Sunday, March 28, 2010

Tim Wise & Brown v. Board of Education

Brown v. Board of Education was obviously a huge milestone in the civil rights movement. It paved the way for everything to come in terms of equality. But just because the law now said that it was unjust to segregate people because of race, did not mean that white people still felt superior to minorities and that racism still heavily existed. Since then though, America has been steadily improving towards a more equal society. Many people may even say that racism is extinct. But there are more however who agree that racism is still very present in more subtle ways.
Tim Wise would argue that we have simply graduated to a less extreme or more disguised form of racism; racism 2.0 instead the blatant 'old school' racism 1.0 of 50 years ago. He thinks that while Obama was also a step towards racial equality, we are by no means free of racism, and that to continue to deny that is only hindering overcoming the issue. He claims that in order to be seen as a successful colored person you have to either be a stereotypical rapper/R&B artist, or athlete, or otherwise a 'perfect' individual. Whereas white people are considered successful every day for minimal achievements.

I really enjoyed browsing the Brown v. Board of Education website and being able to read all of the information. I originally thought that the video was also a great idea, but while listening to it, I'd find myself having to pause and rewind so I could jot down notes. Overall not an ideal mode of transmitting information, but creative nonetheless. I however would prefer to be presented with text that I can read, make notes on, highlight, and go back multiple times to reread. But overall, the topics were very interesting.

2 comments:

  1. The problem relates to Johnson's article: "...if we dispense with the words we make it possible to talk about what's really going on and what it has to do with us." (2) So if everyone sees the existence of racism and how much it affects our society, maybe we can all come together and properly work things out.

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  2. In my eyes, the stuff about average blacks not being respected for minimal achievements is so not true. On the contrary, I give great respect to blacks who go to college and who are in middle/upper classes. It shows that they have achieved something despite the odds against them.

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