Racism And History
1. Think back over your own predictions about racism and history. What surprised you most about what happened in the film? How has this changed your perspective on racism and history?
Throughout history, racism has reign in the lives of many individuals who are oblivious by their own pride and greedy. I am aware that discrimination against one’s culture has been existing since the first ages of humanity. We see how in the biblical story of Moses, the pharaoh and the Egyptian population were against the Hebrew community who were known and treated as slaves. The Egyptian society avoided any type of social relation with the Hebrew society, they saw them as inferior creatures, they even used to shave their heads because they were afraid of contracting …show more content…
lies supposedly transmitted by Hebrews. Throughout history, racism has reign in the lives of many individuals who are oblivious by their own pride and greedy. What surprised me most about what happened in the film was the fact that many white fathers and their sons attended the trial in defense of the perpetrators. It really upset me when Emmitt Till’s mother said that the kids would mock her about her son’s death by mimicking gun shots thrown at her and bursting into laugh after. It is unbelievable that the fathers would allow their sons to do that kind of acts; the thought that the victim could have been their sons or Till’s mom could have been their mothers or wives probably didn’t cross their minds at that time. This hasn’t changed my perspective at all, I still think that racism is an excuse used by people to justify their horrific acts against another human being from a different ethnicity. I still believe that this is a historical ongoing type of social and moral crime that will only be change with people’s perseverance on changing their mentality (and ethnocentrism) towards others who differ from them just because of the pigment of their skin.
2. During the trial in Emmitt Till, businesses put out jars to collect money for the defense of the two murderers. What does this say about the community’s view of civil rights, race and society? From your understanding of history, was this typical or not? Today in 2017, where do we see similar problems of inequality in race and ethnicity?
Businesses putting out jars to collect money for the defense of the two murderers demonstrates the ignorance, closed minded, apathetic attitudes from the members of that community.
It shows how they were careless by sort of satirizing African Americans civil rights. They portray their roles in society when it comes to dealing with race, they clearly thought they were inferior and that the violent acts against Emmitt Till were justifiable and brave acts committed by the two perpetrators. From my understanding, yes, these types of cowardly acts were implemented on African Americans who “disrespected” or did something against the “rightful social norms”. Some examples where we see problems of inequality in race and ethnicity are in school, work, and utilizing public recreational services. I personally read a news article from 2015 where a restaurant (McDonalds) fired all its African Americans employers just because they did not “fit” on the positions. They later posted a billboard where they promoted the type of “qualities” they were looking for when hiring a person for a certain position (the billboard contained different pictures of white teenagers smiling with a McDonalds hat on). Another example that often happens in companies today is when a person of color applies to a certain high position along with a white person and the person of color gets rejected by the company just because of their ethnicity. I have heard cases like this …show more content…
happening within the governmental system (Congress, Courts). I assume that if Barack Obama hadn’t nominated Sotomayor as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court she wouldn’t have been in the nominees list chosen by congress men (majority white men) at all due to her ethnic background.
3. Compare and contrast the discrimination homosexuals received in "And the Band Played On" to African Americans in the south in "The Untold Story of Emmitt Till"
Discrimination towards homosexuals and African Americans were similar in many forms. Both groups were treated as scapegoats whenever a lethal epidemic in society would appear. They were accused of “causing” social “tragedies”. Both also were seeing as non-human individuals, they were called “animals”, “abnormal”, and “freaks”. Lastly, they were both victim groups who were socially ignored by the public (government, newspaper) because anything that showed support/bias would be considered a taboo or immoral attitude.
4. Emmett’s mother describes walking into the courthouse where fathers and young boys pretended to shoot at her and laughed. This was 1955. Those young boys would be around 60 today. If you could interview them now, what would you ask about how they viewed race as they were growing up? What do you imagine their answers might be? What does this one small incident tell you about how social ideas and attitudes are formed? Do you think the sons of those boys would have the same attitude about race today? If so, why? If not, what would cause them to see things differently?
If I could interview the boys who mocked Emmett’s mother while she was entering the trial, I would ask them how they feel now about their actions. If they respond that they feel guilty and embarrassed of their actions, I would ask them that if they would be willing to make commends and redeem from their actions, and if they answer “yes” I would their plan to redeem what they did during their childhood. I would assume that there is a 50% chance for their answers to be positive and 50% chance for their answers to be negative. This incident tells us that any type of stereotype or misconceptions about a person are socially form by other individual(s), which are then influenced and passed on from generation to generation. I doubt the sons of those boys would have the same attitude about race today since there has been big social changes in society since the late 1960s. However, if they were to have the same attitude as their fathers then their fathers are to blame for raising their children with that (racist) mentality, norms, and social values that they had back in the 1950s. Diversity, acceptance, and a good education and morals can contribute to the idea of them not having a discriminatory attitude like their fathers.
