I think it is because of two basic reasons; firstly, as Tatum points out, one can relate better with peers of their own race because they too understand the difficulties of being a minority. I think she really made a great point, how can we expect a white person to understand the racism towards African Americans. Ms. Tatum gave an example regarding a 9th grade substitute teacher suggesting four-year colleges to all her white students and suggesting that a black adolescent male in her class go to a community college. It would be almost silly for that African American boy to sympathize with one of the white peers, not only would it be hard to relate to each other, it would be downright embarrassing. I actually think that the white teenager wouldn’t be able to see why the colored boy was hurt, they would just brush it off and give an explanation like “oh the teacher didn’t mean it like that”.
Sadly, some individuals believe that another person is less human than them. Some of the most common causes of racism are skin, color, language, customs or place of birth. Racial prejudice deals with terrible and hostile pre-judgments, opinions, and actions towards a race. Moreover, racism has some devastating effects. It can destroy a person’s self esteem, community cohesion and even creates divisions in society.
Slavery was so victimized that it still affects the society to the extent that black people blame the whites , and white people still agree that black people need to be slaves. Until this day there is some sort of prejudice and rivalry due to different
Also be effected intellectually involves the teaching or schooling this certain person receives. If their teachers are racist and treat students off a different race not the same as others, a student academics could in fact be interrupted. An example of this mistreatment would be that of; “On Monday, September 23, 1957, Melba and the other black students go to school. They are again greeted by a mob of angry white people.” This is also an example of how the book uses literature to provide a sense of cultural awareness. At the point in time people were very harsh and unfair to those of a different race just because they were not the same color as the majority.
In Warriors Don’t Cry the hatred of the blacks towards whites is very apparent from the beginning to the end of the novel. Melba and the other Little Rock 9 were repeatedly physically and verbally abused throughout their time at Central High School just because they were black. These actions were repeated throughout the nation some even went as far as killing people for their color of their skin. The main reason for this hatred was because the lower and middle class whites had people they were better then no matter what was happening at that point in their lives. They felt that if African-Americans were given equal rights they would be better than them and that was something they couldn’t let
This paper will discuss a social science theory of race called the racial identity construction theory. The discussion of this theory will be based on how it is presented in Tatum’s Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria. Tatum defines race and racial identity in the context of prejudice and racism (7). According to her, prejudice is a “system” that involves “cultural messages” and “institutional policies and practices, beliefs and actions of individuals” (Tatum 7). Racism and prejudice are interchangeable terms; the former is defined as one’s feeling of cultural and racial advantage over other cultures and races.
“Realistic Dreams” African Americans in professional sports are failing as role models for our young black students. Far too many of our young African American students aspire to be like our celebrity black athletes for more wrong reasons than the right ones. I. African American athletes have to be held to a higher standard by themselves, as well as the communities they serve. i. Our black athletes are placing our young students at a disadvantage by not informing, motivating, and encouraging them about the importance of education.
The media’s portrayal of African American’s is both inaccurate and highly degrading. The racism present in today’s media needs to be addressed and dealt with. African Americans suffer from institutional racism, are misrepresented in the news, and their portrayals on television are based on negative stereotypes that do not accurately portray reality. If this issue is never resolved then our main stream media will continue to be tainted by racism and the African American stereotype will go on to contaminate the minds of the next
I do believe that the media can be held partially liable for the discrimination against African-Americans in the school system. Since I have witness much discrimination against the African-Americans, I wanted to understand their perspective and why there was so much animosity. In the African American population the amount of discrimination that takes place can steer them into poverty. Olzak, (1992) stated
Although they might be brown or white, inside of that colour is still human, and they should have as much chance as everyone else. Joshua thinks that society thinks brown people can’t succeed. An example of this is when he says “if I were a girl, either by myself or with a baby in or beside me, victim of teen pregnancy with a guy in high school”. I personally find this highly unfair how society is judging brown people because they are a different colour. This story inspires me, and I’m sure it will inspire you as well.