This episode comments on the absurdity of even having a token character and trying to put people in boxes based on class and race, but how everything meshes anyways as the poor African Americans were starting to get the upscale. The topic of race is beaten around the bush in this episode as everything is just about class and wealth, until the very last line. The white people have run all of the rich African Americans by pretending to be ghosts, ironically mimicking the costume of the KKK, and the last line of the episode is Mr.Garrison saying "at least we got rid of all those ni-" and then the credits start (South Park, 2001). The racial agenda in this episode is masked by the social class of the characters, but it all started with the Token …show more content…
For the most part, shows use the token character to gain minority viewership and to promote diversity while still maintaining the white majority. However, some shows, like South Park take the absurdity of a token character to a satirical level by literally naming the character Token and having him complain about his lack of acceptance in the community, even though the children's only concern is that he is rich, not that he is African American. The Marxist perspective focuses on the idea that material wealth and status determine the popular culture and the status quo (Sellnow,2017). South Park challenges this idea by making the rich people at the mercy of the poor people's demands as they run them out of the bars and to the front of the bus. If the Marxist perspective was accepted, then the rich African Americans would be determining the culture of the town. While That 70's Show reinforces this perspective by making the token character at the mercy of the rest of the characters. Fez is given no name, no history, and no family. His character is determined by the comments of the other characters as they tell him what is American so he can get accustomed to his new home in the United
Kraszewski writes in his chapter, “Country Hicks and Urban Cliques,” that throughout its 20 season run, (now 30+ seasons) The Real World has brought to terms “race and reality through discursive tensions between urban and rural America, as well as liberal and conservative politics.” In class lecture on November fifth we discussed these issues more in depth, and viewed clips of some of the tensions that Kraszewski describes in the chapter. In one example, we see Mike, Coral, and Malik enjoying their breakfast when Mike speaks up and confesses that his uncle will not hire black people because of their education. Throughout the rest of the season Coral and Malik prove to Mike that his uncle’s views
“I was taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance on my group,” Peggy McIntosh wrote in her article White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. Too often this country lets ignorance be a substitute for racism. Many believe that if it is not blatant racism, then what they are doing is okay. Both the video and the article show that by reversing the terms, there is proof that racism is still very existent in this world. By looking into A Class Divided and White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack along with their ability to broaden the cultural competence, once can see how race is still very prominent in our culture.
While whites lived comfortable lives in their extravagant mansions and driving their fancy cars blacks had to live in a disease infested neighborhood with no electricity or in door plumbing. Approximately one thousand people lived in shacks that were squeezed together in a one-mile zone. The alleys were filled with dirt, rats, human wasted and diseases. Blacks lived in houses made of “old whitewash, a leaking ceiling of rusted Inx propped up by a thin wall of crumbling adobe bricks, two tiny windows made of cardboard and pieces of glass, a creaky, termite-eaten door low for a person of average height to pass through...and a floor made of patches of cement earth”(31). Living in such a degrading environment kills self-esteem, lowers work ethic and leaves no hope for the future.
Race has been a difficult topic to discuss and grasp ever since race problems began. Not only is it a sensitive topic that carries a lot of baggage to the name, but it is a continuous problem that we still today, after many years, battle with. “The Code Switch Podcast, Episode 1: Can we talk about Whiteness?” is a podcast with many speakers of different colors that discusses white ignorance and white uncertainty of talking about racial issues.
Racism is not only a crime against humanity, but a daily burden that weighs down many shoulders. Racism has haunted America ever since the founding of the United States, and has eerily followed us to this very day. As an intimidating looking black man living in a country composed of mostly white people, Brent Staples is a classic victim of prejudice. The typical effect of racism on an African American man such as Staples, is a growing feeling of alienation and inferiority; the typical effect of racism on a white person is fear and a feeling of superiority. While Brent Staples could be seen as a victim of prejudice because of the discrimination he suffers, he claims that the victim and the perpetrator are both harmed in the vicious cycle that is racism. Staples employs his reader to recognize the value of his thesis through his stylistic use of anecdotes, repetition and the contrast of his characterization.
The episode of Everybody Hates Chris that was shown in class is an excellent example of the negative representations of black, lower class people in the media. Specifically, the episode addresses the common black stereotypes of having poor home lives, absent parents, and the overall belief that black people are more violent and aggressive than white people. The episode addresses the everyday stereotyping that comes in a day of the life of a lower-class black, male student at an otherwise all white middle-class school.
