Racism- Is It Only in The Past?

Earlier this week I was on Twitter and I came across this tweet by Shaun King (@shaunking), who is a writer and civil rights activist.



                                  
                               

This post made me think about how, since the "Civil Rights Movement" is over, society just assumes that the majority of racism is in the past. Since we live in a very diverse area, we do not witness racism often, if at all. We associate racism with slavery and the Civil Rights Movement, all times that we have only experienced through our history books. Granted we know that racism is not completely diminished, however its prevalence is very unexpected.  Through this post, it becomes clear that society is unaware of many racist actions that take place in our own country. Of course, we hear about many of these terrible things on the news or via the internet, and we acknowledge how wrong they are- but no one is really aware of how big of an issue it is until we see a list of them all together. 

I believe that racism exists in a different way today than it has in the past. In The Bluest Eye, Cholly is immune to racism, he is so used to racist comments and actions that he is unaffected by it. Morrison writes, "Cholly heard nothing. The insults were part of the nuisances of life, like lice," (Morrison 153). During that time people were greatly aware of racism, however they chose to ignore and do nothing about it. Today, people are not as aware of racism, because it is associated with the past. However, when people are aware of an act of racial injustice they react much more effectively and it becomes a much more widespread issue. Racism surely is not worse than it has been during different time periods, but America today is definitely not as perfect as everyone may think. 

Modern Issues in "The Bluest Eye"

In The Bluest Eye, which takes place in 1941, Toni Morrison addresses an issue that is still very prevalent in our society today. Pecola, a young black girl longs to look like Shirley Temple or Mary Jane, who are stereotypical young white girls- with blond hair and blue eyes. "To eat the candy is somehow to eat the eyes, eat Mary Jane. Love Mary Jane. Be Mary Jane," (Morrison 50).  Pecola does not buy the candy because she particularly likes the taste, she likes the image of Mary Jane on the wrapper; and hopes that by eating the candy, she will somehow become Mary Jane and feel accepted. This is similar to an issue that occurs very much today. So many people, mostly girls, are influenced by the media and are told that they have to look or act a certain way in order to be accepted. Although society is much more accepting now than it was in 1941, people are still pressured into living up to certain standards, that are sometimes unattainable. Similar to how Pecola admired the pictures of Mary Jane on the candy wrappers, companies advertise using "perfect" people so that customers will purchase their products. However, there is no such thing as the "perfect person." Advertisers use Photoshop and other techniques in order to create this unrealistic standard. So many people idolize celebrities, and many companies use them in advertisements so that people will be drawn to their product. For example, many more people would buy the makeup product modeled by Taylor Swift than the one modeled by someone else that no one has heard of. Logically, adults know that they will not end up looking like the celebrity that models the product, but they feel that if the celebrity uses the product, then it must be good enough for them to use. However, children, like Pecola, have hope that they will end up looking exactly like the face on the wrapper.

Gender Labels on Toys

Starting at a very young age, children are taught what they should and should not like based on their gender. Weather it is what clothes to wear, what movies to watch, what toys to play with, or simply what colors they can like, there is a fine line dividing "girl things" and "boy things." Girls are taught to like dolls, princesses, and anything pink and sparkly, and boys are taught to like trucks and Legos. However there is also a double standard prevalent. It is true that parents encourage their daughters to play with "girl toys," but if their daughter decides that she wants to play with a hot wheels car or Lego set, she is considered a tomboy or people will say that "she'll grow out of it." However if the situation were reversed and a boy decided that he wanted a Barbie doll many more people would have a problem with the situation. At a very young age, boys are taught that they have to be tough and masculine and this is reflected through the toys that they play with. The same is also true for girls; however, society has changed and now views women as more strong and powerful than they were viewed in the past. In the past the typical women was dainty and soft spoken, which is reflected through the typical doll. However Barbie dolls encourage girls to step out of the view of the typical woman. In "Our Barbies, Ourselves," in her counter argument, Emily Prager defines Barbie as "a liberated woman, a gal on the move." Most dolls are just pretty little girls in  pink dresses, but Barbie has many different careers. Indeed there are the typical woman Barbies, but there are also astronaut and police officer Barbies. Not once have I seen a superhero toy take on a more feminine career. As women have gained more power in society, it puts more pressure on men to still remain as the dominant gender; and as sad as it is, it still affects how young children play as they are growing up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CU040Hqbas


In the YouTube video linked above, Riley is frustrated with the fact that companies market toys toward each gender. What this four year old says is something that everyone is aware of, but we overlook it because this is what was drilled into all of our brains at a very young age.

