Sydney R - The CSA

Race will always be a defining factor of America's history and identity and although important progress has been made in an effort to strive for inclusivity and equality, there are still many lingering notions of past beliefs that impact us today.  In the past, language about the superiority of the white race over others was very explicit and made no effort towards equality.  In the era of Jim Crow, Americans, specifically those of color, were constantly reminded of race when they saw "white only" signs in almost every public space.  Everywhere it could be seen that whites got better treatment than everyone else and it certainly was not "separate but equal."  As seen in the film as well, hearing racial slurs was a common occurrence in everyday life and used as a way to maintain power over people of color.  It also seemed to be used as a way to define people of a certain race.  In Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail", he explains how "...your first name becomes 'n*****' and your middle name becomes 'boy'...."  This type of language aims to dehumanize and claim that all people from one race are the same and have no defining characteristics.  Now, it is widely accepted that racial slurs are only to be used by people of that race, if at all.  Imagery in the past was also very influential in advancing the agenda that the white race was superior.  One of the images in the film that was quite disturbing to me was a diagram of a tree that began with chimpanzees and at the very bottom, beneath gorillas and orangutans, there was a black man.  This kind of imagery suggests that race is scientific, instead of the social construct that it truly is.  If this kind of diagram was shown in schools, it would teach white children that they are better than black children while simultaneously having a detrimental impact on the self-esteem of those black children if they were shown this image.  

These strategies of using language and imagery in support of white supremacy has been effective because there has also been policy backing it up.  In Kendi's article, he explains how black people have had to fight against "racist policy and racist violence" which is what has been keeping them down throughout all of American history.  There have always been systems in place to oppress people of color and make it nearly impossible for them to fight for equality and respect.  It is important to recognize that these racial beliefs were popular not all that long ago and that there are many Americans that still believe in them.  These beliefs permeate our society today and I am not sure if they will ever fully be erased. 



Comments

  1. Catherine BolzendahlJanuary 27, 2023 at 2:45 PM

    I had a couple thoughts about your post. I appreciate you tackling some of the tough issues the movie brought up. One thing that is interesting about the Jim Crow system is that it also emphasized the race of whites. It was the very strong construction of a "color line" - something another peer raises too. It is also important, as you say, to focus on how anti-black racism continues today - the words may not be on the sign, but the reality as a lived experience is palpable.

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