Author: shenkel.2

Bridgerton Text Review

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In the well-known series Bridgerton that premiered on Netflix not long ago, we see a large number of socioeconomic differences and racial diversities throughout the first season. The series takes place in London around the early 1800’s, a time when there were large differences in class and a person’s status. Daphne Bridgerton and her brother Anthony were two of the main characters, who both were going through experiences that differed, but had a lot to do with the class that they were a part of. Daphne was going through her first season to be courted and married, which was expected of her to do in society. Anthony was in love with a girl named Sienna who sang in the opera, but was not considered to be of the same class as him. This was seen as a problem for her because she felt as though he did not treat her the same or pay as much attention towards her. Anthony always ran to his family and did what they needed before he helped Sienna. Anthony prioritized his family and cared deeply for his sister Daphne’s marriage situation, he assumed because they were of a higher class that they had more important things to deal with then Sienna did. This encounter shows that in the series there was a large divide between the class systems and that those who weren’t seen to be lords or ladies were seen to be less than others. Lords and Ladies were considered upper class and they had many more responsibilities than someone who was below them in the system; the show portrays that through Sienna and her relationship with Anthony. There was also another encounter that showed how there was a big divide in the socioeconomic system. The character Marina Thompson, who was a young African American girl, went to stay with the Featherington’s after becoming pregnant with a man that she loved, before marriage. Lady Featherington took her to a poor village and showed Marina how her life would turn out if she did not marry someone and conceal her secret. They used this example to show people who were poorer and portrayed them as having a bad life. This storyline and these examples relate heavily to the concept we learned in class of the “one” and the “other”, and the injustices that go along with that. The “one” is seen as being better or above the “other”, in this series families such as the Bridgertons and Featheringtons are seen to be the “one”. Characters such as Sienna and those who live in the poor village are illustrated as the “other” and are seen to be the minority and less than those above them. They get pushed aside and treated differently because of the way the socioeconomic system treats them as less. This disparity in class creates a huge injustice in the way that people from different backgrounds get treated. They get treated poorly only because they come from a different way of life. This series brings about many questions on how people are treated because of the lifestyle that they are a part of and the injustices that follow them because of that. 

 

 

Systemic Injustice in the Criminal Justice System

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The criminal justice system is a highly debated topic because of the racial motivations that occur so often throughout it. Today we can truly see how much systemic injustice occurs and how much racial injustice is a serious issue. I read an article recently that talked about the racial discrimination that persists today in the criminal legal system. In the article by Project Innocence it states “Innocent Black people spend an average of 13.8 years wrongly imprisoned before being exonerated — about 45% longer than innocent white people. This racial disparity in time spent wrongfully incarcerated holds true across different types of convictions. Black people tend to receive harsher sentences when accused of sexual assault, and have a harder time being exonerated from a wrongful conviction. On average, they spend 4.5 more years in prison than their white counterparts before being exonerated.” (PI) These issues are seen everywhere in the US and make minority groups considered to be lower than those that are the majority. It puts people in a position where they have no power to do anything about saving themselves. They are portrayed as being of lesser value than others solely based on their skin color. This relates heavily to Simone deBeauvoir’s One and the Other concept. Her concept deals with the other being less than the one in situations and how the one is to be dominant over the other. This intertwines well with the theory that the criminal justice system sees white people as dominant over black people. The justice system has created traditions and patterns of this that makes the whole system a systemic injustice.The previous quote shows that throughout the justice system there is less care and conciseness towards African Americans when being sentenced. The system ultimately puts less effort into making sure that trials are ran fairly and the African Americans that are being prosecuted are given adequate treatment. One example in particular of mistreatment and cruelty in the system comes from an article that states “In Illinois, for example, under former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge, police psychologically abused and physically tortured more than 100 Black men and women until many falsely confessed to crimes they did not commit. Several people wrongly convicted by Mr. Burge and his officers, including Innocence Project client Kevin Bailey, have since been exonerated.” (PI) This exemplifies the brutal treatment that African American receive when going through the criminal justice system and it shows how there is a large power inequity at play. Those higher up in the system have a large amount of power over those down below, this is a great example of the one and the other concept being applied. They have no way to fend for themselves when they may be stuck in a jail for a substantially longer period of time then a white person may be. The problem is there is no way to prove that if there is no one advocating for them to be treated fairly. The system itself has let African Americans down and will not allow anyone to fight for them the way they should be fought for. This issue is so prevalent in many different justice systems and affects African Americans more than any other race, preventing them from being able to succeed the way everyone else does or to live a normal life.

Innocence Project: https://innocenceproject.org/facts-racial-discrimination-justice-system-wrongful-conviction-black-history-month/

Toni Morrison’s “Recitatif” and Racial Stereotyping

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During the time of Toni Morrison’s “Recitatif” segregation and stereotyping ran rampant around all parts of the US. As you read the short story you will see these themes quite frequently throughout. The beginning of the story starts in an orphanage where Twyla and Roberta meet. One of the first things that Twyla said was “ My mother won’t like you putting me in here.”(Morrison 1) There was no context as to why her mother would feel that way and there was never a description of either girl. As you continue to read there are things said that make you assume the race of both girls. One article stated, “Simply knowing about social groups can lead us to stereotype their members because we assume there must be something important that led to their common classification in the first place, something that makes them essentially alike.” (Hope College) These things that make people think of someone in a certain way would be called stereotyping.

Stereotyping is a huge part of this story because Morrison makes you assume the race of the girls from different comments he makes. One from Twyla was “Every now and then she would stop dancing long enough to tell me something important and one of the things she said was that they never washed their hair and they smelled funny,” (Morrison 1). This comment referred to Roberta, things like this were said about African Americans during this harsh time period and it makes you associate her with that race. One article stated “As we grow older and are influenced by parents, peers, and the media, our tendency to label different racial groups as superior/good or inferior/bad increases significantly.”(University of Notre Dame Counseling) This shows that we are influenced by other factors that make us group people together in a false and misleading way. These situations were seen back in the 1950s and are still very prevalent today.

In today’s society, racial stereotyping occurs almost the same amount as it did back then if not more. In a study conducted by Stanford University, they found “that African Americans are pulled over more frequently than whites by day—but are much less likely to be stopped at night, when “a veil of darkness” masks their race and makes it harder to racially profile drivers.”(Greater Good) This study displays how racial stereotyping can affect people’s lives daily.

 

Jilani, Zade and Smith, Jeremy Adam. “How Challenging Stereotypes Can Save Black Lives.”, Greater Good. 8 June 2020

https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_challenging_stereotypes_can_save_black_lives

 

“Overcoming Racial Stereotypes.” University of Notre Dame Counseling Center,

https://ucc.nd.edu/self-help/multicultural-awareness/overcoming-stereotypes/

 

“What are the Causes of Stereotypes?” Hope College.

https://blogs.hope.edu/getting-race-right/our-context-where-we-are/the-history-we-inhaled/what-are-the-causes-of-stereotypes/