Where might these we see instances of racism or prejudice? How does the media contribute to the ways in which we understand people from different races? What role does sport play in racial relations? If you believe there are still racial issues in America what is the main source of the problem? Use these questions to frame how you understand racial relations in our current moment
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Race and America
So we have spent the first couple of weeks trying to figure out what race and ethnicity are. Additionally, we have discussed some of the ways race, gender, and class are present within a few sporting narratives. For this week I want us to think about race and America. What is race? What is the difference between racism and prejudice? Do we still have struggles with both?
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The recent conversations we've had in class have given me a more clear view of things that are effecting the minorities of the not only in sport, but in the whole world. we discussed race as being a population of people that are believed to be naturally or biologically distinct from other populations. This refers more to what someone looks like as opposed to ethnicity which refers to where their ancestors rein from. Racism and prejudice are very common in our society today, and the way i see racism is that it's intended to lower a certain group of people in order to raise the status of another. Prejudice is more on the lines of an assumption on a group of people (i.e. Mexicans are all illegal immigrants). In previous classes we have talked about African-Americans being more animalistic in how they go about sport where as white people are more finesse. You see this type of prejudice on shows such as Sports Center on a daily basis when they talk about African-American athletes. 9 times out of 10 the prejudice is unintentional but we have created these assumptions over many years that has come to shape the way we see things. As far as racism I do feel we have made great strides from where we were, but there is still a ways to go. Also I personally feel that racism will never be completely abolished for as long as people look different from eachother, but we must strive to abolish racism as best as possible.
ReplyDeleteFrom class we learned that race is a population of people believed to be naturally or biologically distinct from other groups. This is based on social meanings which were derived from physical traits. In other words, race can also be understood as a social construction. According to Marguerite and Jessie Rodger of the book, “Straight Talk About Racism and Prejudice,” they define racism as the belief that one race, or group of people, is superior to another. They define prejudice as making a decision and forming an opinion about someone or group you know nothing about. The difference between racism and prejudice is racism is thinking your group is superior to another group, while prejudice is the opinion you have towards that group.
ReplyDeleteI believe that as a society we have struggles with both racism and prejudice. Maybe not to the point society dealt with years ago, but it still can be seen in society today. These instances of racism and prejudice can be found in sports. Some people in society view people who live in Canada to be good at playing hockey. So, if they come to the states to play hockey, they better be really good and score lots of goals for their team. The same can be said for soccer. When a soccer team has a foreign player on their team here in the U.S. the opposing team will automatically assume that they are superior soccer players and are highly skilled at the game. Even though this may not seem to be a big deal, it is still considered to be prejudice against that individual and their ethnicity.
The role of sport plays right into what I just mentioned. People assume that Canadian athletes should be good at hockey, and foreign soccer players should be one of the team’s best players. This can also be said about basketball in America. The majority of players in the game of basketball are African American, so people of a different race may assume that all African American athletes should be good at basketball.
The role of media also contributes to the way people understand different races. The media heightens these stereotypes in the sporting world. I also feel that this is the main reason that there are still racial issues within sports. Even though it may not be to the degree that it was a few decades ago. The media puts such a big deal on the race and ethnicity of athletes on different sporting teams. If spectators watch a soccer Division I soccer game that has foreign players participating, the media will no doubt try and interview those particular players to ask for their input on the game. For one, because they will assume that these foreign players are to be suburb soccer players just by their ethnicity, and two, the media will probably bring up the question about their home country and how they were raised and the differences from the United States. The focus on race by the media is undoubtedly one of the main reasons race is still an issue.
The video I posted is a great example how the media and other individuals in the sporting world have a big effect on racism and discrimination. The video shows how a college football team in 1958 was told that two of their players were not allowed to play in their team’s bowl game because they were black. The teammates of the two players stood up for their two teammates and denied the bid to play in the bowl game because they weren’t going to play a game without their brothers. It shows how in the face of discrimination, this team stood up for what they believed in and fought for what they felt was right.
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ReplyDeleteThrough the first few weeks of class we have had some deep conversations about racism in sports, the media and our daily lives. I think it was interesting to see the hockey commercials and see how the perspective of hockey in canada was used for the donuts commercial. Also the way wrangler depicted Favre as this all american man. You can really see these stereotypes in many other commercials, television shows or movies if we pay close attention and look deeper than what we see at first glance. Having these discussions have opened my eyes recently to things i hadn't noticed before in my daily schedule.
ReplyDeleteAccording to an online dictionary the difference between prejudice and racism is that prejudice is a negative attitude you have over an entire group of people, often an ethnic group or racial group. (Internal) Racism is a kind of prejudice where you think one race is superior and all the others are inferior. It has to do more than physical traits than anything else. Our society today faces issues with both of these topics. People will either have a bad experience with one person of a certain race and then use that judgement for the rest of that race or develop judgements based on what the media portrays. I agree with the previous posts in that our country has made huge strides in this area but it is not where we need to be as a whole. Yes, things are incredibly better than they were before the civil rights movements but there are still those people out there who are racists and completely influenced by stereotypes. I completely agree with Nick in that our nation must strive to abolish racism as much as possible.
The article I posted is a tragic example of how racism is still prevalent in our nation. It is a story about how Golden State Warrior guard Monta Ellis was able to use basketball to get off the streets and into a successful lifestyle. At one point in the article he talks about how he had to be careful about where he went in his town because there were still ku klux klan members in the area who disliked Monta and his teammates because of their skin color. It is awful to read stories like this as you realize there is still a long ways to go in certain parts of our country. You can only hope the situation in our country continues to improve.
http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/more_sports/street_life_left_mark_ym5dT4Z8ewZ4pBOrqA5s0I
As far as I'm concerned, all race and ethnicity show us about a person is where they are from and what their skin color is. It says nothing about their character. I believe the difference between racism and prejudice is only the focus of the discrimination, but it is still just that: discrimination.
ReplyDeleteAs we stated in class, the differences between Kobe Bryant and Ben Roethlisberger were crazy. Both men were charged with sexual assault, but Bryant get worse punishment. Bryant was arrested, given a rape kit test and a lie detector test. I could be wrong, but I don't believe Roethlisberger had to go through any of that. Bryant lost all of his endorsements due to the allegations and was asked to give a public apology. This allegation was all over the news and internet. I don't rememeber hearing much about the Roethlisberger case. I read more about it on Wikipedia then I ever remember hearing on TV or the internet. I hate to say it, but I think the reason Bryant got so much heat is because the woman he was accused of sexually assaulting was White.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roethlisberger
I think stereotypes may be a huge problem with the racial issues in America today. We associate certain acts with certain races. In a sports view, Black people are seen as the better athletes. For example, in my hometown, they hold a marathon race every year called the Bix. People from all over the place come to participate in it. People from Kenya have dominated the race for years. A few years ago that they were trying to ban Kenyas from running in the race just because they kept winning. Unfortunately, I think racism and prejudice are always going to be a problem in America.
