Author: boehnlein.13

Text Review for Colin In Black and White

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CCoThe new Netflix series, Colin In Black and White, does a splendid job capturing the harsh reality of racism that can take place even within a family unit. Directed by Colin Kaepernick, it is a personal narrative of demonstrated injustice throughout his childhood. The show flips between his childhood and him narrating his adulthood in the “eyes” of his youth. Colin is black, yet he is raised by white parents who do not see the world from his point of view. For example, a doorman asks his parents, “Are you two okay?” when getting into the elevator with a Black boy who is their son. Or, when a cop pulls Colin over when he’s driving with his (white) parents in the car for no reason, just to make sure the white couple was “okay”. These are examples of terrible situations that Colin and his parents are put in, simply because he is Black and racist outsiders are quick to make assumptions. 

Although his mother is pretty insensitive to Black culture, such as in the way she refers to Colin’s braids as “unprofessional” and “trashy”, the viewer gets to witness how Colin’s parents adjust to these racial experiences. This is similar to the way that in Lisa Ko’s The Leavers, the main character Deming’s name is changed to Daniel in order to sound more “American”. Colin’s mother would rather have her son cut his hair short, instead of embracing his culture with appropriate hair, because she is trying to minimize the fact that he is not white. She does not want to draw attention to it because even though she is not blatantly racist, she still carries a lot of institutionalized bias as a white woman. Her son is different from her, making her want to change Colin’s cultural identity.

There are many encounters of culture and identity throughout the series as the main character aspires to become quarterback of his football team. The show’s team does a fantastic job at leaving the viewer with many cringey, inherently racist scenes that make you want to fix the injustice for the sake of everyone involved. Ultimately, the show leaves you with the following questions: His parents probably aren’t blatantly racist or they would not have adopted a Black son, so why do they look down on his cultural interest? How can we educate all students on diversity of appearance? How can we reform the police system so that racist, unreasonable arrests/ pull-overs stop happening? This work was a powerful way to open up conversations about what we can do as students, athletes, future parents, and future employees or employers, to minimize that gap of judgment between cultural identities. 

 

Sources: 

DuVernay A. & Kaepernick C., creators. Colin In Black and White. Array Filmworks, 2021

Diary of Systemic Injustice- The Unequal Suspension of Non-White Children in School

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An important focus of systemic injustice preavails in the American education system of punishment. A specific identity of people effected are black students. Within the preschool level alone, half of children suspend are black. Out of all students, black students are generally triple as likely to be suspended (7 Ways to Know Systemic racism is real). This emphasizes the severe education disadvantage that is evidently traced back to race because of how common the phenomenon is. It is an example of systemic racism because if a singular teacher unfairly punishes a student because they are Black, that is just blatant racism. But if Americans are seeing these the subtle reprimands based on skin color, it is ingrained in the system itself. This is likely due to racist stigmas that have evolved over time, making white educators more inclined to implement different punishments based on race.

(Mahnken, 2017)

Above is a graph representing the increased likelihood of a Black student’s (yellow) suspension in comparison to white students (green)  on the left portion of the graph  and the likelihood of low-income students (yellow)  being suspended in comparison to higher income students (green) on the right. This data uses the percent likelihood of suspension specifically.Clearly, black and low income students are statistically more likely to receive a punishment as severe as suspension for an act that is not worthy of suspension. A video that may further explain unfair educational punishment stronger than suspension, such as unnecessary arrest, can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFJ37ri-Saw. This video emphasizes the idea of dramatic measures taken towards students because of what institutions have permitted as acceptable.

Relating this horrific commonality of racism to a class concept can be seen within de Beavoir’s idea of the “One” and the “Other”. Educators are treating black students differently than white students, making a category of human beings less inclined to desire learning. The imbalanced treatment and the overall discouragement can put the outliers at risk for decreased education. This decreased attention and affection for school will only worsen the group being put down by this way of thinking. Unfortunately, educators are treating Black students as “Others” by punishing them harsher than another group, solely based on identity and institutionalized discrimination. In order for this wrong to be righted, teachers should be required to attend meetings on how they can conquer this inequality. The teachers and administration should be questioned and evaluated if there is a higher frequency of punishment in towards one race. At the end of the day, the most important thing is that America is pushing children and families towards education, not away from it.

Sources:

How us schools punish black kids | 2020 election – youtube. Youtube. (n.d.). Retrieved November 3, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFJ37ri-Saw.

Mahnken, K. (2017). Report: When black students and white students fight, blacks receive harsher punishments. The 74 Report When Black Students and White Students Fight Blacks Receive Harsher Punishments Comments. Retrieved November 3, 2021, from https://www.the74million.org/report-when-black-students-and-white-students-fight-blacks-receive-harsher-punishments/.

Seven Ways We Know Systemic Racism is real. https://www.benjerry.com. (2021). Retrieved November 3, 2021, from https://www.benjerry.com/whats-new/2016/systemic-racism-is-real.