In discussions of racial discrimination, one controversial issue has been the persistent oppression of Black people. Michelle Alexander would argue the war on drugs is the new Jim Crow.Ta-Nehisi Coates focuses instead on home ownership for color people and how they are forced to always be second class citizens. And The Central Park Five depicts the way in which racist ideologies serve to dehumanize people of color in order to justify that they have been robbed of their labor, civil rights, and basic human rights by a biased legal system.While I agree with all three pieces you can see the failed attempts made by African American to be equal. I have mixed feelings because Coates’s piece focuses on owning a home, respirations along with …show more content…
Stereotypes are implanted into the brains of the youth. As they grow up and live by stereotypes which controls people are seen as a whole and how they act towards one another. Stereotypes such as minorities stealing, killing and participating in violent activities allows society to view these types of groups by comparing their behavior to that of animals.The five young man went from being seen as the innocent boys that they were to being seen as monsters or as a wolf pack as some called them .The documentary provides the ugly truth about how people of colored are viewed in the eyes of the public . A thin line between reporting news and interpreting facts was drawn when this case was going on.These five young colored males were striped of their 5th Amendment which prohibits individuals from being a witness against themselves. They were used against each other and their humanity was taken along with them . No person should be deprived of life, liberty, or property when it 's a given right to all men because we are all equal.As we could clearly see racism was around and establish legally through the criminal justice system ,Michelle Alexander would agree with this statement. Her ideas and the films weren 't so
More than Just Race: Being Black and Poor in the Inner City (Issues of Our Time)
Touching upon one specific case of this growing problem, she incorporates “Michael Brown,” who was an “18-year old unarmed black man shot down by a white police officer.” As heartbreaking as it sounds, it has happened on several occasions to men similar to “Michael Brown.” Accordingly, Myers formulates that it “is the same story. It is just different names.” Myers logically lists the other names of several black men who unfortunately fell victim to hate crimes, (Amadou Diallo, Sean Bell, Oscar Grant, Trayvon Martin), as well as flashing their images on the screen. Not only does Verna Myers use imagery in order to show that there is an evident issue with brutality and racism, but she knows it will tug on her viewers heartstrings. Likewise, this makes her audience become wary and sympathetic towards the situation at
Essayist and author, Ta-Nehisi Coates, has composed several works. They vary from essays to books and he uses his platform to discuss cultural, political, and social issues. Two of his major works are his essay, “The Case for Reparations”, and his memoir, “The Beautiful Struggle”. The circumstances that Coates encountered within his memoir are a result of everything that he discussed his essay. He believes that there should be a case of reparations for the African-American people.
...ontinued the cycle of structural and environmental violence. Years after slavery ended African American communities continue to be subjugated by White folk into structures that are not allowing them to flourish. African American families should be allowed to call the South home while having access to all the resources they would otherwise have access to in urban communities, as it is their basic civil and human rights to do so. However, with the injustices they face it is wonderful that the familial bonds keeps the communities stabilized and know that they can count on each other whether they are blood or fictive kin.
The Conflict Perspective, in itself, focuses on the ruling class and the ruled class. In the perspective, the ruling class defines what is deviant based on how it helps them. In this case, the ruling class would be defined as upper-class and white. The ruled class would be defined as lower-class and black. This is illustrated through the emphasis placed on the impact of the differences between the woman who was raped and the young men who were accused of raping her. The woman who was raped was a white and wealthy business woman who worked as an investment banker on Wall Street. The young men who raped her were lower class, black, and from Harlem. Due to these extreme differences, there was immense media attention. The media was often one sided and viewed the young men as criminals and animals in order to make them social pariahs. The media and upper-class wanted to make an example of them to reinforce the laws and separate the two groups even further. Also, the court system had the woman give a testimony despite the fact that she could not remember anything that happened that night. The documentary stated that her testimony was simply used to “pack an emotional punch,” and make the young men look even more inhuman. Finally, when the men were exonerated, the media barely covered it. The news was no longer about showing the lower-class where they belonged. Anything
African- Americans have a long and strenuous history in the United States. Even though today, our country seems for the most part, free of racial bias, this was not always the case. African- Americans were brought to this country to be sold and used as slaves. They endured horrible working conditions, and an even harder lifestyle that consisted of being treated like property instead of actual human beings. It was not until after the Civil War; the implementation of the Emancipation Proclamation of 1865, that African- Americans were legally freed of their duty to slavery. However, even after they were freed, life was not easy and they did not possess all the same freedoms as white Americans. This period from 1865 to 1903 was the objective for W.E.B' Du Bois to write his book, The Souls of Black Folk, which focuses on the experiences of African- Americans after they were granted freedom.
