Blurring The Lines...
It's late. I should be in bed.
Rarely will I sit down and watch a movie, and typically I like them only if they include disparaging humor (Napoleon Dynamite), brilliant dialogue (Pulp Fiction), riveting suspense (Seven), or a necessary story to tell (Ray). Tonight I found a film that brings a segment of our world into perspective.
"Crash." If you haven't seen it, it's worth your time.
Without giving away spoilers, the movie brings eight seperate stories into one 36 hour period, tying them together in the end, while centering them around our racist attitudes toward stereotypes and minorities.
Films like this are the reason I'll infrequently catch a movie.
They're also the reason I look deep into my character and hope, when the time came, I'd make the right decision. Those decisions come with practice -- but how's my practice shaping up?
Growing up in the south, it was an unfortunate normalcy to hear racist comments when driving by a bad neighborhood, or when stopping into a 7-Eleven to fill up your tank. As a matter of fact, a Canadian gentleman who's been in the states for a year-and-a-half, and whom I happen work with, mentioned that segregation is still (indirectly) in effect.
Why are we so ignorant? Is it because a large segment of racists are people who live in the less-developed area of town, are often lower income, and have no idea what it's like to be in a civilized environment?
There has been a shift as of late away from racism, but it's moving more toward culturalism. In the past, when we would see a black man walking down the sidewalk with a hat turned to the side, gold teeth, and low-rise pants, we'd take a step closer to the person we're walking with. Today, that person could be black, white, or hispanic -- and it makes no difference. Disconnected white people are scared of hip-hop -- in any color.
It's unfortunate, and we all know it. A key message in the movie was that we are all aware of the problems facing society today, and most civilized people believe something should be done about it... but we expect someone else to do it.
The cop who wouldn't stand up for what he believed in, the movie director who had accepted things would never change, and the detective who would put aside a man's fate for political reasons.
Part of the problem is that we're too sensitive, a bigger problem is that we're too ignorant, but the biggest problem is that we're too apathetic.
Someone very dear to me once found out a black family was moving into their neighborhood. She said, "I hope it doesn't lower the property value of our home." Unfortunately, my apathy took over. It's not easy to change a mind-set that's been in place since before Brown v. Board of Education.
I, alone, can't change the world; I can only hope to help trigger a part of your mind that may not work as often as it should. Sometimes the ignorance and apathy slip by me without noticing.
It's time to start taking notice.
The jokes and comments have to stop. Are they harmless? Maybe to me and a few friends. People don't always mean them as they're perceived. That's where the apathy comes in.
But comments that, at their very nature, are offensive are not funny any more. I mentioned earlier about being too sensitive, but comments have consequences.
It's time we considered those consequences and started changing minds.
Rarely will I sit down and watch a movie, and typically I like them only if they include disparaging humor (Napoleon Dynamite), brilliant dialogue (Pulp Fiction), riveting suspense (Seven), or a necessary story to tell (Ray). Tonight I found a film that brings a segment of our world into perspective.
"Crash." If you haven't seen it, it's worth your time.
Without giving away spoilers, the movie brings eight seperate stories into one 36 hour period, tying them together in the end, while centering them around our racist attitudes toward stereotypes and minorities.
Films like this are the reason I'll infrequently catch a movie.
They're also the reason I look deep into my character and hope, when the time came, I'd make the right decision. Those decisions come with practice -- but how's my practice shaping up?
Growing up in the south, it was an unfortunate normalcy to hear racist comments when driving by a bad neighborhood, or when stopping into a 7-Eleven to fill up your tank. As a matter of fact, a Canadian gentleman who's been in the states for a year-and-a-half, and whom I happen work with, mentioned that segregation is still (indirectly) in effect.
Why are we so ignorant? Is it because a large segment of racists are people who live in the less-developed area of town, are often lower income, and have no idea what it's like to be in a civilized environment?
There has been a shift as of late away from racism, but it's moving more toward culturalism. In the past, when we would see a black man walking down the sidewalk with a hat turned to the side, gold teeth, and low-rise pants, we'd take a step closer to the person we're walking with. Today, that person could be black, white, or hispanic -- and it makes no difference. Disconnected white people are scared of hip-hop -- in any color.
It's unfortunate, and we all know it. A key message in the movie was that we are all aware of the problems facing society today, and most civilized people believe something should be done about it... but we expect someone else to do it.
The cop who wouldn't stand up for what he believed in, the movie director who had accepted things would never change, and the detective who would put aside a man's fate for political reasons.
Part of the problem is that we're too sensitive, a bigger problem is that we're too ignorant, but the biggest problem is that we're too apathetic.
Someone very dear to me once found out a black family was moving into their neighborhood. She said, "I hope it doesn't lower the property value of our home." Unfortunately, my apathy took over. It's not easy to change a mind-set that's been in place since before Brown v. Board of Education.
I, alone, can't change the world; I can only hope to help trigger a part of your mind that may not work as often as it should. Sometimes the ignorance and apathy slip by me without noticing.
It's time to start taking notice.
The jokes and comments have to stop. Are they harmless? Maybe to me and a few friends. People don't always mean them as they're perceived. That's where the apathy comes in.
But comments that, at their very nature, are offensive are not funny any more. I mentioned earlier about being too sensitive, but comments have consequences.
It's time we considered those consequences and started changing minds.
Labels: Philosophy, Racism
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