Ben S HDFS 280 Blog

After being provided the materials from class I would say I felt more inspired to attempt to live out life by properly using multiple lenses when viewing others around me so that I can become more consciously aware of what they might be going through as an individual and how their lives differ from mine. When talking specifically about the prison system I would say that I had a general idea of how unbalanced our police system was, especially after the incident with George Floyd. Because of that incident I made sure to read what I could about what happened and similar situations like George's. However, getting the numbers in class really adds perspective on the severity of imbalance in the prison system and provides a whole new perspective on how it needs to be fixed.  Since police forces were originally created to recapture escaped slaves the system it self was ineveitably built off the imprisonment of colored minorities. As hard as it is to say, some of those values still make the...

White privilege and educational inequality are related because with whiteness comes the privileges of things such as a better school, resources, etc. This isn't to say that these resources are not available in some capacity to colored people because more white people find themselves in private or charter schools. These same resources are sparsely scattered due to the majority of colored children finding themselves in public schools with little funding to afford such luxuries. Specific benefits that white people have in the education system are nicer school systems in general. Whether that be better books, transportation, or connections to people that can get their children help if they start to fall behind. It is because of these highlighted differences that affirmative action has become a factor at many schools. It serves as a tool to allow colored students an opportunity of having these resources at hand that white kids have always had. The reason that many people think ill of th...

 Racism and colorism are both portrayed in media which is how it finds its way into colored environments. Although both are stigmatized it is through unconscious portrayal that these messages are still sent to all who are observing that source of media. An example of someone light skinned playing the part of racially minoritized group is Othello in Shakespeare. Throughout history the classic paly has been performed all across Europe and eventually the US. However, due to the stigmatism against black actors the black character of Othello was constantly played by white actors. This was done either through black face to represent the character or completely re-casted as white. People learn to endorse colorism through family members especially because it isn't as outwardly discouraged like racism. What happens is that the habits of colorism are then engrained into some at young ages and is then unconsciously carried out in their daily lives because they weren't taught any better. F...

 It is important to have positive representation of racial groups because youth need to have someone to model themselves after as they group up and have to grapple with their race. Another reason to have positive representation in the media is so other groups can develop positive ideologies around other races that they are not apart of and not assimilate bad characteristics to a specific race of people. Without positive representation of races in the media many people will only have anecdotal experiences to establish their opinion about other races, and the youth of that said race will start to believe that the world only sees them for the untrue characteristics that come with their skin color. When it comes specifically to having my skin color presented positively in the media there is little for me to go off of. Mexicans are usually in the news when it comes to border control or gang violence and just sets a negative stereotype for the group as a whole. Of the few positive portra...