Response 5- Forced or coersive change

Jacob once asked the question, “Is it ever okay to force change? Is coercion ever justified?” For many ethical questions, I feel that it is not. But when it comes to human rights violations, sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do.

In the case of racism, a classic example that I bring up is that of South Africa. Here is a drastically horrific situation where racist ideologies created a system of Apartheid that will take generations to heal from. Images were sent around the world about the atrocities that were occurring in South Africa, and the global response was decisive and clear. This was unacceptable and inhuman behavior. Still many in the white ruling class had substantial investments in keeping things as they were and made no moves to change course. So a global divestment (boycott) campaign began to hit those who benefited the most from Apartheid right where it hurt the most…in their profits. Political leaders complained that they were losing their autonomy to determine what course they wanted to take. There were cries that the government should be allowed the space to determine how they wanted to address the issue, ignoring that their own corruptive incompetence had allowed the situation to reach its nadir.

In the end, a public vote was conducted to determine the future of South Africa. Roughly 40 percent of the white voting population wanted to keep things as they were. That is almost half of the ruling class. Without that forced change, it is highly unlikely that things would have bettered for any of the oppressed in that land. Indeed, many of the same problems of extreme poverty, joblessness and crime exist. It has been almost 10 years since the fall of Apartheid, but those sentiments of the dissenters continue to shape their society. Still, you would be hard pressed to find a person of color in South Africa that would wish things back to the way they were. Sometimes, the pill is a bitter one, but when human lives and dignity are at stake, drastic measures must be done.

Response 4 - Collaboration

Based on the concerns raised by our TA’s, we abandoned the idea of Sundown towns. The biggest challenge was to come up with a replacement that would be fairly easy to wrap our heads around in a short amount of time. At Stephanie’s suggestion, we decided to figure out a way to use the media to get our messages across. We decided to do a complete media takeover from newspapers and radio to television sitcoms and commercials.

At first, this seemed like a bold, but disempowering move. If we use all of our own programming, we force everyone to comply with our demands whether they want to participate or not. We were worried that it would open the wounds that much of the Affirmative Action debate has exacerbated in recent years. So how do we take something that is so political and bring it to a place that it can be collaboratively addressed? While force feeding our message was a very tempting prospect, we did not want to diminish our reception or make it seem like a pirate political protest or organizing effort. We knew that if we were to get the President behind us, it had to be something that the media would want to willingly adopt and participate in, and not feel forced to do what we passionately believed they should do.

The write up that I created for our poster presentation was as follows:

This project seeks to explore and interrogate the manifestation of racist ideologies in the United States today. This project asserts the assumption that racist beliefs are reified through the over-representation of negative stereotypical presentations of minorities, primarily through various media outlets. We assert while not normal, that racism is a norm and that the most effective approaches will address the latent racist beliefs that we must all negotiate with to achieve social justice. As such, our suggestion is to employ a week-long comprehensive media campaign that will engage existing programming, news coverage and entertainment media to address the issue of racism directly. As an example, during that time, popular television programs would create a specific plotline that would challenge stereotypes and racist beliefs.

In other words, we would not require an interruption of normal programming, as everything would stay on familiar grounds, but the message would reflect our theme of combating racism. It empowers media outlets and consumers to engage in the media campaign in anyway that they see fit. It allows the participants to question their own assumptions, on their terms, in a place that is safe for them to do so. Since the media outlets are working with us (at the behest of the President), it becomes a collaborative project and educational tool.

Our pilot program example using the show “24”:

A suggestion to create a storyline for the popular television program “24” would not require a major departure from the usual plotline that viewers have come to expect. In this episode, Jack Bauer is sent to thwart an attempted bombing of a state capital building. In a post 9/11 era, the assumption is that a foreign terrorist faction is attempting to execute this crime. Citizens of Arab descent are immediately presumed to be involved and reported hate crimes explode during this investigation period. In the end, it is discovered that the would-be bombers are members of an all-white, rebel militia group who are seek retribution for the potential integration of their local school system through violent means.

