The Double Whammy

(Source: i-suckseed, via thoushaltlovethyself)

lurknomoar:

Ron Weasley’s character is consciously written as somewhat racist. Not as racist as Malfoy, of course - he doesn’t scoff at mudbloods and halfbloods, and he doesn’t see himself as superior at all. Still, he unquestionably accepts the inferior position of house elves (they love serving), when he finds out that Lupin’s werewolf his reaction is not only scared but also disgusted (Don’t touch me!) and he is clearly very uncomfortable finding out that Hagrid is half-giant (giants are wild and savage).

And this is brilliant. Because it demonstrates that racism isn’t only present in clearly malicious and evil people, in the Malfoys and Blacks - it’s also there in warm, kind, funny people who just happened to learn some pretty toxic things growing up in a pretty toxic society. And they can unlearn them too, with some time and effort. Ron eventually accepts Hagrid’s parentage, lets Lupin bandage his leg and in the final battle, he worries about the safety of the house elves.

Some people are prejudiced because they are evil, and some people are prejudiced because they don’t know better yet. And those people can learn better, and become better people. And that’s an important lesson. The lesson taught about discrimination shouldn’t be “only evil people do it”, because then all readers will assume it doesn’t apply to them. Instead old JK teaches us “you too are probably doing it, and you should do stop ASAP”. 

This is fab.

(via lurknomoar-deactivated20130506)

Miss Representation is a 2011 documentary film produced by Jennifer Siebel Newsom that criticizes the media’s portrayals of women and the affects on society. Jean Kilbourne (producer of Killing Us Softly) is featured in the documentary.

This 2012 Burger King commercial features R&B singer Mary J. Blige. It was eventually due to complaints of the perpetuation of the stereotype that black people love chicken.

In July 2010, Antoine Dodson became a YouTube sensation for his rant against a man who attempted to rape his younger sister, Kelly. The video garnered much attention (including a song).

iamateenagefeminist:

Recently I reblogged a trailer for the movie The Help. The Help is a a movie based off the true story of a women who wrote an expose about the African-American maids in Jackson, Mississippi. From the looks of the trailer it seems like this movie is going to be another “white savior” movie along the same lines of The Blind Side, Freedom Writers, and many of the sports movies about African-American teams that have come out recently.

I cannot and would never attempt to analyze these movies from a POC’s perspective, but I can discuss how they make me feel as a white person, and it isn’t pretty. I say it isn’t pretty because these movies make me feel good, really good, for being white.

These movies reaffirm long-held privileged feelings about myself and my race. They present racism as something held by “bad” white people. Racism becomes almost a tangible object that only belongs to the antagonist of the story. “White savior” movies make the white watcher relate to the white “hero” protagonist of the story. We watch and believe that if we were in the protagonist’s situation we would be acting the same way. We would be helping the “poor” “unfortunate” POC up from their plight.

Not to mention, these stories are almost always presented as the stories of the white protagonist. Instead of hearing about the African-American basketball team who worked hard and made it all the way to the championships, we hear about the white coach who lead the African-American team to the championship. Instead of hearing about the students of color who were able to turn their life around with the help of white teacher, we hear about a white teacher who changed the lives of the students of color. The emphasis is almost always placed on the white protagonist, even when the story does not belong to the white protagonist as much as it belongs to the people of color in the story.

These movies almost always present racism in a that is very elementary. I use the word elementary on purpose because not only is the racism presented very simple but it reminds me very clearly of the concept of racism that is taught to elementary students. When I was very little I was taught that racism was not letting someone use a drinking fountain or eat at a restaurant because they were black. Because I was taught of racism only in this way, I thought of racism as something in the past. To me, because of my privilege as a white person and what I was taught as a child, racism no longer existed. These movies reaffirm racism as something in the past, that no longer affects POC. It once again tells white people that there is only one “type” of racism, and since we currently don’t act like “that” anymore we can’t be racist.

White Savior movies do not help to bring about a dialogue about race or race issues. They only help to reaffirm privileged beliefs held by white people about the state of race and racism in the present day.   

This quote captivated my emotions more eloquently than I could ever phrase.

(via iamayoungfeminist)

With the under-representation of black people in Hollywood pictures, I try to support films with a predominantly black cast. However, one that will not receive anything from me is Think Like a Man. It presents relationship tips to women on how to get a male partner, but the title itself comes off as condescending toward women. The film is based on Act Like a Lady, Think Like Man written by Steve Harvey, a man who has married three times. I don’t need any relationship advice from him. Though I support the selected cast, I do not support the concept behind the film.

YouTube allows people to broadcast videos, several of which become viral. In December 2011, a video called “Shit Girls Say” became really popular on the Internet. This video spawned many parodies; among which was “Shit White Girls Say…to Black Girls.” The video’s creator (chescaleigh) faced accusations of being a racist. Yet, as a black student at a predominantly white school, this video embodies several scenarios that I have found myself in and often with friends. The non-exposure a white person may have to black people (or any other racial minority) leads to the dependence on popular stereotypes to get an idea of how my attitude may be. Chesca Leigh was invited onto Anderson Cooper’s show where she also explained that voicing curiosity about differences is NOT racist. When asking a question, people should do so respectfully.

White Man’s Burden is a 1995 film that analyzes the prevalence of racism in America through a cultural reversal between the positions of blacks and whites. In the film’s closing moments, Louis Pinnock (John Travolta) is wrongfully killed by the police. This helped raise awareness about police brutality that black Americans are often victim of. Yet, there are tangible instances of these injustices in 2012 due to these prejudices. On March 21, 2012, Rekia Boyd was at Douglas Park in Chicago when she was shot and killed by officer Anthony Cross. One could simply label this as an incident but is one of many. Rekia’s brother Martinez Sutton states, “My sister Rekia Boyd was murdered—murdered on the street by an off-duty detective. Now the family has a lot of questions, but we are not getting answers. Nothing whatsoever. Now, a dog has seen more justice than my sister. We are waiting for the investigation to be finished. But an officer was dismissed because a little dog got killed by another officer’s dog. What does that tell us about the quality of Black life in this city? My family feels disrespected. We are outraged. And we are still looking for answers.”

Rapper Nicki Minaj discusses the double standards of the position of women in the entertainment industry. However the true message is negated by MTV as seen from the title alone, “Nicki Minaj Will Not Drink Pickle Juice,” as though to present her as a diva. In addition, at the end of the video, Nicki feels self-conscious about speaking out that she asks the cameraman to edit out her assertion. She was afraid that she would appear stupid. Ironically, this is the most intelligent statement I have ever seen her make.

Warning: Explicit Content & Coarse Language