I agree with what others have said about racism and prejudice; that America has come a long way but still has further to go. It's sad to say but I don't think that prejudice and racism will ever go away completely. As a society we judge others on appearence, whether good or bad. Take for example two white men showing up for an interview. The first clean shaven in a three peice suit, the second, unshaven in khakis and a polo. Natural instinct says that the man in the suit is better for the job even though the other man may have a great education.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't an example of racial prejudice but it proves the point of physical impressions. Some other examples include beautiful blonds are "dumb blonds," Asians are good with computers, women don't know anything about cars.
Racism comes down to the fact that we are judgemental people. There are exceptions of course. But looking at someone and making a quick judgement is much easier than taking the time to get to know someone.
Look at Women for example, there was the Women's Rights Movement but women still aren't completely equal to men. I think the same is true of the Civil Rights movements. Although I think we can still improve, for example removing the notion that African-American men are criminals, I think there will forever be prejudice. This includes all forms that we can see by physical appearance: gender, age, disability, obesity, hair color, clothing, and race.
I agree with Nick on how the majority of the time prejudice comes across as unintentional. How prejudice gets to this point is through the assumed traits and stereotypes of certain races that were made decades ago. The problem is that some of these stereotypes are still prevalent in today’s society. The media and reporters may have no idea that they are being prejudice when in fact they are. This something that in society we need to work on eliminating completely.
ReplyDeleteI feel race is used as a way to classify different groups of people based on appearance. Sometimes culture and economic status can influence a person's opinion of race as well. Racism on the other hand is a type of prejudice or a belief that one race is superior to another for whatever reason. When racism is said to be a type of prejudice this means that people have formed their own opinions in advance, which is very unfair. I believe we still do struggle in today's society with both prejudices and racism in our country. On the other hand I think we have made great improvements when dealing with racism in our country compared to several decades ago when discrimination was very common, especially in the South. I agree with what others have said when they mentioned that racism will probably never completely disappear. Some people have such strong beliefs that prejudices along with racism, can never be completely erased unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteThe media has been a major influence both positively and negatively on minorities in sport. Since the media has the power over us all, they also have the ability to influence our opinions to some degree. Sometimes they use their power to reinforce stereotypes against minority athletes, but at the same time sport has become a site for minority athletes to succeed and get the recognition they deserve. Sports bring together all different types of cultures and races which can have a positive influence on minorities because they are put in the spotlight with other athletes, specifically white athlete
The Michael Vick article I found focused on the negative side of race in sports portrayed by the media. Although we have come a long ways I feel the media always extensively researched problems that arise with black athletes while they attempt to cover up these stories of white athletes. Michael Vick and Tiger Woods covered all media outlets for months while Ben Roethlisberger was only mentioned a few times for assaulting women. In this way for example we still have a ways to go when representing minority athletes in the media.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=bryant_howard&id=3035358
i would say that i have to agree with most of the comments that i've read so far in this discussion. i personally think that there is definitely a prejudice when it come to race and ethnicity, especially in our country. it's interesting to travel to different places around the country and observe how race and ethnicity are perceived. i grew up in the midwest my entire life, but traveled to the south a lot. i never really noticed anything different when i was younger, but when i got older i started to pick up on little things that made me see how their culture was different then mine. and it wasnt until recently i met kids my age who admittedly racist and just the way they would talk about african americans would really push my buttons and i would have to ask them if they were actually being serious. and after hearing the answer to that, i would excuse my self from the room. i would talk football with people like that who would be Clemson and USCarolina fans. i always would wonder how exactly they would cheer for their team. i mean for instance clemson and carolinas runningbacks the past few years have been of color, and the last time i heard these people talk about african americans i wanted to teach them a lesson. so all i could imagine was them uttering comments that were very racial and demeaning to the hard work put in by the athletes.
ReplyDeleteLike Kiandra stated, and as we've touched on in class, i think that race is definitely a factor when it comes to the sports and media. if there was a difference when it came to legal actions then there'd be a real problem. but it's deeper to the point where what we see is how we perceive the athlete under fire. with all the recent scandals, we see Kobe more publicized than Big Ben, tiger woods, and obviously the big Michael Vick case. but one i think we haven't quite touched on as much is the Brett Favre saga. i felt like every time i would turn on espn, i would hear brett favres name at least three times. but recently his whole text message scandal had started to settle down.
i almost find it hard to believe that our country still has as big of a race problem as it does, definitely in the world of sports. i would argue the the United States is the ultimate goal for millions of athletes around the world. the leagues here are the ultimate destination (other than the olympics) for every major sport other than soccer. now with all these crossroads of ethnic backgrounds, it seems only a certain background gets "picked on" in the media. it's not the U.S. born whites, not the czech or canadian hockey players, the spanish soccer players, but some of the most popular african americans in the most popular sports. thinking about that just baffles my mind. its almost like their so popular that nowadays its like they have to find things wrong with them to make media stories. but luckily, some athletes are dumb enough to do things like we see in the media. but when does reporting go too far?
Race and ethnicity are two completely different things, but both are socially constructed. We are not born with any knowledge on these subjects but our surroundings feed us this information, the media in particular. It is easy to see that society and our environment influences what it means to be black. This article from the New York Times is a good example of it.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/library/national/race/060500ojito-cuba.html
In Cuba these friends were both considered black, however, in America only one is considered black.
Racism is a form of discrimination, a behavior, where as prejudice is an attitude. These two things are not mutually exclusive. Just because you are prejudice does not mean that you are racist and you don't have to be prejudice to be racist. Studies have shown that employers are more likely to say that they would hire an ex-con black or white than they actually do.
Prejudice and discrimination can be seen almost everywhere, but the media really brings it into the center of things, not just in sport either. On ABC, there is a show called "What Would You Do?" In this episode, they had 3 white teens vandalize a car, and then 3 African-American teens do the same. There were 10 911 calls while the black kids were vandalizing, but only 1 against the white kids. However, while the white kids were out acting for the show, 3 African-American males were sleeping in their car and there were 2 calls to 911 concerning them.I was shocked by this segment of the show.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eEY0b48da0&feature=related
Sport also perpetuates the racial differences in America. When African-American athletes break laws and fit into the stereotypes of black men then we hear all about it. However, if a white athlete breaks a law and in turn the stereotypes of white then it gets mentioned quickly and tried to explain to the public or more likely just pushed under the rug as quickly as possible. The media does this because they know people will listen more to the stories about African-American athletes these actions are also expected from them, but people do not want to hear about white athletes messing up because it is not in our understanding of people.
I agree with most of what everyone is saying about the fact that racism and prejudice in America is still bad but has become better since years ago. Which shows that we are changing but it is going to take more time. I also agree that prejudice is more unintentional and race is more blatant anger towards a certain type of people.
ReplyDeleteRace is a population of people who are believed to be naturally or biologically distinct from other populations. Racism is believing that your race is inherently superior to another race. While prejudice is more of just a prejudgment of a person and not the belief of superiority.
In sport we can see the biggest changes in race relations because it is a smaller percentage to look at. Sport has been a main spot for race relations to become better. We have seen these in such places as when Jackie Robinson in baseball or with Ernie Davis in college football. These two men were great players and that is what sports has been seen as an equal playing field where the best players no matter what race are put on the field.
