Cultural Myths' Affect on Racism and Society

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Most people are unaware of the impact that cultural myths have on their lives; however, an examination of Kearney’s text reveals that they play an important role in our lives. Cultural myths can be those thoughts that a group, community, and society believe to be true, but sometimes they are not. For instance, in America one has to work hard and then he/she will get ahead, but that’s not the case in all scenarios. Secondly, the stories about cultural myths have been passed down throughout history. Kearney tells us a story about cultural myths through the film Men in Black, which is about alien activities on earth. During the time of distress, Whites and Blacks, Hindus and Muslims put their differences aside to fight against outsiders.

In the history of the United States there were many conflicts between Whites and Blacks. As a result of slavery, huge conflicts still arise between these two ethnicities. Blacks are treated as minorities, which creates hatred amongst both groups. Despite these conflicts, “what happened between these two ethnicities when the 9/11 terrorist attack occurred?” Kearney argues, “If we were facing an alien threat from outside the world our differences would vanish” (P115). In other words, it is ‘us vs. them’ and these two ethnicities placed their arguments aside and joined hands together to fight against terrorism. Just as people come together in Men in Black to fight against aliens, Americans came together to fight against terrorists. As said in the MIB, “Skrulls hide among us […]”, “and we must expose them all before they attack! We must protect our families - our children; it is us or them” (P114-115). This emphasizes the need for people to put their differences aside and think about prote...

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... Muslims never existed. On the other hand, here in America, Whites and Blacks are now having altercation against one another once again. Eight years after 9/11 the racial bonds has now been split once again. The only difference is—is that another ethnic group has become the substitute for Blacks. The new group is now Arabs/Muslims, who are all labeled as terrorists by the media. The American nation is now split among the position of what to do or how to react against these ethnic groups. Once this conflict is resolved, then surely the racial tensions will spur once again like they did in India. Lastly, humans are good in nature, but somehow they become evil. As the old saying goes, “when we have nothing to do, we fight amongst ourselves.” Human nature is exactly like a dog’s tail; no matter how much to try to straighten it—it will always become crooked again.

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