Jane Elliot’s experiment shows how easy it is to learn prejudice…and how angry a group of white women become after just a two hour long experiment…imagine if you endured this for a lifetime:
Trevor’s Noah’s analysis of Amy Cooper’s call to the police and George Floyd’s death/the violent reaction of the population:
Let’s talk about white privilege:
White privilege explained as a “race”:
The problem with “All Lives Matter”:
What it’s like to grow up as a black American and the anxieties/realities that black people live with every day:
Systemic Racism
Why all of the violence?
Harlem
“The damage here along the Gulf coast is catastrophic
There’s a frantic effort underway tonight to find survivors
There are an uncounted number of the dead tonight.”
“People are being forced to live like animals.”
“Please… send stuff here. We are desperate.”
“No one says the federal government is doing a good job.”
“…and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people …”
“No water… yeah, and I fought for my country for years.”
“We need help. We really need help.”
“In Baghdad, they-they drop, they airdrop – water, food to people
Why can’t they do that for their own people?”
“…the same idiots can’t get a bottle of water into a
Major American city in three days are trying to win a war”
[Verse 1: Jay-Z]
People was poor before the hurricane came
Before the downpour poured, it was like when Mary J. sang
Everyday it rains, so everyday the pain
Went ignored and I’m sure ignorance was to blame
But life is a chain, cause and effected
Niggas off the chain, because they affected
It’s a dirty game, it’s whatever is effective
From weed to sellin’ ‘caine, gotta put that in effect, shit
Wouldn’t you loot? If you didn’t have the loot
Baby needed food and you was stuck on the roof
And helicopters swoop down just to get a scoop
Through his telescopic lens, but he didn’t scoop you
And the next five days, no help ensued
They called you a refugee because you seek refuge
And the Commander-in-Chief, just flew by
Didn’t stop, I know he had a couple seats
Just rude Jet blue, he’s not, jet flew by the spot
What if he ran out of jet fuel and just dropped
Huh, that woulda been somethin’ to watch
Helicopters doin’ fly-bys to take a couple shots
Couple portraits, then ignored ’em
He’d be just another Bush surrounded by a couple orchids
Poor kids, just ’cause they was poor kids
Left them on they porches, same old story in New Orleans
Silly rappers, cause we got a couple Porsches
MTV stopped by to film our fortresses
We forget the unfortunate
Sure, I ponied up a mil’ but I didn’t give my time
So in reality I didn’t give a dime
Or a damn, I just put my monies in the hands
Of the same people that left my people stranded
Nothin’ but a bandit, left them folks abandoned
Damn, that money we gave was just a band-aid
Can’t say we better off than we was before
In synopsis, this is my Minority Report
Can’t say we better off than we was before
In synopsis, this is my Minority Report
[Verse 2: Ne-Yo]
So many times I’m, coverin’ my eyes
Peekin’ through my fingers, tryin’ to hide my
Frustration, at the way, that we treat
(Seems like we don’t even care)
Turn on the TV, seein’ the pain
Sayin’ such a shame, then tryin’ to go on with my life
Of that, I too am guilty
(Seems like we don’t even care)
So we send a little money, tell ’em it’s alright
To be able to sleep at night
You will pay that price, but some of these folks
Has lost they whole life
(Seems like we don’t even care)
And then it wasn’t on the nightly news no mo’
Suddenly it didn’t matter to you no mo’
It went on and almost nothin’ changed
What the hell were they there for?
(Seems like we don’t even care)
[Outro – more news excerpts (Ne-Yo)]
Bush: “Buses are on the way to take those
People from New Orleans, to Houston”
(Seems like we don’t even care)
“They lie”
“People are dying, at the Convention Center” (ohh)
“Their government has failed them” (ohh)
Kanye West: “George Bush doesn’t care about black people”
(Seems like we don’t even care)
(Seems like we don’t even care)
Macklemore’s “White Privilege II”
Zipped up my parka, joined the procession of marchers
In my head like, “Is this awkward?
Should I even be here marching?”
Thinking if they can’t, how can I breathe?
Thinking that they chant, what do I sing?
I want to take a stance cause we are not free
And then I thought about it, we are not we
Am I in the outside looking in,
Or am I in the inside looking out?
Is it my place to give my two cents?
Or should I stand on the side and shut my mouth?
No justice, no peace, okay, I’m saying that
They’re chanting out, Black Lives Matter,
But I don’t say it back
Is it okay for me to say?
I don’t know, so I watch and stand
Only separated by a badge,
A baton, a can of Mace, a mask
Takes another child’s life on sight
No racist beliefs, no rest ’til we’re free
No racist beliefs, no rest ’til we’re free
Blood in the streets, no justice, no peace
No racist beliefs, no rest ’til we’re free
There’s blood in the streets, no justice, no peace
No racist beliefs, no rest ’til we’re free
Blood in the streets, no justice, no peace
No racist beliefs, no rest ’til we’re free
There’s blood in the streets, no justice, no peace
No racist beliefs, no rest ’til we’re free
The magic, the passion, the fashion, you toy with
The culture was never yours to make better
You’re Miley, you’re Elvis, you’re Iggy Azalea
You’ve taken the drums and the accent you rapped in
That Grandmaster Flash’d go slap it, you bastard
All the money that you made
All the watered down pop-bullshit version of the culture, pal
Go buy a big-ass lawn, go with your big-ass house
Get a big-ass fence, keep people out
It’s all stolen, anyway, can’t you see that now?
There’s no way for you to even that out
You can join the march, protest, scream and shout
But they see through it all, people believe you now?
You said publicly, “Rest in peace, Mike Brown”
You speak about equality, but do you really mean it?