In today’s age, African-Americans are still viewed as the lower race. There are entire ghettos associated with housing only African-American individuals and cities are divided among racial lines. For example, our hometown of Chicago, the north serves as residence to the “whites” while the south end of the city home to “blacks”. There is a wide-spread belief that African-Americans are not as smart as the rest of the population, are in some way related to a criminal background, and/or do not care about their betterment in any way and are lazy. This is because, Mills argues, racial realists associate racial characteristics to the “peculiar” history of that race. This makes argument makes logical sense given the oppressive history of African-Americans in
Crooks, An African American in Of Mice and Men, who is not able to fit in because of his race, symbolizes racial profiling in society today. Steinbeck clearly makes his point in the novella by concluding that Crooks is not important to them because he is African American. This relates to society today through the Trayvon Martin Case. Trayvon was shot and killed because a Latino thought he was harmful because of his race. Trayvon and Crooks are both victims of racial profiling in society.
... He becomes the symbol of hope that the Caucasian adults are willing to break down the barriers separating them from the African American children. When the other men just stood there daydreaming, this "citizenly" (192) man struck the first blow that could break down the racial wall. But because of this single action, one of the boys (Samuel) falls off the platform and dies.
Peggy talks about racism being a part everyday life even though we ignore it. Peggy’s main idea was to inform the readers that whites are taught to ignore the fact that they enjoy social privileges that people of color do not because we live in a society of white dominance. Even though society has come a long way, it still has a longer way to go in improving social profiling. There are many things minorities will never have the opportunity to experience or understand because they are not white. It doesn't matter what we do, how much we work, how much money we have, we’ll never experience white privileges. White people are not stereotyped like other races are. They are also not looked down upon other races. The list of daily effects that McIntosh describe are perfect examples of what minorities will never get to experience. Some of her points are, “ 13. I can speak in public to a powerful male group without putting my face on trial” she also points out that people of minority will not experience never being “ asked to speak for all the people of my social group” (McIntosh 99). No matter how one may try to analyze a situation, white people are privileged bottom line. Some are more privileged than others by way of money or reputation and others by are privileged just by skin
Chapter 1 titled “At the root of identity” begins with Steele speaking of his experience as a young black child growing up in Chicago's Hyde Park. He recalls that as a young boy he could only go swimming in the community pool on Wednesdays. He speaks to how this racial segregation was all around him but he did not realize the true meaning of it. He was able to see that he was treated differently but did not really know or question why. Only as he got older did he begin
Throughout the narrative of the story, several examples of characters being portrayed by their race’s negative racial stereotypes. A great example of the negative racial stereotypes is the character Calvin Payne. In the episode “Payneful Assistance”, Calvin was arrested for owing child support to his “baby mama”. This scene in particular where Calvin is in jail and meets some random family member in jail. This exemplifies the racial stereotype against African Americans by portraying them in a negative light. The show portrays African American fathers as deadbeats and having multiple kids by multiple mothers. Another way I believe that scene in particular shows that racial stereotypes are present is the fact that Calvin, while in jail, had 2 cousins in jail with him randomly. This scene tries to make it seem like if you are black, you are guaranteed to have someone you know in jail. Also, throughout the show, many racial undertones are present, for example most of the all the characters talk with a certain loud slang and absent fathers are common. This conforms to the negative racial stereotypes placed upon African
I was late for school, and my father had to walk me in to class so that my teacher would know the reason for my tardiness. My dad opened the door to my classroom, and there was a hush of silence. Everyone's eyes were fixed on my father and me. He told the teacher why I was late, gave me a kiss goodbye and left for work. As I sat down at my seat, all of my so-called friends called me names and teased me. The students teased me not because I was late, but because my father was black. They were too young to understand. All of this time, they thought that I was white, because I had fare skin like them, therefore I had to be white. Growing up having a white mother and a black father was tough. To some people, being black and white is a contradiction in itself. People thought that I had to be one or the other, but not both. I thought that I was fine the way I was. But like myself, Shelby Steele was stuck in between two opposite forces of his double bind. He was black and middle class, both having significant roles in his life. "Race, he insisted, blurred class distinctions among blacks. If you were black, you were just black and that was that" (Steele 211).
Some say that this play is racial in that the family is black, and what the family is going through could only happen to people of that race. One prominent racial is...
I think this play is a lot about what does race mean, and to what extent do we perform race either onstage or in life: