this multinational society."
I agree with Diana on the definition of "post racial." Racism clearly still exists in the society today. As Toure says, "racism is like weather - we only talk about it when it's extreme, but it's always there." In the movie Crash (2004), it depicts the racism that still exists today. It isn't to an extreme, but it showed how racial discrimination happens in minor details that the overall society lacks to see. For example, in the beginning of the movie, there was a car accident and the LA detective, Ria, approaches the Asian lady who refutes everything and just wants to leave. They exchange racist comments. At the end of the movie, there was a car accident involving Shaniqua and while she was arguing with the other driver, they begin to throw racist remarks at each other. As we can clearly see here, no one views those incidents as a big issue, but racism does exist. "Post racial" is just a term that people make up to cover up their insecurity of how America is suppose to be the "the land of the free, the place where dreams are achieved."
Toure's definition of post racism is saying that it exist so much that it is barely noticeable. Meaning that racism exist after the "racism period" but in the twenty first century it is hidden. Relating it to Crash, the racism is clearly obvious to us the viewers however to those characters it was not that easy to identify. After watching this film we can learn from the movie that racism is in our faces in more ways than one. It can be as simple as what someone says to us or how they look at us. Thoughts/assumptions are already being made. It doesn't even have to be about race, it could be social status or wealth.
Post racial describes society where racism no longer exists. This is untrue and I exhibited through the movie crash. In the "post racial" society in 2005 there is still racism against several minorities. The movie conveys racism through racial stereotypes. The actions seen in crash can teach us not to judge each other based on stereotypes and to see people for who they are rather than their race.
First: claims of “post racism” are false. Like Toure said, “Racism is like the weather…”It’s there and still exists. Crash indicated how racism while not overt can be detrimental. The movie highlighted the importance of power, poverty, and assumptions as races interact with each other. Thande Newton’s character was the receiver of abused power by a white cop. While some may argue his early violation of her was redeemed by saving her life, we must remember he is not a saint. Did he save her from the car out of guilt? Maybe. However, nothing is justifiable for his actions. He still was racist to the lady from insurance and still misused his power breaking his sworn oath to protect and serve. Sandra Bullock’s character belittled foreigners based on financial disparities. She didn’t trust the locksmith nor did treat her house-keeper with respect until she came to Bullock’s aid.
The worse character off all was the Persian father who shot the Espanic lock-smiths daughter. Forget a language barrier! He understood what the man was saying because he asked him, “we’ll who do you know who can fix my door?” and then when not receiving the answer he wanted proceeded to threaten the man. Keep in mind the lock-smith had given the Persian guy all his money and explained the situation in the drive way. His short tempered, loud, argumentative ways moved him to pull the trigger and shoot what was a blank bullet into the back of the locksmith’s daughter. NOT JUSTIFIABLE. NOT ACCEPTAABLE. AN ABSOLUTE DISGRACE. In short he needed to serve time for that incident.
So in conclusion is racism still around? Yes. Will it always be around? Yes. Racism is deeply ingrained in our society and in the division of cultures. It is in humanity that we identify the differences amongst each other and use them to hurt others and aid ourselves.
Post racialism is a theoretcial way of saying that racial preference, discrimination, and prejudice is no longer relevant among a society. Like as Toure described, racism is only a big issue when it's extreme, but it always exsist. The movie, "Crash" reflects how racism still exsists in our society today. As America is a country with a diversity of cultures and race, people would clash with one another. In many ways “Crash” can be seen as sort of a post-racial movie in that every single character in “Crash,” is aware of racism and knows that it is a bad thing. In particular, there was this one scene where this non-racist white cop makes a snap judgment about a black male and ends up shooting him. In that scene, there had been an argument and the cop thought the black male was reaching for a gun, when in reality he had been reaching for something innocent. From there, we can learn that even a non-racist indidvidial can feel insecure about another race. This proves that racism is always there from the start.
The movie Crash contradicts Toure’s Post-Racial definition. Through the actions of each character, it is clear that racism still exist among society. For instance, the death of Peter Waters was caused through a stereotypical conscious. The white officer that killed him did it by mistake, in hope of protecting his own life which drives him into believing that Peter was pulling on a gun from his pocket. However as a result, it was just a piece of car decorator. This shows audiences that as much as we hate to admit it, racism and stereotypical myths still exist among us today. Although we may not admit to it, our actions will prove us wrong. This film has helped me understand the importance of self-awareness; being able to thinking before I talk or make any type of choices, that way, I will not regret it later on.