The sports media has a definite impact on how people see different races.I agree with most of what everyone is saying about the fact that racism and prejudice in America is still bad but has become better since years ago. Which shows that we are changing but it is going to take more time. I also agree that prejudice is more unintentional and race is more blatant anger towards a certain type of people.
Race is a population of people who are believed to be naturally or biologically distinct from other populations. Racism is believing that your race is inherently superior to another race. While prejudice is more of just a prejudgment of a person and not the belief of superiority.
In sport we can see the biggest changes in race relations because it is a smaller percentage to look at. Sport has been a main spot for race relations to become better. We have seen these in such places as when Jackie Robinson in baseball or with Ernie Davis in college football. These two men were great players and that is what sports has been seen as an equal playing field where the best players no matter what race are put on the field.
The sports media has a definite impact on how people see different races.http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5240826n. This video clip is of Michael Vick;s interview on 60 minutes about his involvement in the dog fighting. The tear down of Michael Vick was so much greater than that of Ben Roethlisberger. I am not saying that dog fighting is right but Roethlisberger was accused of sexually assaulting women and it was not even talked about very much in the media it was just thrown under the table. While Michael Vick was seen as a bad role model for the black community while Roethlisberger was not put as a role model for the white community he stood alone and the press did not cover it as much. This shows how much the media has on affecting the way people see different stories. So I would put the main problem for race relations into the hands of the media because they are the ones who are telling us of these stories and spinning them their own ways.
Race is a group of people united or classified together on the basis of common history, nationality, or geographic distribution. The difference between racism and prejudice is that racism is the belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others. I believe we still struggle with both racism and prejudice in society today. We might see instances of racism and prejudice in sport, school, media and in the general public. The main sources of racism in America today is that some people still believe they're better than another individual because of their color, race, ethnicity or nationality.
ReplyDeleteIn class we have learned that a race is categorized based on physical traits that make people unique from one another. Physical features and traits of humans is how judgment is placed amongst people today. The color of someone’s skin, or the way someone’s hair looks immediately causes people to cast judgment.
ReplyDeletePrejudices are preconceived opinions, attitudes, and feeling that are either favorable or unfavorable towards a group of people. Racism on the other hand is a type of prejudice that occurs when a certain race believes theirs to be more superior. We still have to deal with issues of prejudice and racism every day. Our country has come a long ways in dealing with issues of race, but there is still work to be done. Equality is yet to be found.
Racism and prejudice can be seen in many different parts of life. Racism can be seen in the work force and in sports. It is proven that the white male tends to make much more than a male of any other race. In sports we tend to see racism and prejudice even more. In class we talked about how Canadians dominate hockey and that we assume most hockey players to be white. We rarely think about a black person playing hockey. On another note in football while a vast majority of players are black, the highest paid and a good majority of the quarterbacks of the team are white. The quarterback of the team is supposed to be the leader and when we look at the amount of starting quarterbacks there is a small amount of black players. Is this saying that black people can’t be leaders? It is an interesting stat to look at, one that most people never think about.
We also discussed in class about how professional athletes get into trouble and how the media tears apart some people and other things get swept under the rug. We then looked at the different races involved in the allegations and who got the most media attention. After the allegations of Favre being accused of cheating on his wife and when Roethlisberger was accused of raping a girl in a club we heard very little about what happened. These two cases were dropped by the media a few short weeks after they came up, however when Bryant was accused of raping a girl the media wouldn’t let it drop. He was the topic of every channel for over a month. Also the punishments that are given to the athletes that break a law differ greatly amongst race. These are just a few ways the media represents race in sports, which I think is one of the biggest reasons we still have a problem with race. The amount of stereotypes that get reinforced by the media is mind blowing.
I do think though that people forget that we have come a long way and that some people really have stood up for what they feel is right. In the movie “Glory Road” which is based on a true story, the coach starts five black players, which had never happened before in a basketball game. He didn’t even allow his white players to play in the championship game. This coach wanted racism to disappear and it took courageous efforts like that to get to where we are now. This is a process that is still continuing to change and it will take more brave people to step up to help us realize that the color of our skin doesn’t characterize who we are as a person.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgbDMddTl_I
This clip shows us that our issues with race have come a long way from what they use to be. This is not to say we don’t have a long ways to go to find equality amongst all people. I just think it is important to look at the progress made.
I agree with Nic in the racism will be tough to completely get rid of but that we should continue to fight for the complete abolishment of racism. We have come a long way, but that doesn’t mean it is perfect yet and we need to focus and continuing to push forward with equality amongst people. I think he makes a good point that the prejudice that we see is many times unintentional. We have created all these assumptions and unconsciously pass these views down to kids through the media. These kids then grow up believing and practicing these types of stereotypes and prejudice behaviors. These assumptions we make about groups of people are ridiculous and cause many problems. The judgments made because of skin color, nationality and ethnicity are just excuses to not learn about other people. We as a whole country and world need to stop “judging a book by its cover”, but instead get to know who someone really is.
ReplyDeleteI like how Desiree focused on the media, but not pertaining to the sports world. It is important to know that racism and prejudice occurs in many aspects of life and not just the sports world. I think the statement about the story of the black men sleeping in the car was an excellent way to show that this world still suffers with issues of racism and prejudice. It truly makes you wonder if it would have been a different situation had the men been white. I then like how she tied racism and prejudice into the sports world. I agree with the statements about the punishments athletes get when breaking a law and how skin color tends to play a role in how much media attention is put on the situation. Again this shows that our country still struggles with these issues, whether or not they are intentionally putting this kind of emphasis on a certain race or not people are noticing.
ReplyDeleteI believe the biggest difference between racism and prejudice is the fact that racism is a preconceived connotation about a specific race (i.e. skin color.)Prejudice is actually believing those stereotypes, and continuing your lifestyle believing, for example, that white men can't jump. The media has everything to do with how we see race, and how a certain race should/is perceived. I remember seeing news photos taken in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. There were photos of a white couple "gathering" food from a supermarket, whereas a group of black people were spun as "looting" from a grocery store. It's subtle things like this that shape how the population thinks about a certain race.
ReplyDeleteSport can be seen as strengthening and weakening the relations between different races. On one hand it can be a poster child for people of a mixed races working together on a team towards a common goal. On the other hand there has been tension shown between the sides, and people of other races have voiced a discrepancy in pay, fairness, etc. simply because they are of a different race.
Today I believe there is a problem with racism in this country simply because we let it be a problem. Take the "Rooney Rule" in pro football for example. For those of who don't know, the Rooney Rule is a rule in the NFL that states any team that is looking to hire a new coach, must interview at least one minority candidate before hiring a new head coach. While this has proven to lead to several hirings of minority coaches, it is a rule that blatantly can be seen as "white people doing black people a favor." In 2003 the NFL fined the Detroit Lions franchise $200,000 for failure to meet the rule. The lions already had their head coach hire lined up and interviewing anyone else, black or white would have been a waste of both parties time. It's rules like these that force people to think about the discrepancy in fairness in among the races. This is nobody's fault but ours.
