Week 7: Race and Identity

    This week's topic is race and identity. Race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. In my opinion, I think that race is limiting because society has deemed the white race superior to people of color; so that's why they made the term white privilege. White privilege is the inherent advantages possessed by a white person on the basis of their race in a society characterized by racial inequality and injustice. This has created a lot of biases, so this is why race can't be emancipating. Race defines our identity by giving a person cultural values, beliefs, and principles. I think that the concept of race is just a myth because we are all just human beings; the only difference is physical characteristics. I feel like my outsides don't reflect who we are on the inside because not all race's fit the stereotypes and biases that come with judging someone based solely on their race. A good example of this is the model minority. 

This Is Who You Are

    I think that giving a different perspective on race with the lightbulbs is a good way to look at race and why racism/discrimination is dumb. Prince Ea says, "Do you know what people and light bulbs have in common? We both express different colors, different shapes, and different sizes. We're manufactured in different places... We appear to be very different on the outside, but the thing about these lights is there is one current running through each bulb and in the same way there is singular energy running through each person on this planet. Doesn't matter what you look like, doesn't matter your race, gender, and nationality." I agree with the way he explains who we are because what we look like doesn't define who we are; it's our actions and personality, which come from the inside. 

The Myth of Race

    This video, it interviews multiple people talking about how race is a social construct/ a tangible idea. They talked about the origins of the term/idea of race and that race is biologically based and there's DNA evidence. In the video, one of the people interviewed says, "Humans have far less genetic variation than chimpanzees do, and yet, those chimpanzees look the same to me," Geography is a good factor as to why people have different skin tones. Slavery was based on these differences and it has divided society ever since.

Why Are People Racist?

    In this video, Onyeka Nubia talks about his own, and people close to him, experiences/encounters with racism. Onyeka says that the key to getting rid of racism is to be able to understand it so I guess you could see where he's coming from. Onyeka talks about his childhood growing up in Britain and how a lot of people around him would be really racist to him by calling him racial slurs. I think a lot of racism comes from people being ignorant because they're not educated enough about history and how to prevent it from repeating it again because they're not setting up good examples for future generations to grow up around. I feel like kids nowadays are growing up thinking that being racist or sexist is a form of comedy and this is really common within the gaming community. I believe that people should at least try to be more open-minded to being more educated.