It was very interesting to see the responses from my Facebook status. I rarely update my profile, so I was actually expecting a lot of comments from my friends. What surprised me was that the responses came from individuals that I hardly know (none of my close friends responded) and most of the responses were well thought out. I never viewed Facebook was a source for bringing up serious issues, such as racism, but people had no reservations expressing their opinions.
One individual actually continued the conversation by posting another question. She said, “Do you think everyone is a little bit racist because American culture is determined to make you extra aware or race?” I do think that it is very difficult to not be aware of races, because we do place a lot of emphasis on it in society.
Everyone that commented was very opinionated and it was sad to see that each person spoke as though racism is just part of how society is and there is nothing that can be done to change it.
8 comments:
Because facebook is such a public site, I found that people were nervous or scared to voice their opinion and feel strongly about it. I got a lot of "maybe you're on to something" like this was a new phenomenon or they agreed but didn't want to voice a strong opinion.
I think its interesting that people are aware of the racism that the media generalizes and typifies, I don't know if it reinforces what they believe to be the way it is, or if that belief was something just innate. I personally feel that it was learned, and that our society has taught them this. However it is a step that people are aware of this, because awareness is the first step to self improvement. I agree people could have been afraid to really voice strong opinions
People are afraid to voice real opinions because there has been such a backlash to people who say or do racial things. It is impossible for people not to notice race, but I do not think that it is hatred that drives these opinions- at least not very often anymore.
I think Americans are probably hypersensitve about race as a result of all the racial barriers we've had to overcome and still have to overcome. There's a book called the White Man's Burden that in part argues that white people have the burden of regret over past wrongs inflicted without ever causing it or being able to really do anything about it. I think it's an interesting perspective (though I think it's silly for someone to be complaining about the white man's burden when the burden on other races seems so much greater)
I had one response that literally could have been an essay. haha. I could tell he really thought his response out and cared enough to post it for everyone to read. That shows me that this is a serious issue and people really do have opinions about it.
I totally agree that Americans are hypersensitive to race. It was never even discussed when I was a kid and I went to a really diverse elementary school. The only thing that I noticed then was that some kids couldn't speak English. I didn't discover racism till my world became "whiter" (I am from Utah) and suddenly it was taboo to point out a person's race. (Naturally as jr. high students, anything taboo becomes cool. Hence... my introduction to racial slurs and jokes.)
I think that sometimes in the United States people is more aware of their race. It can be both, good and bad. On one hand, people is proud of their heritage and where they come from; yet, sometime sit gets caught up in so many categories that it can turn up to be ridiculous.
“Do you think everyone is a little bit racist because American culture is determined to make you extra aware or race?” Oh my gosh I agree with that comment. I think that because we are walking on eggshells all the time trying to make sure nobody gets offended we are not able to get past race and differences and just live cohesively.
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