I decided to do my social Justice project on the video “25 Mini-Films for Exploring Race, Bias and Identity With Students”. As stated in the article, all 25 mini-documentaries come from four different series published on the New York Times website from 2015 to 2017.
The first series was titled “A Conversation on Race”. We see everyday people speak on the issue of race and identity that either they have faced themselves or they have seen others deal with. What really stood out to me in this series was that many people mentioned the word privilege and the concept of white supremacy. Both Johnson and McIntosh talk about the existence of white privilege. In one of the videos, we have a Latino who looks white but once people realize that he is Latino he feels that it makes people view and treat him differently. Not only that but people from the same race but different skin color are treated differently. For example, someone from Japan is more likely to be treated better than someone from Cambodia because Japanese people tend to have lighter skin. When white people were interviewed they managed to prove Johnson right on why white people would rather ignore the problem rather than speak out about racism. They mentioned the fear of offending others, it makes them feel uncomfortable because white people could feel shame and guilt for being the ones to create racism in America. In the end, because they are privileged they never have to face the conflict of racism, which Johnson calls the “luxury of obliviousness”.
Many of the Latinos and Asian-Americans mentioned the topic of identity. They felt conflicted with where they belonged. Was it with the White American culture or the one they were raised in at home? We all want to fit in, so what ends up happening is they try to fit in the culture that society values most, in this case, it is the white culture. In turn, they are left with a feeling of loss. Rodriguez views this as the loss of one’s private identity.
The second series focuses on how we are all subconsciously bias. It is described as a thought process that we are not even aware of and it does not make us racist. We usually learn this through association that comes from the media, school, and society as a whole. One of the more common ones we have is the associations we make is that black men are violent and we are taught to be cautious around them. There is a blind spot that exists making it easier for us to see bias in others and not ourselves. Below I link a video that shows racial bias’ that exist in kids, posted by CNN.
In the third series “Confronting Racist Objects” focuses on reconciling, reclaiming and reinterpreting racist objects. There are millions of racist objects that exist in our society. Some are more obvious than others. The story that stood out to me in this series was “They think we are just historical”. It tells the story of Robert Roche, an American Indian of the Chiricahua Apache tribe, and his journey to get the Cleveland Indians’ Chief Wahoo mascot changed. He viewed the mascot as an insult to his race and spirituality. I connected this to Christenson’s article “Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us”. Christenson talks about how society tends to over-stereotype certain groups. The mascot of the baseball team wears an Indian feathered headband, has sharp features, and red skin, a slang word that is used to reference Native Americans.
Lastly, we have the fourth series titled “Hyphen Nation”. These videos focus on the struggle of those “belonging in a nation that both embraces and rejects them.” One of the stories that really stood out to me was Michaela’s. From a young age, she experienced racism when she was no longer welcomed to her best friend’s house because she was black. Seeing that Michaela had a light complexion, people would question her blackness, and ask her why she wouldn’t say she was White, as a way to avoid dealing with racism. I find it heartbreaking that many children have to face racism at a very young age. It also got me questioning the views kids hold on race.
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