In more ways than one, race and ethnicity still have a tremendous impact on the sports world. For the four major sports in this country, the subject of race is still evident and discussed amongst the on-lookers, particularly the fans and media. Ideologies — whether they are true or not — take center stage in terms of public image. The fans’ beliefs and pre-conceived notions can be heard in sports bars, stadium seats, message boards, and in today’s society — Facebook, Twitter, et al. Alluding to what has been discussed in class, race and ethnicity is still widely exposed across the nation, and even world.
ReplyDeleteAs it has been discussed in class, race is defined by physical traits, while ethnicity is mainly linked to one’s culture and their identity expressed outwardly to the public. Those terms have a big effect on people’s prejudices’ and how they act towards others around them. Prejudice is an attitude that is based on characteristics (race, class, gender) rather than achievements and is essentially someone rushing to judgment of another. Racism is an ideology of superiority — “your” race is better than the others. There are a lot of potential situations where these two race-related subjects could come up. A certain prejudice can come up in something as brief as making an acquaintance, or even just walking down the street. Although that might sound inaccurate, the truth is it happens more often than people think.
Media depends on sport as much as sport depends on the media. It’s for that reason why thousands of people tune into sports-related TV shows, talk radio, read the newspaper, and go on the Internet for even more sports content. For the most part, it really doesn’t matter how bad one interpretation of a sports story is. People will go back for more, especially if it’s something on ESPN. In essence then, the media (mainly the Worldwide Leader) are setting the agenda for the consumer. For some people, the media serves as their mouthpiece as they try to form their own opinions on issues and topics in the sporting world. In general, the media can pick and choose its spots. Is there a method to the madness when SportsCenter’s hockey highlights are either “Original Six” teams or Canadian franchises? Is there a reason why the natural black athlete — like what was discussed in class — is shown dunking 10 or more times per one-hour episode? Probably, because that’s why the people are used to and ESPN isn’t necessarily obliged to change it.
Despite biased media representations and daily prejudices, sport does play a big part in race relations. Jackie Robinson is still a huge figurehead today in terms of opening doors for the African-American race, and in more sports than just baseball. In most sports, the term “family” comes up a lot. As a team, athletes tend to bond together and become closer to each other than anyone else. Both off the field and on the field. With that being said, sports is bringing people together and striking down some major racial tensions. Sure, the norm today in 2011 isn’t the same as 50 years ago, but that’s not the point. Numerous races have come together in sports and been successful, but there are still other problems in today’s society that deal with race and ethnicity. The link I posted below has to do with black athletes repairing their image. Why in 2011, do black athletes have to “repair” their image? There should be advancements in opportunity, right? Maybe no one knows for sure who’s winning the “race,” but sports has certainly helped us answer that very question.
http://es.pn/75Jm7M
When we think about race, we all probably think about a different color of skin. For the most part this is true. But we also have to think why we came to this easy definition. Race is about populations of people believed to be naturally or biologically different from other groups based on their physical traits and or geographical ancestry location. Race can be viewed as a social construction based on a person's religion, ethnicity, and class. Racism and prejudices comes from racial ideologies of idea's and belief's used to explain a person's given skin color.
ReplyDeleteThese racial ideologies can influence a person's self-perceptions, social relationships, and his/her social life. Racism or racial discrimination is when someone discriminates against another race while believing to be superior to that person's race. Some examples of racial discrimination's are being denied equal rights, being denied equal treatment, or being denied a job while having the same level of experience of that of another different race. Prejudice is not the same as racism. Prejudices are preconceived notions of another person. Different races, but also class, gender, ethnicity, age, and disability, do not only influence them.
I do believe that we still have problems with both racism and prejudices. Just three years ago we all heard of Vivian Stringers incident with Dr. Imus, "Nappy headed Hoes".
http://www.scarletknights.com/news/release.asp?prID=5203
And just a couple of months ago when Brett Favre was called "that old man" by Sean Payton,
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2010/09/brett-favre-sean-payton-nfc-championship/1
Yes, Vivian's incident was three years ago, but Favre's age seems to keep on popping up in the media over and over again.
Talking about racism and prejudices in sport seems to be easily noticeable and talked about, but we don't talk about racism in other areas like schools. Young teenagers and middle school kids are becoming more prevalent to racism and prejudices. We all remember name-calling and fighting at these ages. The school's I went to have plenty of race related fights every year, no matter what skin color you were or what crowd you hung out with.
I think the fact that sport in today's society is a major part of our lives is why we see and hear about racism and prejudices in sports. People pay more attention to sports than schools. Maybe if we stop focusing on the obvious appearance of all people we can begin to write about what really matters, sports. Or maybe if we could come up with a system or a new curriculum to help stop or prevent racism at a young age we can help prevent the use of racism in the next generation. Children are susceptible to preconceived notions from our generation, today's media, today's TV shows, and today's movies. If we focus on the young, hopefully we can make a change in the next generation.
I agree with Kalli Hansen on the fact that we never heard anything about what happened with the Favre’s scandal and Bryant’s scandal and how the media has all the power to create or follow stereotypes. Today’s media is not only reinforcing old stereotypes, but also creating new one’s. We need to eliminate stereotyping as much as possible. But, also agreeing with Nic, we can’t stop the unintended vocabulary that slips through reporters’ mouths. Like I said, we need to start with the young and work our way up the podium. If we start here, the next generation will be more aware of these issues and will grow up thinking in a new direction, non-stereotypical prejudices.
Race is the distinct natural or biological differences in a population of people compared to another. When talking about racism vs. prejudice, racism is one race thinking of themselves as superior to another race. While prejudice, is assumptions made about someone before there is sufficient knowledge gained about the person.
ReplyDeleteTo me prejudice in sports is very real. Prejudice in sports is there every day. I feel like people are surprised to see a sub 6'3 white guy dunk, but when a black man does it, it is expected. Racism on the other hand is not as prevalent as it used to be. Each sport seems to be taking steps to make themselves of equal opportunity. However instances like quarterbacks in the NFL being about 90% white, even though in college the discrepancy is not nearly as high, is still there. I feel the media forgives whites for their mistakes quicker than any other race. Although I do feel like there has been improvement with Michael Vick getting a lot of positive media attention this past year about possibly being the best player in the league.
To get to racial equality it is going to take time. With the way different races were treated in the past, it is hard to give it a quick fix. I feel that over time there one day could be racial equality if the right steps are taken.
Race is a term used to classify groups of people based on their physical traits, attributes, and sometimes the geographic of a person’s ancestor. Racism is the belief that genetic differences of a particular “race” make them inherent superior to others that are not part of their own race. This school of thought has bred the notion and practices of certain groups of people being denied common rights and being treated as less than human. To be prejudice is someone that has preconceived ideas; that are typically wrong, about a particular group of people different than themselves. That prejudice sets the stage in their mind as far as how he or she will interact with them.