In Toure's definition on the 21st century being post-racial, racism is compared to the weather as always being present but ignored and only noticed when situations have gone out of line or draws attention to the public. There actually is no "post-racialism" because stereotypes in the 21st century still function society. The stereotypic mindset from one race to another is displayed in the 21st century movie Crash. Crash reveals prejudice crimes, the abuse of power by racist officials and how many races are still slighty inferior to the slighty superior "white man". With that being said, one can conclude that society has not changed from its racist period since equality has not improved greatly from the 20th century to the 21st century. From this, we can learn that the process of changing society and the way everyone thinks is a long and complex process, which will gradually improve.
I agree with what Khadijah says about what Toure's definition of post racism is and how racism in the 21st century is hidden. In the movie Crash there were plenty of scenes that have shown this. For one example, there was a scene where a black couple was pulled over and even had to be searched just because. This showed part of the racism going on against minorities. Another scene which was very important was when the white cop shot a black man because he assumed he was going to pull out a gun at him. Throughout the entire movie there were plenty of scenes that showed us racism and how it was portrayed. For most it was what the person assumed of the other person because of their race to the way they dressed.
As Diana said post racial is used to describe society where race is not a factor or relevant. The movie crash proves that there is not a post racial society no matter how many years after slavery or the civil rights movement we are. One scene in the movie where this is when a white cop who had been seemingly unprejudiced throughout the movie picked up a black man. In this scene the black man in the car beings to laugh and the cop becomes aggressive and tells him to get out of the car when the black man begins to show the cop what he was laughing at he shoots him because him because he feels threatened. All the black man was pulling out of his pocket was a statue that they both owned. The officer felt threatened by the color of his skin not by what he was pulling out of his pocket. Throughout the movie racial slurs are everywhere and it is not just between black and white every race is included. We can learn that race is an issue and always will be, no matter how far we come, there are people who are of different racial backgrounds and as much as people say that is not something they see it is truly the first thing they see and the stereo types that come with it.
Toure's definition of post racial basically states that race doesn't matter anymore and there should be no reason for serious discussion about race because it is no longer a concern. However Toure's adamantly disagrees with this term, calling it a "mythical idea" , which can be proven by watching movies such as Crash. Crash is a movie based on race relations set in the 21st century. In the movie it is clear that racism in still thriving, it is not as extrovert as in past decades, but more subtle. For example the Arab's family store is vandalized "Osama" is written over the store and the people did it without even knowing the family's nationality. Also when Sandra Bullock's character stubbornly refuted keeping the locks the same after they just been changed because she was "scared" that the Hispanic guy would give the key out so other people would break in. Furthermore the cop at the end thought the black guy was going to pull out the gun, therefore he shot and killed him. An example of more extrovert racism is when the other white cop, Matt Dillion's character keep on referring to black people as "you people." It it obvious that race is still an issue and will probably always be an issue but not discussing the problems can leas to more problems. It is our job that our generation is fully educated on the concerns of race and racism so that we can teach the next generation about it. Hopefully if we efficiently teach this new generation then every generation somebody's race or ethnicity should not be described as a negative attribute.l
Post racialism is defined as being without racial conflict. Post racialism does not exist currently even though some seem to believe it does. Crash proved that post racialism is non existent. Although Crash was a fictional movie, the conflicts that took place are not far off from what happens in reality. For example, stereotyping was prevalent in the movie. The Hispanic man was stereotyped as being a convict and in a gang. But in actuality he was a hard working, married man with a family. People a stereotyped everyday based on their race and are underestimated and judged based on these stereotypes. Another conflict in the movie was the white cop taking out his anger and resentment over a situation with a black woman on a black couple who had nothing to do with the situation. He used his power and authority to make the black man feel inferior. In real life this happens frequently especially in suburban areas. A lot of white cops pull over primarily minorities for very small reason or no reason at all just because of the color of their skin. Racialism is all around us. It isn't as blunt and open as it was in the past but it still exists.
Racism is like the weather: we only talk about its extremes, but it’s always there.-Toure
Toure's oberservation of racism hits society right on the head. Although society (relvant to the past) is sunny compared to the hurricanes of the past. We still experience to some degree racism sometime it hits stronger then usual but it does occur. In the film Crash it showed the world that racism still occurs which helps repeal the theory of an post racial society. Although racism is not as dramtic as shown in the film it still occurs and can continue to decrease if we educate and come together on key issues of society. If people continue to correct their wrongs and correct/improve their ignorance we can began to develop a real post racial society.
A post racial society is defined as a society where race no longer matters, the ethnicity of an individual is no longer relevant in todays society but I disagree with Toure's idea. Yes it is true that racism has come a long way but is it really true that race is completely irrelevant in today's society? Crash revealed to us that though there are'nt nearly any racial acts of violence and race is much mre subtle than it was 50 years ago but it shows that a lot of people seem to suffer from like stereotyping and immediate classification. Without even opening your mouth someone begans to judge you just by looking at you. From this we should learn not to judge one another, we are all Americans
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