This week we watched a movie about white
privilege. One person described white privilege as white folks not having to
pay attention to race. I think that is very true. I believe that this is true
of all types of privilege. Any type of privilege
allows you to ignore oppression. You do
not have to be aware for instance, that you are white or male or even Christian.
During the movie, one person
described how her students wanted to read black poets and she only knew of
Langston Hughes. This reminded me of how the US education system largely
ignores people who are not white. In the US stories of black people and native
people are often not told, and when they are they are frequently told to make
white people look better. For instance the stories of massive genocide committed
against natives are often left out. This is a problem that can easily be solved by
simply discussing different perspectives a little more early in a person’s life.
The movie discussed whether or not racism
would seize to exist soon. Personally, I
see it as a real possibility. This is true because white people will stop being
a majority. White people will be the biggest minority but, in the US there will
be no majority. I understand that this will happen in my generation’s life
time. This means that more and more different types of people will be
integrated into the system, which will allow people to more easily understand
that difference is beauty. As different types of people become integrated racism
will stop existing. It will be easy to see that other types of people work
hard, and are good leaders. We live in a highly globalized world and the more
we globalize the less racism there will be.
Even though the movie was made
several years ago, many of the issues still rang true. There are still many problems with race
relations in the US today. Just look at what is going on in Ferguson or in New
York or in Cleveland. Many people still
feel and see racism all around them. It
is important to give everyone an equal opportunity, but not everyone in this
country has one. People of color are often marginalized, and sometimes must overcome
many hurdles in order to be an equal playing field as the people who are white.
It is true; we have come a long
way. However we still have a long way to go.
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