ReplyDeleteI think there is some commonality between the two terms in the sense that these terms are a product of ignorance, a product of not knowing. Unfortunately America has a deep and dark history of slavery, segregation, and discrimination and sometimes old habits are hard to break. These kinds of kinds of things still go on in our society. Definitely more frowned upon by mainstream society yet still occurs. Why is it that some counties on Georgia didn’t have their first integrated prom until 2007? Even though schools were forced into integration in 1971 by the U.S. government there are still schools in the south that have a “black” prom and then a “white” prom paid for by parents. To think that racism and prejudice does not still occur would be foolish. (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/magazine/24prom-t.html)
I have always felt that past a certain age we get most of our understanding of the world and other “races” from our peers and mass media. Unless you make the effort to want to know about other “races” you can probably attribute everything you do know from what you heard, read, or saw on television. Therefore mass media plays a huge part in “race” relations. Sometimes mass media’s role is good and sometimes it’s not so good. For example in America African Americans have been oppressed, alienated, and without a voice until things like entertainment and sports became prevalent in society. Because of entertainment and sports African Americans now have a world platform in which our voice can be heard, the other side to that is all eyes are watching? The good, the bad, and the ugly are aired out for the world to see. Who controls what the world sees you might ask? Mass media, sports can be seen as that great equalizer and breaking of barriers but you’re only going to hear what “they” want you to hear; they being mass media.
When some people use the word race they attach a biological meaning, skin color, while others use race as a socially constructed concept. In my opinion it is a socially contructed part of our culture. Like mentioned in earlier posts, we aren't born with the knowledge of racism and prejudice. It is something we learn as we grow older.
ReplyDeleteRacism and prejudice are negative feelings felt toward a particular group of people, whether it be their skin color or their sexuality. People make assumptions about others without having sufficient knowledge. I do believe that it exists in our culture today, even if it is not as evident as pre-civil rights movement. The media subtly hints toward racism and most people don't catch it. However, if you pay enough attention you can see which people receive the most heat, and it usually is African Americans. The most popular example is that of Michael Vick in comparison to Ben Roethlisberger or Brett Favre. Michael Vick faced serious jail time and heat because of his dog fighting incident. Favre and Roethlisberger were briefly mentioned in the media and did not have as harsh of consequences as Vick. Dog fighting is wrong no doubt but so is the assault of a young woman. I do feel race played a role in these instances.
From previous classes we've learned that the media constructs people in a way that soon becomes their image. Most African American athletes were seen in a tough, criminal sort of light. Images of Terrell Owens and Lebron James show them as tough, intimidating, and kind of scary. Then we see images of Peyton Manning and Tim Tebow and they basically have an aura placed around them. The media constructs the white athlete as hardworking and disciplined, while African American athletes are talented and have a God-given gift. These are just two examples of how the media constructs athletes based off their race.
Racism and prejudice still exists today and although it has gotten better, it needs to continue to improve. People still think of themselves as having more value than other groups of people and until this notion of being better than everyone else is gone, we will continue to fight racism and prejudice.
When we talk about race as we have in class, we define race as a distinct population of humans distinguished in some way from other humans. The most widely observed races are those based on skin color, facial features, and national origin. These things are naturally or biologically different than others. This is where we derive most of our social meanings about certain physical characteristics.
ReplyDeleteRacism is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and that racial differences produce a since of superiority of a particular race. On the other hand, prejudice is defined as a preconceived opinion formed without a reason for that opinion usually directed towards a specific group, race, or characteristic. The difference is that racism is a sub-category of prejudice based on a certain race. So racism is a part of prejudice based on a certain race beleiving to be superior over that race. Racism and prejudice are both still a problem society still struggles with today. We have gone a long way from what we once used to be, but we still have a long way to go.
Racism and prejudice is seen in many parts of society such as media, sports, work, and politics. In the work force, many companies and businesses must now take into consideration a minority for all positions. In politics, as we all know Barrack Obama is our president and is the first African American president, but that is the problem. We seem to be worrying more about his skin color rather than what he wants to do in office. Finally, racism and prejudice is seen the most in media and in sports. Media is everywhere newpapers, television, internet, etc. Media always talks about race and the impact it has on whatever story they are writing or covering. Now is the media biased, that is still up for debate. Media plays into the cards of certain stereotypes that people of America have for ceratin races. The media helps point out certain situations where race is a major factor.
Where media helps point out race and racism the most is in sport. Stereotypes of African American are typically that they are great athletes. As we discussed in class, the issue about African Americans having an extra muscle or an athletic gene in their body. Studys have been done to try and see if their is something, but nothing has been found. Also the little representation of American American coaches has been an issue for the past few years. For example when Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith were in the superbowl together the largest story was not the game but that the game was coached by two African Americans. This article explains the rareity of black coaches in the NFL and NCAA football.
http://www.workers.org/2007/us/super-bowl-0215/
Another example of racism in recent times was "The Decision" of Lebron James in 2010. The impact of his decision was said to have a race factor played into the story. The article mentions the the NBA has mostly black players playing for mainly white coaches. decisiohttp://sports.espn.go.com/n nba/trainingcamp10/columns/story?columnist=adande_ja&page=LeBronRace-101001
So as you can see the topic of race will always be around and it will always be an issue. As most people have already said and most of us can agree on is that race is still an issue in society today. It is hard to pick out just one source of the problem of racism in todays society. Hopefully within the near future, society can get over this hump of racial controversy, but it wont be easy. But the main source of the problem of racism is the media. The media always points to the race factor as I had mentioned in the two websites above. The media socially constructs race and the meaning each race has.
I agree with Kiandra that stereotypes are the biggest problem that people have with racism. People have preconceived notions and beliefs about certain types of race before they even get to know a person. For example how she mentioned blacks are better athletes than whites and thats why we see more african americans as athletes and more whites as upper management.
ReplyDeleteMatt Cozzi makes a good point when he talks about media. He mentions how media picks its spots and which stories to write about. The media is only going to write a story that is going to draw attention. The media will only write a story that will cause controversy. This is what draws people back to their stories as Matt mentions in his paragraph. The media can be totally biased towards one side of the story, and that is why I believe media is the biggest source of the problems of racial issues.
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ReplyDeleteIn class, we defined race as a population of people believed naturally or biologically distinct from other groups. All race really tells us about a person is where their ancestors originated from. People are classified into groups with people of similar appearance and unfortunately these groups carry certain stereotypes. When these stereotypes are believed, individuals are given labels and identities that they may have nothing in common with. Furthermore, when these stereotypes are negative, it forms the basis for prejudice, which is defined by dictionary.com as an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason. Racism is defined as a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others. As we develop, we gain ideas about certain peoples through many different factors including upbringing, society and media. Whether or not an individual is prejudice or racist is dependent on these factors.
ReplyDeleteWe see instances of racism and prejudice all around us. In some cases, we may even be oblivious to it. The best example of this is the way media contributes to our understanding of different races. Media, in many cases, perpetuates stereotypes and beliefs about different racial groups. In many cases, whiteness is considered the standard in television. The link provided goes into greater detail about the effects of media on race relations. The sports world is almost completely infused with media in today’s society and these ideas about racial relations are also skewed. For example, the differences between coverage on Kobe Bryant’s alleged sexual assault against Ben Roethlisberger’s alleged sexual assault demonstrates the way that sports and media work together and the ways in which different racial groups are represented. Kobe Bryant was a long and drawn out ordeal while Ben Roethlisberger’s was kept pretty low-key. Now, only a few months later, Big Ben is about to play in the Super Bowl and there has been nearly no talk about the allegations and the suspension that kept him out of the first four games of this season.