5. How do the choices people make, individually and collectively, shape a society. Use examples from And the Band Played On AND The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till
The choices people make, individually and collectively shape a society in a positive and in a negative form.
For example, in The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till, we observe how the businesses aimed to collect money to help the perpetrators during the trial. This type of choice made by these individuals influenced their society in a negative form. By defending the perpetrators, they were emphasizing the fact that hate and racism against people from a different ethnicity are acceptable social behaviors. On the other hand, an example of a positive decision that influenced society in a positive way was the unity demonstrated during and after Emmitt Till’s funeral. All the supporters showed concern and thirst of justice, some were willing to take actions against injustices toward their people, they showed their commitment even though they knew their lives were in danger (Emmett Till’s mother along with the man who accompanied her on every trial). Similarly, By Dr. Don Francis being an up stander and collaborating to get to the root of the problem, HIV virus and its causes were discovered. He stood up for what he believed, he didn’t give up after his project was rejected, he knew his actions were going to benefit
society.
6. Using information from the article below, how would the Conflict Perspective (IN YOUR TEXTBOOK) explain acts of racial violence such as this? What were these men afraid of? How could we use this perspective to also explain why those tried for his murder 50 years ago were acquitted?
Conflict Perspective basically explains how society is changing so people become more competitive over resources that become scarce and as a result we might be able to witness class conflict/ social conflicts.
This perspective might explain why acts of racial violence happen. The reason of why might me because some people are impacted by social change meaning that they would be place in a position where they must reside and interact with people with different ethnicities. Those who are not used to this type of changes might feel threaten by them and so sometimes these thoughts can lead them to do extreme things such as what the men did to Emmett Till.
I assume that those men who committed the atrocity were afraid because they felt threaten by the African American community of taking over their lands and goods and services. They were afraid of losing their power, their privileges; they were afraid of losing their social status (respect/inferiority).
This perspective can also explain why the men who committed the murder were not found guilty. One of the reason might be, again, feeling threaten and competition from the African American community. If these men were found guilty (back then in the 1950s), this decision was going to be classified as a sign that would highlight the fact that African Americans deserved civil rights, that they were equal to white men.
Throughout history, racism has reign in the lives of many individuals who are oblivious by their own pride and greedy. I am aware that discrimination against one’s culture has been existing since the first ages of humanity. We see how in the biblical story of Moses, the pharaoh and the Egyptian population were against the Hebrew community who were known and treated as slaves. The Egyptian society avoided any type of social relation with the Hebrew society, they saw them as inferior creatures, they even used to shave their heads because they were afraid of contracting …show more content…
lies supposedly transmitted by Hebrews. Throughout history, racism has reign in the lives of many individuals who are oblivious by their own pride and greedy. What surprised me most about what happened in the film was the fact that many white fathers and their sons attended the trial in defense of the perpetrators. It really upset me when Emmitt Till’s mother said that the kids would mock her about her son’s death by mimicking gun shots thrown at her and bursting into laugh after. It is unbelievable that the fathers would allow their sons to do that kind of acts; the thought that the victim could have been their sons or Till’s mom could have been their mothers or wives probably didn’t cross their minds at that time. This hasn’t changed my perspective at all, I still think that racism is an excuse used by people to justify their horrific acts against another human being from a different ethnicity. I still believe that this is a historical ongoing type of social and moral crime that will only be change with people’s perseverance on changing their mentality (and ethnocentrism) towards others who differ from them just because of the pigment of their skin.
2. During the trial in Emmitt Till, businesses put out jars to collect money for the defense of the two murderers. What does this say about the community’s view of civil rights, race and society? From your understanding of history, was this typical or not? Today in 2017, where do we see similar problems of inequality in race and ethnicity?
Businesses putting out jars to collect money for the defense of the two murderers demonstrates the ignorance, closed minded, apathetic attitudes from the members of that community.
