“Yo, Is This…” advice podcast/column
Writer: Yixiong Shang
Special note: Due to COVID-19, I conduct online education in China as a Chinese student. Under such extraordinary circumstances, this assignment will be written in a personal format.
The text is as follows：
In this course, we have considered and understood many moments of injustice in the general context. Sometimes, we see implicit bias, which causes the unequal power structure we discover, and what we hear every day leads to social unfairness—examples of cultural discourse or other reasons. At the same time, it describes a lot of phenomena we have witnessed or read, as well as any further research, is done to understand what is happening and then analyze it based on the concept of the course we are discussing.
In this assignment, experts on racism dynamics analyzed the situation described by people who wrote letters or asked for advice. Regarding specific conditions, they discussed the complexity of the problem and explained some nuances from the perspective of systemic racism. I will describe and summarize these contents and list two to three cases of injustice and inequality caused by racial issues. Specific analysis and discussion of these examples are mainly aimed at a series of social status and class generated by the racial differences of modern races, give a detailed explanation, and put forward my thoughts.
In the blog, Tawny Newsome, Tony Sarabia, and Andrew Ti discussed their opinions on the topic of race. Among them, Andrew mentioned that racism really disappointed him and that it is crucial to formulate a no-language policy. As a comedian and on the comedy podcast network, Andrew believes that he should try to combine honest and challenging conversations with humor in the show. This is the only way to have some of these conversations. At the same time, Andrew said something about Good and Bad Hair with Mo Marable. He said that there is a story about uncensored white people after he thinks that if you want to bring some people around, you must be able to provide guarantees for people. In the black community, people themselves have all kinds of color problems and hair type problems. Therefore, people want to know how to talk to black people by not telling them how to talk about themselves. Andrew explained the term “horizontal” among people of color. For example, this kind of thinking is like an Asian because Asians benefit from American society’s privileges. It is undeniable that some people will try to play down racist behavior or make excuses for people, but for people of color, it can make people feel scared.
In my opinion, the event phenomenon discussed in this blog is more like a microcosm of contemporary society. Similar things happen in many places and many scenarios. Sometimes people need to pay special attention to their words and deeds at any time to avoid unnecessary racial disputes. We have to admit that racial issues are not worthy of attention in the eyes of some people. However, many people accidentally involve or offend other races. In fact, they are not malicious. This is also what the visitors in the blog mentioned. As comedians, they often need to handle such situations and problems very well and very carefully. I think their abilities and methods are worth learning and adopting.
In fact, there are many racial issues and phenomena discussed in similar blogs in today’s society, and there are many different types of problems that they reflect. Next, I will cite two examples and analyze and think about specific racial unfair phenomena and problems.
Just like before, in the public space across from the White House, people are likely to encounter a strange mixture of office workers during their lunch break. Meanwhile, tourists wearing MAGA hats mingled around Decatur House, the former mansion of the hotel owner. For at least the past three weeks, Lafayette Park has become a crucible in that scene of the struggle for the still-existing legacy of slavery in the United States: systematic racism.
Before 7 pm on June 1, local, state, and federal troops were deployed, wearing riot armor from head to toe, releasing rubber bullets, and spraying tear gas at a group of peaceful demonstrators gathered in the park to protest against the “blacks.” slogan. Since then, the controversy about systemic racism has swept across the country and the world. The Trump administration has repeatedly denied that discrimination against blacks is the foundation of its political, economic, and social structure. It is undeniable that for hundreds of years, racist policies, whether explicit or implicit, have cast a shadow on blacks physically, emotionally, and economically. After the Civil War, the United States might think that it has dragged chattel slavery into the dustbin of history. Despite this, the country has never done a good job of burning the remains of wounds. On the contrary, it left behind the still-burning embers: the black education system that Americans cannot accept, substandard medical services make them more likely to die of disease and disease. The economy prevents millions of people from earning living expenses. This kind of systematic discrimination is also a matter of life and death. Police violence kills only a few hundred African Americans each year. This is the beginning. The coronavirus pandemic is understandable. Black Americans often find themselves affected by discriminatory policies, living in polluted areas, and in many cases even lacking basic choices of nutritious food. Perhaps even more surprising is that the rest of the United States realizes these realities. For decades, the truth of systematic racism has been shrouded in the carpet, lest it makes white Americans uncomfortable and damages the electoral opportunities of those who can solve the problem.
Another incident I want to discuss is the recent series of police killings and documented police violence in large-scale peaceful protests. A student is being dragged from a car to a student in Atlanta, Georgia. The 75-year-old man was pushed to the ground. According to opinion polls conducted in the past two weeks, the American public’s awareness of law enforcement has begun to reflect the sentiments of black Americans more closely. Even before the recent protests and killings, black people expressed doubts about the police. If you are black, this is a punitive criminal justice system, but you can find forgiveness, compassion, and understanding if you are white. Not only because of your skin color, but also because a person’s life is of lower value than other citizens, and this is because of their skin color. The people marching in the street endured this injustice. They demand that Americans no longer be punished by themselves as before. They are evacuating the monument for the traitors who are still enslaving them. They called for lynching to be a federal crime. They want equal pay; they want political change. They want people to listen carefully and to will to change their mentality and behavior. In addition to fear, tension, and uncertainty, there is also a pessimistic cynicism-a feeling that nothing will happen if a person is a victim of police violence or misconduct. This systematic injustice caused by skin color problems has become a common phenomenon. We need to pay attention to it and consider practical methods to control it to avoid larger-scale conflicts and unnecessary troubles. As an Asian student, I was full of worries and fears when I saw such incidents. However, I know that the vast majority of Americans and the police are not as unbearable as the incident’s situation. But I still fear and worry about the occurrence of that kind of small probability event because once it happens, the consequences will be catastrophic.
In fact, according to the blog’s content and the two examples mentioned above, I can’t help but think of a concept I learned in the course of this semester. In the process of learning, there is a concept called “one” and “another.” Hegel first introduced it, it has a slave, and the slave owner is dynamic. People are treated differently based on their wealth, race, gender, and many other reasons beyond their complete control. Besides, the conceptual situation does not always have to be between the subordinate and the subordinate owner. In fact, when discussing a wide range of racial issues, this concept can be used to describe the general situation.
All in all, I believe that regardless of their background, race, sexual orientation, gender, and other characteristics, people should have a fair opportunity in society. Besides, it needs to be distributed fairly, and benefits and rewards should be distributed relatively according to the size of the contribution. Racism is not unique to the United States, nor is it limited to whites versus blacks. Racism and racist are always derogatory terms. Anyway, only those who criticize racial issues will use these terms. Racists themselves do not say, “I am a racist.” Racists believe that race has a scientific basis. They think that many appearance and personality traits and abilities are unique to race and that these traits are passed on to future generations through genes. The most important thing is that racists believe that their race is the highest, while other races are inferior to themselves. Some racists’ views are very black and white and think that whites are good, but non-whites are not good. Finally, I still call on people to end a series of social inequality caused by unfair system problems and racial problems, social class problems, and so on.