scars
scars
Citing Monnica Williams, a clinical psychologist, Downs details the symptoms of watching these videos in the context of the black community, which are remarkably similar to that of PTSD, and refers to this phenomenon as racial trauma. This trauma can lead to numerous ailments, such as depression and psychosis, and exacerbate already present conditions, like high blood pressure. Furthermore, Downs describes how many therapists may lack the cultural understanding in order to aid patients suffering from racial trauma. Thus, the damage done by watching these videos is not easily healed. Downs goes on to explain the controversy of sharing these videos, citing April Reign, a former attorney and current editor of Black Broadway, who argues that the viral and violent nature of these videos is comparable to when white people would sit and watch the lynchings of black people in the South. Throughout this article, Downs prioritizes the psychological health of Black Americans when deciding whether or not people should watch and share videos of police brutality. Specializing in both racial issues and education, Kenya Downs proves her credibility through her referencing of various experts, like activists, editors, and psychologists. Furthermore, her writing dwells specifically on the topic of police…
In the media, black people and black men in particular are villainized and portrayed as disturbed and violent individuals. Statistics of incarceration and crime rates are often cited in rhetoric debasing the black community. Yet in just a few pages, Ta-Nehisi Coates expertly dissects how America’s institutionalized racism and eagerness to turn a blind eye to social issues contributes to the hostile environment many black people occupy in his book Between the World and Me. In his book he talks about the difficulties of being raised in an impoverished and violent neighborhood and his realization that these conditions are remnants of America’s history - such as the over-policing of black Americans and police brutality, which breeds fear and feelings…
Among all the emotions people have, the most multifarious is fear because fear can be spread much faster than most emotions. Literally, people define fear “an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat ”. However, the delusion of endangerment can cause racism of misunderstanding. Particularly, Most people identify fear based on their stereotyping, prejudice and bias. In “Black Men in Public Spaces”, Brent Staples describes how skin color could cause bias in people and how he, a black man , had to moderate his behavior to accommodate them. He uses vivid illustration about the prejudices and unfair judgement…
Although it is often ignored by those around it, discrimination is an impending problem in our towns. In the essay “Black Men and Public Space” written by Brent Staples, Staples responds to the racism he faces in various social situations. He reveals how he has “become thoroughly familiar with the language of fear” (1). As a large black man, people seem to fear Staples without a valid reason to. They do not see his character, but rather only his appearance. This reveals how people are fast to stereotype a person that they see, and not give them the opportunity to show their personalities. They are afraid of what, or who, they are afraid of, resulting in their own anxiety being created. By personifying the emotion of fear, Staples relays…
In the book Citizen, written by Claudia Rankine, she shows us through her personal encounters that racism and inequality is still alive today in America. Whether it be from a stranger, or a close friend, attacks on her personal identity is a repetitive thing in her everyday life. As we progress through the book, we watch as Rankine struggles to fight the stereotypes that people place on her during her ongoing battle to be seen and not erased. We learn that this battle is bigger than Rankine herself, and that it is far from over.…
Racism: although an ongoing and prevalent issue, it is a foreign topic for many who do not experience the full effects of it on a daily basis or are sheltered from it due to their race. However, through novels, films, and social media, some hope to highlight and end the occurrence of racism. In the novel Citizen by Claudia Rankine, for example, Rankine offers an insightful view of the ongoing racism towards African Americans through descriptions of recent events and personal experiences involving racism. She specifically writes in the second person, allowing readers to fully immerse themselves in the situations that African Americans face in a white-favored society and understand the frustration many African Americans…
In Brent Staples essay, “Black Men and Public Space,” Staples expresses the difficulties African Americans face in society. Through specific diction and detailed description of imagery, Staples conveys his experience throughout his life where he was negatively stereotyped as “a mugger, a rapist, or worse”. His lifelong exposure to this matter taught him to take precaution in the people he encounters and the places he visits.…
This reflective essay “Black Men and Public Spaces” by Brent Staples, argues about the author’s personal struggles for being a black man, in his twenties, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Brent Staples was born and raised in Chester, Pennsylvania but he finished his studies and began working as a journalist in Chicago and New York City. Staples writes about some stories that gradually led him to realize over the fear of being judged by his race. In “Black Men and Public Spaces”, Staples let us become aware of his attitude and the way he perceive the situations he presents.…