Are you marching for freedom, or when it’s convenient?
That’s probably why you are out here protesting
Don’t think for a second you don’t have incentive
Hands up? Don’t shoot!
Hands up? Don’t shoot!
Hands up? Don’t shoot!
Hands up? Don’t shoot!
Hands up? Don’t shoot!
Hands up? Don’t shoot!
Hands up? Don’t shoot!
Hands up? Don’t shoot!
Hands up? Don’t shoot!
Hands up? Don’t shoot!
Hands up? Don’t shoot!
Hands up? Don’t shoot!
And the last thing you want to do is take a picture
But seriously, my little girl loves you
She’s always singing, ‘I’m gonna pop some tags’
I’m not kidding, my oldest, you even got him to go thrifting
And ‘One Love, ‘ oh my God, that song, brilliant
Their aunt is gay, when that song came out
My son told his whole class he was actually proud
That’s so cool, look what you’re accomplishing
Even the old mom like me likes it, cause it’s positive
You’re the only hip-hop that I let my kids listen to
Cause you get it, all that negative stuff it isn’t cool
Yeah?
Yeah, like, all the guns and the drugs
The bitches and the hoes and the gangs and the thugs
If a cop pulls you over, it’s your fault if you run
Huh?
Some of us scared, some of us defensive
And most of us aren’t even paying attention
It seems like we’re more concerned with being called racist
Than we actually are with racism
I’ve heard that silences are action and God knows that I’ve been passive
What if I actually read a article, actually had a dialogue
Actually looked at myself, actually got involved?
If I’m aware of my privilege and do nothing at all, I don’t know
Hip-hop has always been political, yes
It’s the reason why this music connects
So what the fuck has happened to my voice if I stay silent when black people are dying
Then I’m trying to be politically correct?
I can book a whole tour, sell out the tickets
Rap entrepreneur, built his own business
If I’m only in this for my own self-interest, not the culture that gave me a voice to begin with
Then this isn’t authentic, it is just a gimmick
The DIY underdog, so independent
But the one thing the American dream fails to mention
Is I was many steps ahead to begin with
My skin matches the hero, likeness, the image
America feels safe with my music in their systems
And it’s suited me perfect, the role, I’ve fulfilled it
And if I’m the hero, you know who gets cast as the villain
White supremacy isn’t just a white dude in Idaho
White supremacy protects the privilege I hold
White supremacy is the soil, the foundation, the cement and the flag that flies outside of my home
White supremacy is our country’s lineage, designed for us to be indifferent
My success is the product of the same system that let off Darren Wilson – guilty
We want to dress like, walk like, talk like, dance like, yet we just stand by
We take all we want from black culture, but will we show up for black lives?
We want to dress like, walk like, talk like, dance like, yet we just stand by
We take all we want from black culture, but will we show up for black lives?
Your silence is a luxury, hip-hop is not a luxury
Your silence is a luxury, hip-hop is not a luxury
Your silence is a luxury, hip-hop is not a luxury
What I got for me, it is for me
What we made, we made to set us free
What I got for me, it is for me
What we made, we made to set us free
What I got for me, it is for me
What we made, we made to set us free
https://www.mercerislandschools.org/cms/lib3/WA01001855/Centricity/Domain/640/Ta-Nehisi%20Coates%20PDF.pdf
I, Too
Theme for English B
Langston Hughes – 1902-1967
The instructor said,
Go home and write
a page tonight.
And let that page come out of you—
Then, it will be true.
I wonder if it’s that simple?
I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem.
I went to school there, then Durham, then here
to this college on the hill above Harlem.
I am the only colored student in my class.
The steps from the hill lead down into Harlem,
through a park, then I cross St. Nicholas,
Eighth Avenue, Seventh, and I come to the Y,
the Harlem Branch Y, where I take the elevator
up to my room, sit down, and write this page:
It’s not easy to know what is true for you or me
at twenty-two, my age. But I guess I’m what
I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you:
hear you, hear me—we two—you, me, talk on this page.
(I hear New York, too.) Me—who?
Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love.
I like to work, read, learn, and understand life.
I like a pipe for a Christmas present,
or records—Bessie, bop, or Bach.
I guess being colored doesn’t make me not like
the same things other folks like who are other races.
So will my page be colored that I write?
Being me, it will not be white.
But it will be
a part of you, instructor.
You are white—
yet a part of me, as I am a part of you.
That’s American.
Sometimes perhaps you don’t want to be a part of me.
Nor do I often want to be a part of you.
But we are, that’s true!
As I learn from you,
I guess you learn from me—
although you’re older—and white—
and somewhat more free.
This is my page for English B.
I guess what i have learned from the documents in this post is that “white privilege” still exists, as much in the silliest of things as in the more serious ones too. I was also shocked as i realized that it often happened in the places i did not think it would. The cartoons made me rethink some of the privileges i take for granted as i realised that people in the most developed countries still lacked these. I guess what the documents really taught me was that racism does not exist through violence and insults as much as it did before, however, the injustices in our daily lives proves that it is still wildly present in modern day society.
This indeed reflects what is going on in the world, and more precisely the USA, because we see millions of people fighting for their rights. George Floyd was unarmed and did not resist, yet he was tackled and held to the ground for several minutes for no apparent reason. To many people this is the perfect example of the injustices or “white privilege”. If his skin color was different, maybe the events would not have turned out this way.
In conclusion this is very relevant to the recent tensions as these Americans are fighting for equal treatment which the country lacks for them. The events have revealed the presence of “white privilege”. The realisation to many people that this was still a thing is what led to these riots. An attempt to end “white privilege”, so that every man and woman might be treated equally.