I believe it is quite clear that racial issues still exist in our country. The main source of the continued racial issues in America stem back from before the formation of our country, when slavery was relied upon for the developing colonies. America was founded with the ideal that “All men are created equal” as stated by the Declaration of Independence. However, for nearly 100 years, America did not adhere to this philosophy. The longer slavery continued under the guise of equality, the greater the gap between whites and blacks grew. This division became the norm and certain labels and characteristics were attributed to each group. Even though slavery has been eradicated for close to 150 years, racial division is still evident. As a nation, we have made progress over those 150 years, but it has been slow and arduous battle towards the ideals this country was founded on.
Link: http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=racismethni
According to my understanding, a race is a population of people who share common biological characteristics. My definition of race has been formed from taking several psychology and sociology courses where race was defined, in addition to independent research on racial issues. Contrary to our class discussions, I believe race is 100% biological and therefore not socially constructed.
ReplyDeleteThe extent to which people socially construct this idea of “race” is that we ultimately create the categories of which people can be classified (Caucasian, African, Hispanic, etc). Aside from that, society has no control over how race is determined: it is simply biological.
Racism and prejudice are very similar in meaning. In fact, they are the same. A prejudice is defined, according to www.dictionary.com, as “unreasonable feelings, opinions, or attitudes, especially of a hostile nature, regarding a racial, religious, or national group.” At the same source, racism is defined as, “a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others.” Essentially, racism is a prejudice. There are absolutely issues of prejudice in societies throughout the world, racism being one of the focuses.
We can find prejudices everywhere. There are prejudices against homosexuals, people of different races, women, and many others. In religious schools or communities, prejudices against homosexuals are fairly common. In addition, strong prejudices against people of particular races can be found predominantly in the southern United States. Do not be fooled into thinking these particular prejudices exist only in those areas; they can be found in all parts of the world.
The media has complete control when it comes to how a person of a different race is viewed. They have the ability to portray someone in a positive or negative light, largely influenced by societal beliefs. Using September 11, 2001, as an example, the media had the ability to fuel more hatred and fear towards people of Middle Eastern descent through the manipulation of graphic images and the depiction of Muslims/Americans. In the following video, we can easily see how a sad song combined with the very vivid imagery surrounding September 11 can influence American outlook. While this video is relatively unknown, imagine the impact it would have if advertised nationally.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-s8fpbCLLM
I believe sport is a “saving grace” for racism. The evolution of sport in our society has allowed formerly racist people to see a different side of some races. Many people have embraced sports players of other races because they represent a team that they are all connected to. When playing sports, people are more focused on achieving the goal of winning that they tend to pay less attention to their physical differences. Therefore, sports are extremely unifying.
Yes, there are still issues of race in America. The source of the problem is, and will forever be, the fact that we, as people, are all different. Due to those differences, often times people will feel afraid or insecure when dealing with different races, and that fear/insecurity leads to a disconnect between races. As a defense mechanism, people create biases and prejudices to suppress a fear or to remedy an insecurity.
I agree with most of the posts so far in that race is a social construct having to do with the assumption that based on a person’s skin color they are inferior to you. Whereas Prejudice is a judgment of a person before you have facts to base that judgment on. They can mean the same thing but often prejudice has to do with judgments involving class, possessions, and other factors besides skin color.
ReplyDeleteI believe that we as Americans do still struggle with both prejudice and racism. My proof is just in the fact that popular media constantly points out the differences in races. It may be a movie about a ghetto that shows almost entirely African Americans, or it may be a corporate America movie that shows only white, middle- to upper-class males in the work place and their wives at home or working lesser paying jobs. Often the racism that we see in America can come from what people have learned through media about how to interact with someone of a different skin color. At the same time this ‘equipment for living’(learning how to act in the world by watching interactions on TV) applies to the prejudice we see in America; if someone saw a female they might immediately assume she spent the day doing laundry and buying groceries while her husband is off making money. This is obviously an extreme example but it shows my point- that prejudice and racism are reinforced in Americans minds implicitly through popular media.
Sport’s role in racial relations may hurt in the way that, like Drew said, people assume Canadians will be good at Hockey and Europeans will be good at soccer. However I believe that sport is far more progressive in the way that race seems to play a more minor role in athletes and team then it does in society and corporate America. This link tells about a highschool football player who would be judged in a second by middle class America and who plays for a team that has resolved their share of racial issues through football..
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1181210/index.htm
After reading everyone’s posts and going over what we have discussed in class I believe race is both biologically and socially constructed. There is evidence that shows different countries or even regions within a country have constructed different definitions of race but I believe the basis of these constructed definitions are often biological. Similarly the definitions of prejudice and racism are different but both concepts are intertwined. Prejudice in my opinion as it relates to race is a preconceived belief about a person of a different race and racism is using that preconceived belief to conjure up hatred or inferiority towards that race.
ReplyDeleteAside from these definitions I’m more interested in where, why and how these ideas are expressed because it is obvious they still exist in America and to deny that in my opinion is naïve. More specifically I am interested in how sport and the media play a role in understanding these issues in America. The role sport and media play in understanding race in America I consider to be an important one and the article I posted below relates to the role I think sports and the media play in racial relations today.
http://www.solidarity-us.org/node/1201
The main point the author of this article made was that sports, particularly sports media plays a leading role in the discussion of racial issues. Not only do they play a leading role but they play a progressive role that strays from the typical discussions of race we see on other media venues. Sports media does a good job of bringing attention to the institutional prejudice and racism that is prevalent among the ownership, coaching, and broadcasting ranks. Likewise the way in which they discuss them is more “down to earth”, opinionated, and often times based on personal experience. This differs from mainstream media where topics like these typically aren’t discussed and if so are generally discussed with a political agenda subtly or even blatantly attached.
For the most part I agree with what the author of the article had to say. Sports media does play a progressive role in racial relations within America by having these discussions about issues of race within sport in the first place. I believe it’s important not to shy away from discussing racial issues and bringing them to the attention of the public is a good first step. Contrarily I think sports media does tends to over-dramatize issues of race at times or even bring race into an issue that was not race related to begin with. Although in my opinion it is better to confront these issues than to ignore them.
The other role I believe sports media plays in racial relations is in the depictions of race they present. Often time stereotypes and prejudice beliefs are reinforced within sport and the media controls what is broadcasted to the nation regarding these notions. That is not to say that the media is responsible for what we as the viewer choose to believe although it is a powerfully persuasive tool. I think that the source of racism and prejudice stems from the beliefs of people but the media is an outlet in which these beliefs may be reinforced. Whether positively or negatively, sports media has an effect on the way racial issues are viewed and therefore it plays a crucial role in racial relations within sport and society.