The portrayal of black women remains a representation of how people see them; treat them and how they observe themselves. From how they wear their hair, how they look, how they dress, their assets, skin color and ethnicity, they are being picked apart from things that serve no importance of how a black woman should be respected. In the article, “Mentoring and Mothering Black Femininity in the Academy: An Exploration of Body, Voice, and Image through Black Female Characters” by Devair and Rhonda Jeffries it examines the social construction of the identity of black women in the media. For example, most of what we see on the media is never accurate about black women; it is used to tear a community down because of the past racial attitudes. The article says, “A pressing issue is the lack of Black women’s voice and presence in both media productions’ illustra¬tion of them and the scholarship about them. Therefore, much of what is consumed by mainstream culture is a skewed, caricatured perception of Black women created by those outside o f their demographic”. (127). I believe the past has significance in the present about how black women are perceived in the media since it continues to put exclusion on black women and we continue to not stand up for how we should be characterized therefore, our identity becomes invisible to the…
Staples has the ability to alter public space by his physical behavior, his dress and his verbal reaction. Black men have a reputation of being rapist, murders and gang members, therefore many people get worried when a young black man is around. So Staples has learned how to change his perception or level of threat to others. He accomplishes this by his physical behavior. The way he walks or acts around others can change there mood. Now Staples notices if people are frightened by him. Brent Staples attempts to introduce people to something most all are guilty of, but pay little attention to. Using accounts from his own and others’ experiences, Staples essay portrays the racist tendency of people to assume black men are potentially violent and dangerous.…
There is great difficulty in defining the field of Cultural Studies, as it takes an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach to studying the art, beliefs, politics, and institutions of ethnic cultures and pop culture. For the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies at Birmingham, one of the central goals of Cultural Studies was “to enable people to understand what (was) going on, and especially to provide ways of thinking, strategies for survival, and resources for resistance (Grossberg 2). Cultural Studies draws from whatever fields are necessary to produce the knowledge required for a particular project (Grossberg 2). It is a field that has no one unique narrative. Taking that into account, for the purposes of this essay I will examine one of many narratives Cultural Studies derives from – that of the African-American tradition. Even in focusing on it’s derivation from the African-American tradition, this will be but one path, not intended to serve as the sole trajectory within the African-American tradition of Cultural Studies.…
From a historical slavery perspective, black women were required to work and be punished just as hard as black men (Hill, 2002). After emancipation, black women also filled traditionally male roles. These images of a “black woman” have thus made blackness an unflattering thing in women. Among other connotations and terms commonly used to describe black women are “ghetto”, “militant”, “aggressive” and more recently, the “angry black woman” (Wilder, 2010, pp. 195-196; Thompson and Keith, 2001). They are intimidating to society. These examples demonstrate how superimposing Anglo centered ideals of beauty and equating blackness to masculinity steals away the womanhood from a black woman. As will be illustrated, the physical preferences for lighter skinned women extend so far as to determine the marriage prospects of a black…
Claudia Rankine highlights social injustices that occur in the daily lives of people of color in her book “Citizen”. She put the wrong doings, prejudices and stereotypical situations against people of color into a collective story. It is troubling that these accounts occurred. These sort instances pinches something inside of you. A sense of irritation builds up. It puts into perspective that even in modern times such acts…
I am writing my critical reaction journal based on my readings in regards to a two writings titled, “Seeing More Than Black and White” by Elizabeth Martinez (1998) in “Race, Class, and Gender: An Anthology,” [edited by] Margaret L Andersen; Patricia Hill Collins, 2013, (8th Edition ed., pp. 85-90) and “Color-Blind Privilege” by Charles A. Gallagher (2003) in “Race, Class, and Gender: An Anthology,” [edited by] Margaret L Andersen; Patricia Hill Collins, 2013, (8th Edition ed., pp. 91-95).…
Hands up. Don’t shoot. The image of black men and women repeating the simple action at protest in Ferguson, Missouri and across the globe—generates its power from what happens before that moment. In Ferguson and too many places, police are more likely to pull over people of color for driving-indeed, often for simply being a person of color. But there is lasting power in the stories people never forget. They are stories of ‘broken’ taillights, police brutality that doesn’t show up in an arrest report because there never was one, of no justice because nobody knew where to turn. To help reach beyond Ferguson, the opinion department of Guardian US and the St Louis Post-Dispatch partnered to gather hundreds of reader experiences.…