Our study of racism is related to the video because when the girl walks out of the classroom agitated, Jane Elliot said when one gets tired of being basis of their eye color, one can walk out that door, but when people of color get tired of racism, they can’t just walk out. Being a victim of racism isn’t something anyone wants to be apart of because being picked on because of your race, religion, or ethnicity isn’t something to be happy about because people should be happy of who they are not made of. I personally know people who have been victimized of racism in schools like people from the film too. Witnessing this isn’t something to be proud of because if you don’t it or try to prevent it from happening then you are no better than the person who was giving out the bullying to that person. Hopefully by seeing all these things happening around us involving racism we can finally put an end to it so people’s lives stop being in danger and put on the line
The first social issue portrayed through the film is racial inequality. The audience witnesses the inequality in the film when justice is not properly served to the police officer who executed Oscar Grant. As shown through the film, the ind...
This shows us how white people thought of African Americans as inferior, and they just wanted to dominate the society making no place for other races to express themselves. Even though African Americans were citizens of the state of Mississippi they were still discriminated against. This documentary does a great job of showing us the suffering of these people in hopes to remind everyone, especially the government, to not make the same mistakes and discriminate against citizens no matter what their race is because this will only cause a division to our nation when everyone should be
This presentation related closely to political and economic justice; however, this documentary is certainly related to social justice too. It was evident that this documentary was educating us about the policies and laws in America that have oppressed people who are non-white. It was disheartening to learn that America has a history of making laws that segregate non-whites in our society. I was well aware that African Americans have been oppressed by the policies that were put in place; however, I was shocked to learn that other non-white people too were oppressed by these policies. The documentary talks about what it means to be white by law; I was shocked to learn that our government never
We see how minorities can be discriminated against or stereotyped by just a few words that are exchanged. We as people have the opportunity to change, even those who seem helpless such as Derek Vinyard or the police officer. It also goes to show that we should be more conscious as to what we say to others even if it is harmless because it adds to the racism that goes on and it needs to come to an
In conclusion, after view this film, it is clear that one can see how black youth are being viewed as killers and savages. This is not true. There have been many admirable scholars and scientists who come from the African American culture. This movie, though it depicts what goes on in South America, takes the violence committed by black youth too far. One cannot view a film and take it that this is what a race is like. The filmmakers depicted black youth in a harsher light.
One of the strengths the movie has been the filming itself. There were barely any cuts in the movie and it was mostly shot in one scene so it made you feel that you were part of the scene. Another strength in the movie was the anonymity that was given to the jurors. This help me realise that these were just the “general public” and that there are many jury’s that are exactly or similar to this. Another strength that the movie showed was that it helped me realise the potential flaw in our justice system. While the accused is still given a right to a fair trial, when you are in a society where prejudice against minorities is considered a norm, it becomes hard looking at things fairly not because you don’t want to but because most of the society is already doing it. For example, in the movie most of the jurors were quick to accuse the boy guilty without deliberation. Another strength is how this movie showed how influential we are to each other. For example, the group dynamic of economic status was big because while the people on the higher economic status looked at the boy with more prejudice, one of the jurors who was
Ta-Nehisi Coates article titled The Case for Reparations is a lengthy article about different issues that faced the black community from the past to the present and the struggle to acquire reparations for them. Coates brought issues back to light after they were bury by society. He mention things that I was aware of and things I had no idea happened. It was an enlighten piece that should be recognized for its accomplishments in discussing the issues of the past that still occur in the present.
Throughout, the documentary one can come to the conclusion that most of these African- Americans who live in this area are being judged as violent and bad people. However this is not the case, many of them are just normal people who are try...