Author: giermann.2

Giermann Review

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From the production of Dhar Mann Studios, the valuable example of systemic racism begins with a scene of a young boy and his father swinging on a swing set discussing getting ice cream after their fellowship at the park. Subsequently, a startled older woman approaches the two on the swing set asking how the older gentleman knows the young boy. The reason for the interrogation stems from her worries about an African American man socializing with a young Caucasian boy at the park. The man kindly replies that this boy happens to be his son. Out of disbelief, the worried woman does not trust his claim. She walks towards the young boy and asks whether the child is okay and whether he knows where “actual” parents are. The young boy explains that he is alright and subsequently the father interrupts to explain again that he just told her that he was his father and had adopted him. She angrily questions whether the man has paperwork to prove the son’s adoption. As many would-be continuously frustrated as many repeatedly question this dynamic relationship between father and son, the father suggests that the woman should never judge someone until you get to know them. The lady scurries off worried as ever and the scene ends with the father and soon leaving for the car.

As the two are about to take off for ice cream, the lady reemerges with another character, a police officer. The lady explains to the officer how the father is going to “kidnap” the boy and the officer demands the man step away from the child. The man pleas to the office that in fact, the child is his son and would like to show the adoption papers that are located inside the vehicle. With caution, the officer allows the request made by the man. As the officer thoroughly reviews the documents, he agrees that in fact, the child is the man’s son, and he is free to go. Out of curiosity, the woman asks the father whether he had the choice to pick another race for the child. The scene turns into the African American father explaining that the child had an abusive father after the loss of his mother. When the soon-to-be father came to the adoption center, the child was overjoyed to know that he was being taken home to his adopted father’s loving home.

I think this lesson teaches the consequences of the “single-story” narrative we learned from the very beginning of this course. Given the woman’s racist assumptions against the father’s race, she immediately assumed that the boy was in danger because of her single-story optics. Sadly, more often than not, we see systemic racism towards minorities because of racial assumptions that have been created from prejudiced biases towards African Americans and driven narratives from others.

Text Reviews-Lady calls cops on a black dad with a white kid

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From the production of Dhar Mann Studios, we learn of an example of systemic racism towards African Americans with Caucasian children. The story begins with a scene of a young boy and his father swinging on a swing set talking about getting ice cream after their trip to the park. Subsequently, a visually disturbed woman approaches the two on the swings asking how the adult man knows the young boy. The reason for the interrogation stems from her concerns about an African American man socializing with a young Caucasian boy at the park. The man kindly replies that this boy happens to be his son. Out of disbelief, the worried woman does not trust his claim. She walks towards the young boy and asks whether the child is okay and whether he knows where his “actual” parents are. The young boy explains that he is alright with the father interrupting to explain again that he just told her that he was his father and had adopted him. She angrily questions whether the man has paperwork to prove the son’s adoption. As many could envision the frustration of being constantly questioned about this unique relationship between father and son, the father suggests that the woman should never judge someone until you get to know them. The lady scurries off worried as ever and the scene ends with the father and soon leaving for their ice cream venture.

As the two are about to take off for ice cream, the lady reemerges with another character, a police officer. The lady explains to the officer how the father is going to “kidnap” the young boy and the officer demands the man step away from the child. The man pleas to the office that in fact, the child is his son and would like to show the adoption papers that are located inside the vehicle. With caution, the officer allows the request made by the man. As the officer thoroughly reviews the documents, he agrees that in fact, the child is the man’s son, and he is free to go. Out of curiosity, the woman asks the father whether he had the choice to pick another race for the child. The scene turns into the African American father explaining that the child had an abusive father after the loss of his mother. When the soon-to-be father came to the adoption center, the child was overjoyed to know that he was being taken home to his adopted father’s loving home.

I think this story teaches the consequences of the “single-story” narrative we learned from the very beginning of this course. Given the woman’s racist assumptions against the father’s race, she immediately assumed that the boy was in danger simply because of her single-story optics of an African American stereotype. Sadly, more often than not, we see systemic racism towards minorities because of racial assumptions that have been created from prejudiced biases towards African Americans and driven narratives from prejudiced individuals.

 

Film: https://youtu.be/mTwg8rNhH-8

 

Diary of Systemic Injustice – Racism Development in Children

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As someone who has had the valuable and fortunate opportunity to have grown up in a racially diverse community of friends, I have witnessed first-hand the racial discrimination and biases that come with being an adopted child here in America. This has occurred in many instances when children gather in groups pertaining to specific environments such as teams, classrooms, or general hangouts amongst friends. Now more than ever, I believe this topic has not been discussed as much as it has should be in American culture. In recent news, we have heard about the shooting at a local spa in Atlanta, GA. Appalling enough, this shooting has had many believe the motive was anti-Asian bias. This hatred towards many other races has evidently been a critical issue in our country for quite some time. This shows we have not done enough to combat the problem as much as we should. We must address this starting with educating our youth on racism and find ways to avoid biases in effort for racial inclusion.