In summary, we recognize that prevention methods are ideal, but not necessarily feasible if families, communities and other natural settings are still complicit in the production of racist ideologies. Voluntary educational programs are limited in reach to those who openly recognize and wish to challenge their own beliefs. Our goal is to begin a nationwide inner-group dialogue about racism by utilizing the media. This method will allow individuals to explore their own prejudices and beliefs in the privacy of their homes where they can reflect and discuss them in a safe space. By working with the various media outlets to create the programming, news and entertainment we require, we are coupling the familiar with new concepts and information. We believe that our initiative holds the most promise to reach the largest amount of individuals in a way that is engaging, informative and transformative.

Response 3 - Preventions

Preventions are ways of approaching a problem before it manifests itself into a problem. With regards to racism, two strong examples of points of interruption can be found in early childhood interventions. Children are taught at a young age the differences between races. As with gender, many children do not code difference between their peers. Inevitably, one of their peers has a moment of repositioning where they begin to discern racial difference. That discernment, whether simply categorical or discriminative, is relayed amongst their group as knowledge.

I have seen this in action. As mentioned in earlier posts, my circle of friends and family is unabashedly interracial. Time after time, parents recount the day they had to explain racial difference, its relationship to their child and the inequities and oppression that it is mired in. It is an exhausting and often emotionally difficult phase that each parent must contend with. What is most distressing is that unfortunately, this introduction to racial and cultural identity had not been preceded by a lesson in self-love. It is not unusual for parents to teach on one hand that in the eyes of God, all persons are equal, to later have to adjust or outright retract that universal truth for the protection their children’s self-esteem. Still, these parents also make a deliberate effort to live integrationist lives. Their children are raised by a diverse community of “aunties” and “uncles,” who help to extend their children’s concepts of humanity and family. Instead of internalizing racial difference, these children are learning how to love everyone of all races.

Another point of prevention that could be better served is that of our early childhood classrooms. Most discussions about equalities, differences and diversity are limited to classroom activities relating to holidays such as Thanksgiving or Hanukah. When these conversations are so heavily commodified and packaged, it limits the possibilities to openly discuss racism. This is particularly worrisome in communities that have little diversity. Those other cultures can become disposable caricatures instead of communities of individuals.

Response 2--Natural Communities

As we move closer to cementing our PDA's we find splits in the group between those that blame the media for the problems of racism and those that find families at fault. Our natural communities; families, friends, neighborhoods are easy targets in the push to interrogate racist societal beliefs. "Your mother didn't raise you right," "Hate is not a family value," and "Our community doesn't tolerate diversity, we celebrate it," are all catch-phrases that are used to distance oneself from culpability in demanding an an anti-racist standpoint.

My greatest frustration with this class and this project is that at every possible point, we have been limited in our scope and efficacy of tackling a dicey and sophisticated problem. With a predominately white class, and white instructors, getting support for our initiatives has been an unecessarily uphill battle for us. Our original super-initative was thoughtful, timely, relative and impactful, but it was shot down. My sheer dissapointment with this outcome was compounded by the fact that the biggest objectors to the project were of a different race and had clearly not come to grips with their own racist beliefs before critiquing this project.

As one of the few people of color, it served as a major blow to any possibilities of creating a body of work that would have any efficacy. I presented this situation and our original ideas to another class that I am taking. This particular class is offered through the African-American Studies department and as a result, everyone in this class, including the instructor, is a person of color. The shock and anger that was expressed from my classmates and professor confirmed my own feelings. This fellowship of other individuals who have experienced racism in the classroom, helped me heal from my experience in this class. Their affirmations proved key in my ability to continue this course with any measure of caring or interest. Indeed, their implorations that I fight to keep our original concept for Sundown Towns gave me a sense of solidarity and support.

I did not have to take my complaints to a higher governing body, such as the Equal Opportunities Office or the Dean of Students to recieve the assistance and encouragement that I needed. If I had attempted to resolve these concerns through those methods, my concerns may have been dismissed as trivial or unfounded, which is unfortunately not an exception for students of color at predominately white institutions. So in this way, my natural community was a far superior means of interrogation, introspection and ultimately healing that what could have been offered through more established means.