Racial identity is assigned to us at birth, no one get to choose the race they want to belong to.
In our society, racial socialization is a major issue. Let’s take USA as an example since racism still exists in our society. Black folks aren’t born expecting discrimination; no one present you with a handbook on how you should behave.
I think that racial socialization can be constructive in that It can create resiliency in black community, because they are not given an equal opportunity, that should make them want to work even that much harder to beat the adds.
It can be constructive in a white community as they are expected to go to school and be successful and are presented with opportunities to acheive success.
It is mostly destructive as it creates hatred for one another, creates inequality…etc.
I think it is entirely unfair to be discriminated against based on race because you didn’t choose your race.
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Having been born a white male, I do find stories of how 'the other side' experiences things to be particularly interesting. Personally, I've always felt a little bit disappointed with my lack of a racial identity - the push for tolerance is often quick to highlight minorities, as it should, but also points a finger at us.
ReplyDeleteThe most striking example of it I can think of is that many of the stories in last week's class were of american minorities growing up being warned of the injustice that awaited them.
I was only ever warned not to be unjust. Admittedly, It's a little stifling to feel that your only racial identity is a history of bigotry that you personally had no hand in.
I went to a private Catholic school for elementary school and middle school (in Howard County - one of the richest counties in America). Being half Chinese-and half Irish, I had trouble fitting in with most of my class, with everyone being extremely rich and white. I don't fault anyone in my school for making me feel isolated like this, but I do feel like most people are very xenophobic without even realizing it. Maybe thats just the way their parents raised them. But I also think this is why people self-segregate themselves with others that are 'like them'. In my opinion though, we are all part of the same race - the human race and if you hurt someone of a different color, you're also hurting yourself in the sense you don't get to hear about other people's experiences which you can learn a lot from.
ReplyDeleteRacism still plays a huge role in our society today. For example incidents such as the "doll test", where two young black girls were asked to choose whether they would prefer to play with a African American barbie doll or a white doll. The results were that most girls chose the white doll. What does this tell us about our society? This shows us that white people are seen as the superior race. Racial socialization is constructive because we need to unite as one without being identified as white, black, or even yellow.
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