As a child, I can remember my Asian friends being made fun of because they were not “good” in geometry and engineering compared to the racist stereotypes. Moreover, I can remember a specific instance when a fellow teammate made a comment towards my friend suggesting he was not to the athletic level compared to him because he was not American. This most certainly had an effect on how my diverse friends felt about their intelligence or athletic ability thinking they weren’t up to the standard that was held by their peers.

Many other minority children have faced the same challenges that my friends have undergone growing up. This, I believe, goes hand-in-hand in relation to the “One” to the “Other” concept. Whether one is discussing a child or an adult, this is clearly been seen as leaving minority groups (Other) left out of the whole because they are not racially the same as Caucasian Americans (One). Furthermore, I believe this poses the question of when the development of racism and the practice of thinking of minorities as subgroups become someone’s thought towards their reality. From a child’s perspective, I would like to share a heartbreaking video that will provide a real-life example of the “One” and “Other” concept being practiced as a black family moves into a predominantly white neighborhood:

Furthering this conversation, studies have been shown that even babies have biases. This is significantly caused by their environment in which they grow up. (Gjersoe).

My prayer is that someday our children will be the ones to entirely expel the revolting notion of discrimination. This is in hopes that when they meet anyone who is a minority, it won’t be “Other”, but rather so, “Us”.

 

Works Cited

“Black Family Tried to Move to All-White Neighborhood in Rosedale, Queens (1976) – HARD TO WATCH.” YouTube, 24 June 2019, youtu.be/4hfJ2WV6M0M.

Nathalia Gjersoe Senior Lecturer in Developmental Psychology. “How Young Children Can Develop Racial Biases – and What That Means.” The Conversation, 28 June 2019, theconversation.com/how-young-children-can-develop-racial-biases-and-what-that-means-93150.

 

Week 12 – Identity politics and misinformation after 9/11 – The Muslim Community 

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From the tale of The Reluctant Fundamentalist, we learn of a man by the name of Changez. This fellow has approached a stranger on the street who appears to be asking for assistance. Subsequently, the two men become more acquainted with each other at a local café. From this destination, we hear more about Changez’s story for how he graduated from Princeton University and works for a lucrative valuing firm. More into the story, we discover how his identity was forever changed after the tragic event of 9/11. Because Changez is Pakistan, this leads to conflict amongst his peers and the general environment from the systemic racial discrimination and the spread of misinformation during this hostile time. Many like Changez experience these two challenges still today. Therefore, I would like to invite you to learn more about the aftermath of how many Muslims then were treated differently after the horrific events of 9/11.

Identity politics and misinformation have played a significant role in how we go about interacting with different people. This was especially seen after the effects of 9/11 on the Muslim community. Many Muslims during this time lived in apprehension concerned about being targeted by individuals who resented their religion and nationality after the wide-spread distortion of their people. This chain of racism went up as far as the government forming travel discrimination against immigrants. “The National Security Entry-Exit Registration System clearly conflated immigration with questions of national security and criminalized immigrants in a way never seen before” (Kampf). This not only affected Muslims but other immigrants traveling from all different parts of the world such as Arabs and South Asians into America. Moreover, both identity politics and misinformation had become so severe, that children were being discriminated against. For example, a Pakistan ten-year-old girl was asked to share her story on whether she had been discriminated against in her life. She replied: “Yes, I was walking, and a lady called me a terrorist and made killing signs” (Kampf). Sadly enough, she explained further that altogether she was frightened to tell anyone about the threat made towards her.

From a religious standpoint, many Muslims had their practices of faith at stake because of fear of being targeted. “Immediately post-9/11 many American Muslim women who had been veiling decided no longer to do so in order to look “less Muslim” (Islam in America Post 9/11). If any are unaware, wearing a veil is a sacred aspect of the Islamic religion. Putting that into perspective, it’s outlandish to think as much as Americans preach about religious freedom, many Muslim women had shied away from this prophesied notion due to bigotry from others.

In conclusion, back more than a decade ago, and now Muslims face the same injustices originating from racial discrimination and the spread of false information. The detailed stories above bring to light a small perspective of what many have had to journey through to preserve the truth of the Muslim faith.

 

                                                                                  Works Cited

Fellowship, Lena Kampf 2006 New York City, and Indra Sen 2006 New York City Fellowship. “History Does Not Repeat Itself, But Ignorance Does: Post-9/11 Treatment of Muslims and the Liberty-Security Dilemma.” Humanity in Action, www.humanityinaction.org/knowledge_detail/history-does-not-repeat-itself-but-ignorance-does-post-9-11-treatment-of-muslims-and-the-liberty-security-dilemma/.

“Islam in America Post 9/11.” The Pluralism Project, pluralism.org/islam-in-america-post-911.