To comment on what Drew an Nick were discussing in the first few posts about how prejudice often times occurs unintentionally I agree that this is something that is overlooked consistently. I think the unintentional use of stereotypes has become so common that we tend to dismiss them without actually considering the fact that it is a form of prejudice. I think this also points to the argument that race is somewhat socially constructed and by not being aware of our thoughts and actions we're adding to the spread of this type of thinking. I posted a clip below that talks somewhat about these unintentional prejudices we have that we may be unaware of
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYQVDik69Nw&feature=related
What Drew said in his post about putting different expectations athletically on people based on race is something I think is a huge issue. I work with a man who came here from Mexico 5 years ago and one day while we were on break we were watching sportscenter. He basically summed up the stereotypes Americans have regarding race and representation in sport. He told me in basketball he sees black people, football he sees black people, soccer he sees latinos and baseball he sees latinos. Then he asked me where all the white people were. At first i found it kind of humorous that he essentially summarized every stereotype we have in America regarding sports and representation. But then i wondered if this was something he learned while in America or whether it was something that is recongnized in other cultures as well
ReplyDeleteAt this stage in the semester and our lives we have gained knowledge and enlightenment on the topic of race relations in the country and our very own communities.
ReplyDeleteWe see the mistreatment of human beings on the basis of the differences they have whether it be physical or cultural etc during the Jim Crow era when segregation was upheld by law of the land. We see the different portrayals of athletes and the discrepancy of attention and scrutiny they endure when they get themselves into trouble, case in point Michael Vick vs. Ben Roethlisberger.
Roethlisberger a known sexual harasser (allegedly) received a decent amount of coverage for the alleged events. He was eventually acquitted from charges and suspended for 6 games by the NFL, a mere slap on the wrist in my opinion. Michael Vick on the other hand for his role in the dog fighting investigation was suspended indefinitely without pay pending the investigation and was later sentenced to jail time. He was asked to return money paid to him by the Falcons (former team) resulting in deterioration of his finances (also while in Jail). Now after his release he was not immediately reinstated to the NFL, he had to get a job ( which he did) and get special permission by the NFL president in order to play (maybe all for good reason, opinions open to the public).
Sports play an important role in our society. It brings us all together, whether we are American or not, black or white or other, but all have one thing in common. We love sports, we participate in sports. But with that love and participation, as many of my classmates have mentioned problems of race relations still exists even in sports i.e. which athletes play in positions based on race, are there many black pitchers? Are there many white or asian running backs?. However, the country has come a long way since the Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement and even before that. We can only hope now as sports continue its unifying that racism and prejudice will surely disappear forever, however unlikely it may be.
I agree completely with what Matt Cozzi said about how the media controls the representation of race within sports. I notice it everytime they have a "sucess story" when talking about the amount of minority coaches in college football. The media continually does this to show the progression college football is making in hiring black coaches when in reality they aren't progressing that quickly. Below i posted a video that is a perfect example of the kind of control media has on the representation of race in sport
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk8piKP990w&feature=related
The main difference between racism and prejudice in my opinion is that racism is based more on immediate physical appearance. But the two are very similar, and I think racism could be considered a type of prejudice. When I think of racism, my first thoughts are about what happened in this country during the 1950s and 1960s. My view of racism is when an individual doesn’t believe another person or group of people deserve the same rights, etc based solely off of skin color or where they are from.
ReplyDeleteIt is human nature to make split second judgments, but unfortunately sometimes those judgments are negative about others. Based on this, there is always going to be racism and prejudice in the world. I’m not trying to say people are innately bad. But there are so many factors that go into it that I find it hard to believe there will ever be a world without either of the two. The media is one of these factors. Take for example of the coverage of the Kobe Bryant case in Colorado and Ben Rothelisberger’s case in Nebraska. There is a chance some people will read this and won’t even know about the Rothelisberger case that I’m referring to. Sure, Bryant is a much larger star in the NBA (and sport in general) than Rothelisberger is to the NFL. However, I find it hard to believe that it was a mere coincidence that Bryant’s case was drug through the media circus while Rothelisberger’s wasn’t while considering the race of the two athletes.
Circling back to what I said earlier about racism and prejudice never going away, I found an interesting NY Times article that basically just got other peoples opinions on race. Some agreed with myself, saying its still a major issue. Others think we need to get past it (which is what I wish would happen, I just don't see that actually happening).
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/01/us/01mixed.html?_r=1&ref=race
Society often combines race and ethnicity, when they are two different things. Race is based on physical characteristics that others can see, like skin color, while ethnicity is has to do with the cultural values people hold. In the United States, whatever you look like on the outside is what people label you as. It goes back to the “one drop rule” that was established in the 1920s, establishing that if you had one drop of black blood, you were considered by society to be black.
ReplyDeleteRacism is used to establish “superior” and “inferior” races, while prejudice comes from preconceived notions of a group of people that cause dislike. One example of a prejudice would be that all Asian people are bad drivers. I think people still struggle with both prejudice and racism. Some people like to believe there is no problem and the world is now color blind, but that is not true. The media plays into showing the negative side of one race and not of the other. For example, in Iowa City, about a year ago when there was an occurrence of violence at Los Cocos it was major news. Los Cocos clientele was primarily black. It was not big news that in downtown Iowa City there were fights every weekend at clubs primarily frequented by white clients. Almost everyone I talked to saw Los Cocos as somewhere scary, however when I went there, I never had a problem, and saw fewer fights than in downtown. There is even prejudice when it comes to names. According to the book Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner when resumes were sent to companies that were identical except for the name, the person who had the “ethnic” sounding name, was much less likely to be called back about the job.
I think that sport both helps and hinders racial relations. Statistically there is a higher than average number of black players in the NFL, for example. However according to studies black players are stacked in non central positions, while white players are stacked in central positions (central positions are those that are seen as the most important to the game). There is an interesting article about stacking, “Race, centrality, and educational attainment: an NFL perspective” that can be found at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb6401/is_n1_v17/ai_n28638112/. It was originally published in the Journal of Sport Behavior. While there are quite a few black players, there are not many black coaches, and when it comes to team ownership, there are no majority owners who are black.
I believe that the main problem in racial relations stems from a lack of understanding. Black people are all stereotyped as being poor, loud, and from the ghetto. White people are are stereotyped as growing up in nice neighborhoods and never having to struggle for anything. What needs to be recognized by people is that neither of these things hold true for everyone. A lot of my friends are actually from the projects in Chicago. They are loud. What is embarrassing though, is how people look at them when we are out in public. They look afraid, just because they are black and loud. If people would let their guard down and get to know who the people are then they would see that is not the case. I am from the South. Down there we know and recognize that we have a problem with racism and prejudice, but up here people don’t really acknowledge it. If people would just acknowledge there are things that they do not understand about another cultural group and try to learn about the differences then I think that would be the beginning of mending some of the problems.
In our lectures we are working to develop a deeper understanding of race in America. Race can be defined as a group of people who are thought to be biologically different from other groups. Society usually separates races according to real or assumed physical traits. (Like skin color.) With the formation of distinct and different racial groups, comes racism and prejudice Racism is the belief that one’s race is superior over other races. When a person is racist, they usually develop prejudices about other races. Prejudice is an assumption made about a person based on inadequate and incomplete information.
ReplyDeleteToday in the United States we still struggle with racism and prejudice, and these struggles can be seen in this video clip from ABC’s 20/20. (http://robertlindsay.wordpress.com/2009/09/08/interesting-video-on-racism-in-america/) This clip highlights race and prejudice that we experience quite regularly. The white people walk right by the white guys who are trying to break into the car. They ignore the crime that is being committed because the racist notion in society is that white people are good and don’t commit crimes, while the white people are the first to call 911 when they see “suspicious” black people sitting in the car. The white people have the prejudice that all black people commit crimes.