It shows how they were careless by sort of satirizing African Americans civil rights. They portray their roles in society when it comes to dealing with race, they clearly thought they were inferior and that the violent acts against Emmitt Till were justifiable and brave acts committed by the two perpetrators. From my understanding, yes, these types of cowardly acts were implemented on African Americans who “disrespected” or did something against the “rightful social norms”. Some examples where we see problems of inequality in race and ethnicity are in school, work, and utilizing public recreational services. I personally read a news article from 2015 where a restaurant (McDonalds) fired all its African Americans employers just because they did not “fit” on the positions. They later posted a billboard where they promoted the type of “qualities” they were looking for when hiring a person for a certain position (the billboard contained different pictures of white teenagers smiling with a McDonalds hat on). Another example that often happens in companies today is when a person of color applies to a certain high position along with a white person and the person of color gets rejected by the company just because of their ethnicity. I have heard cases like this …show more content…
happening within the governmental system (Congress, Courts). I assume that if Barack Obama hadn’t nominated Sotomayor as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court she wouldn’t have been in the nominees list chosen by congress men (majority white men) at all due to her ethnic background.
3. Compare and contrast the discrimination homosexuals received in "And the Band Played On" to African Americans in the south in "The Untold Story of Emmitt Till"
Discrimination towards homosexuals and African Americans were similar in many forms. Both groups were treated as scapegoats whenever a lethal epidemic in society would appear. They were accused of “causing” social “tragedies”. Both also were seeing as non-human individuals, they were called “animals”, “abnormal”, and “freaks”. Lastly, they were both victim groups who were socially ignored by the public (government, newspaper) because anything that showed support/bias would be considered a taboo or immoral attitude.
4. Emmett’s mother describes walking into the courthouse where fathers and young boys pretended to shoot at her and laughed. This was 1955. Those young boys would be around 60 today. If you could interview them now, what would you ask about how they viewed race as they were growing up? What do you imagine their answers might be? What does this one small incident tell you about how social ideas and attitudes are formed? Do you think the sons of those boys would have the same attitude about race today? If so, why? If not, what would cause them to see things differently?
If I could interview the boys who mocked Emmett’s mother while she was entering the trial, I would ask them how they feel now about their actions. If they respond that they feel guilty and embarrassed of their actions, I would ask them that if they would be willing to make commends and redeem from their actions, and if they answer “yes” I would their plan to redeem what they did during their childhood. I would assume that there is a 50% chance for their answers to be positive and 50% chance for their answers to be negative. This incident tells us that any type of stereotype or misconceptions about a person are socially form by other individual(s), which are then influenced and passed on from generation to generation. I doubt the sons of those boys would have the same attitude about race today since there has been big social changes in society since the late 1960s. However, if they were to have the same attitude as their fathers then their fathers are to blame for raising their children with that (racist) mentality, norms, and social values that they had back in the 1950s. Diversity, acceptance, and a good education and morals can contribute to the idea of them not having a discriminatory attitude like their fathers.
5. How do the choices people make, individually and collectively, shape a society. Use examples from And the Band Played On AND The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till
The choices people make, individually and collectively shape a society in a positive and in a negative form.
For example, in The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till, we observe how the businesses aimed to collect money to help the perpetrators during the trial. This type of choice made by these individuals influenced their society in a negative form. By defending the perpetrators, they were emphasizing the fact that hate and racism against people from a different ethnicity are acceptable social behaviors. On the other hand, an example of a positive decision that influenced society in a positive way was the unity demonstrated during and after Emmitt Till’s funeral. All the supporters showed concern and thirst of justice, some were willing to take actions against injustices toward their people, they showed their commitment even though they knew their lives were in danger (Emmett Till’s mother along with the man who accompanied her on every trial). Similarly, By Dr. Don Francis being an up stander and collaborating to get to the root of the problem, HIV virus and its causes were discovered. He stood up for what he believed, he didn’t give up after his project was rejected, he knew his actions were going to benefit
society.
6. Using information from the article below, how would the Conflict Perspective (IN YOUR TEXTBOOK) explain acts of racial violence such as this? What were these men afraid of? How could we use this perspective to also explain why those tried for his murder 50 years ago were acquitted?
Conflict Perspective basically explains how society is changing so people become more competitive over resources that become scarce and as a result we might be able to witness class conflict/ social conflicts.
This perspective might explain why acts of racial violence happen. The reason of why might me because some people are impacted by social change meaning that they would be place in a position where they must reside and interact with people with different ethnicities. Those who are not used to this type of changes might feel threaten by them and so sometimes these thoughts can lead them to do extreme things such as what the men did to Emmett Till.
I assume that those men who committed the atrocity were afraid because they felt threaten by the African American community of taking over their lands and goods and services. They were afraid of losing their power, their privileges; they were afraid of losing their social status (respect/inferiority).
This perspective can also explain why the men who committed the murder were not found guilty. One of the reason might be, again, feeling threaten and competition from the African American community. If these men were found guilty (back then in the 1950s), this decision was going to be classified as a sign that would highlight the fact that African Americans deserved civil rights, that they were equal to white men.