The media is the main source of the problems society faces with racism and prejudices because it constantly relies on stereotypes. In newspapers, magazines, movies, and in sports the media portrays races differently. In movies, ghetto scenes and prison scenes are often full of minorities, while whites are usually in positions of power. Also, the media’s involvement in sports pays a lot of attention to the good actions of white athletes and the mistakes of black athletes. For example the Mike Vick dog fighting case was constantly talked about while Ben Roethlisberger’s rape scandal was swept under the mat. The medias portrayal of the white athlete is that of a savior – they can’t do anything wrong. The black athlete is portrayed as someone who has to prove themselves. Sports have seen more progress than the rest of society in eliminating racism and prejudice, though. On fields and courts across America we see all different races playing and working together; sport has definitely benefited racial relations.
In the last couple of weeks we have tried to explain the difference between race and prejudice through media and from our own personal experiences. In class we discussed race as being a population of people that are biologically different than other populations. It is usually referred to the physical aspects of someone whereas prejudice is when you have a hatred for an entire group of people. With all of the advances that ethnic groups have made over the last couple of decades it’s amazing to see that we still have problems with both race and prejudice. It’s strange that in today’s world if you see someone was arrested for something that is a felony, people automatically think it’s a black man and no other race. Also there are many stereotypes that are included with prejudice that are still said today for example all Mexicans are immigrants or white men can’t jump.
ReplyDeleteFrom the movie that we just watched in class we are able to understand how the media can contribute to the views we see of other races. In the movie there were numerous people, shows, and movies that made blacks look like fools compared to that of whites at the time. I think that there is still too much racism and prejudice in the world today and if we knew what the main source of the problem we could somehow make society better but unfortunately we have not found the main problem, yet.
I really like the point that Drew M. makes when he said that prejudice is thinking a soccer team is superior because they have a foreign player on it. Typically we think about prejudice as being an obvious discrimination against a person, and this is much more subtle. Some people might even say that we are giving the foreign player a complement by saying that he makes the soccer team superior. Regardless if it was meant to be a complement to the foreign player or a slight at Americans for being seen as not able to play soccer, this is an example of a prejudice.
ReplyDeleteI like the points that Ben Ross brings up. I never thought about the portrayal of blacks and whites during Hurricane Katrina, but that is a great example of how the media enables stereotypes based on race. Everyone watched the news coverage about Hurricane Katrina. When the media reinforces the prejudices white Americans already have in a time of catastrophe, society holds on to them and does not move past the prejudices. I also like how Ben brought up the Rooney Rule because he is absolutely correct. The fact that we have such a rule shows us that we still have a problem with race in America.
ReplyDeleteIt is true when people say we have made progress in our views of minorities in America, but still have a long way to go. When my grandfather heard I was taking this class he said, just say blacks are faster and better at sports than whites and growing up this is what was fact to him. Now I don't believe that, however I have heard these stereotypes before. So the stereotypes still exist but they are not facts or common sense to us anymore.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with Nicholas Brayton that prejudice is better associated with ignorance, whereas racism, even though also ignorant, is intended to treat other groups of people inferiorly.
ReplyDeleteI think that many times we are ignorant of our own judgments. We don't realize how much the media and other external factors have influenced our minds and the minds of our parents. The documentary we watched in class talked about this and the effects it is having in today's America. I think that it is important to be conscious of the irrational stereotypes that we have grown accustomed to through television, film and other media.
As far as the progress we've made as a nation, I agree with you that there is still a long way to go but it seems that there is much more emphasis in education and other facets about the importance of racial tolerance. There are still many instances of racism in our culture but there are also many against racism and intolerance. I believe we are headed in the right direction.
I really liked the video Laura Driscoll put up. I think that it shows how racism is very evident in our society but in a more subtle way that most people may not even be aware of. I believe that if you were to ask those same people who called the cops if they were racist, the majority would say no. This is because, in many cases, we are conscious of the fact that racism is a bad thing but at the same time we have been directly influenced by the media and other factors on how to act, behave, and feel about ourselves and others. And in many cases, the media appeals to the negative stereotypes that have been perpetuated over time.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I didn't find it surprising that people called the cops when the black children were vandalizing the car. However, I thought it was surprising that no one called the cops when the white children were vandalizing the car. I figured that the cops would be called in either situation but clearly this was not the case. Like you said Laura, i think this is a good example of how the media influences our minds to react in the way that we do. The way we socialize in America has been molded by the media for decades if not centuries.
Going along with Nicholas Ehrecke's last paragraph in regards to the white children vandalizing the car it reminds me a lot of the article that we are to read for monday. In the article the author lists out so many different things that she took for granted, although her's involved more of everyday life situations. One could argue that it isn't just a white privilege that these white kids didn't get in trouble, it's almost as if the black children are just set at a lower standard. It's really disheartening to see and hear things like this happening, it's where our country is headed too. I also agree that the media is a huge player in this, the way we interact with others (of different races) many times is based off what what we see on TV. we need a change.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that most of you have taken the words right out of my mouth. I feel the same way as a lot of you, and think that your guys’ definitions of race and ethnicity are right along the same lines as mine.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up, race and ethnicity were never something I judged people on, but this could be because I was exposed to a lot of diversity. My high school was one of the most diverse places I’ve ever been in, and to me race didn’t matter. No they weren’t just like me, but that’s what makes everyone unique. I always knew that I wouldn’t like being discriminated against being white, so it taught me to treat others the same way. Since I experienced this for most of my life, I hate seeing our world be so torn with issues of race and prejudice. We always say that as a country we’re so equal, and no one gets put down or treated unfairly because of the color of their skin. Yet in class we’ve seen real examples of commercials and skits that prove all of that wrong. Just because it’s not brought right to the surface, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. I think to an extent, racism and prejudice are the same, as in they have the same underlying ideals. I do believe that prejudice is more based on preconceived thoughts and stereotypes, where as racism deals directly with looking at the color of someone’s skin and judging them based on that.
I think a big stage where we see these played out is in sports. We may not think so, but after taking Inequality last semester, and just in the first few weeks of this course, I’ve understood a lot more clearly the effects that race and ethnicity have on our sports world today. I found a video on YouTube of ESPN making a statement, and also did a little research and found a lot of little instances where announcers make comments based on race. We kind of hear it and let it blow over, but if these are the people we look to for coverage of sports, are they shaping our views when we hear them speak this way? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjlXTgLVD_M&playnext=1&list=PL2E7B651EFA310560
I certainly think that not necessarily just sports figures, but anyone in our world that is in power or authority, and has millions of people look up to them, whenever they make a comment centered on race or ethnicity, we take it to heart. Even TV shows that make fun of certain races, we’ll sit around and laugh but what would I do if it was my race they were making fun of?
Overall, I think race is a huge problem still in today’s society, and if we really want to be truthful in saying it no longer exists, there are a lot more things that could be done, but it will take a lot for it to be completely abolished from our nation.