Similarities In Maus

   

The last pages of each volume of Maus are similar in a variety of ways. First being that the conflict on both pages deal with Anja. On page 159 (Volume 1), Art is angry with Vladek because he burned Anja's old diaries. Art is upset because he wanted to see how Anja felt during the Holocaust, and he has no other way to get this information now that she is dead. Contrarily, Art fails to see this situation through Vladek's eyes. Vladek wanted to burn away the bad memories associated with Anja and the Holocaust. The reason that the two men have so many altercations is because they lack a sense of empathy towards each other. It is ironic that Art is calling Vladek a murderer because earlier on in the volume Art expresses how he blames his mother's suicide on himself.  On page 136 (Volume 2), Vladek is discussing how he and Anja both made it out of the war alive. He says "More I don't need to tell you. We were both very happy, and lived happy, happy ever after." However, this is ironic because we know that they did not exactly live "happy happy ever after" because of Anja's suicide. Another similarity between these two pages is that they both end with one of the men calling the other by a different name. At the end of Volume 1, Art calls his father a murderer because he "murdered" all of Anja's diaries, killing all of her experiences that Art wants to know about very badly. On the final page of Volume 2, Vladek calls Art "Richieu." This demonstrates the bad relationship between the father and son. Having this as the last dialogue of the graphic novel, Art makes his final point about their broken relationship. The final page also wraps up both of the stories that were going on throughout the books: Vladek's story about the Holocaust and Art's story about his relationship with Vladek. Vladek's Holocaust story ends on a happier note showing Vladek and Anja embracing after they are reunited, and later on the page showing their grave together. Art's story with his father clearly does not end in the same way.  

How The Past Affects The Present

Think of the last time you told someone a story. Did you tell it exactly as it happened, in the exact order that it happened? Did you leave out details by mistake, or add details in to add emphasis, emotion, or excitement? Even as we tell of small, almost insignificant events, we as humans cannot portray to another person exactly what we have experienced.

In Maus, Art asks Vladek to tell him about his experience of the years during the war, as well as his personal life. Vladek carries the emotional burden of the death of his wife, Anja, who he misses very much. Even as Art uses words and pictures to tell the story of his father, the reader still will never come close to feeling anything remotely similar to what Vladek felt as he experienced these terrible things first hand. We can sit here and say how terrible it all was, or feel sympathy and sadness towards the horrific events that went on during this time, but no one will truly be able to understand what Vladek went through and how that affects his life after the war. This is demonstrated throughout Maus, as Art has trouble relating to his father in certain aspects of his life. Art lacks a sense of empathy towards his father, instead he becomes easily aggravated towards his father's quirks, which are most likely a result of the war. Mala also lacks this sense of empathy, which is ultimately what leads to their break up. Mala believes that since she also experienced the war and concentration camps, the two of them should not have as big of differences. What both Art and Mala fail to understand is that people have different experiences that affect them in very different ways, and it is impossible for anyone to truly understand how another individual thinks or feels unless they were faced with the same exact experiences. For example, Art does not understand his father's need to save money or his desire to keep everything neat and organized.

Here are a few passages that illustrate the differences between Vladek and Art and Mala and their lack of understanding towards him.

Feminism in Society Today

Bell Hooks defines feminism as "a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression." Feminism does not state that men are the enemy, nor that females are the only ones who can be feminists. "Practically, it is a definition which implies that sexist thinking and action is the problem, whether those who perpetuate it are female or male, child or adult," (Hooks 1). In today's society, people throw around the word "feminist," unaware of what it really means. People have so many negative stereotypes associated with feminism, when in reality everyone, male or female, has at least some feminist beliefs.





Many people think that feminism is the belief that women are better than men, when in reality it is very different. Men are not the enemy in feminism; females can have sexist thoughts against their own gender. Bell Hooks says, "Sisterhood could not be powerful as long as women were competitively at war with one another." Ultimately, this means that women cannot expect men to think of them as equal and treat them the way that they would like, if women have sexists beliefs against women themselves. This ties in with a quote from one of my favorite movies, Mean Girls; "You all have got to stop calling each other sluts and whores. It just makes it okay for guys to call you sluts and whores."

Obviously, there are many differences between males and females that make it impossible for the two genders to be one hundred percent equal in every aspect of life; but that should not take away from the power and importance that women have in the world today. In The Woman Warrior, Kingston can only be in a position of power when she is disguised as a man. Although she is the best warrior in her area, she will only be taken seriously if she is a male, and unable to be a warrior if she is a female. As a child she was told that she could only grow up to be a wife or a slave. Luckily, our culture today is moving away from that. Now males and females can both serve in war, and many females are taking on jobs that have been considered to be "men's jobs" in the past. We may still have a way to go, but fortunately, society is moving in a positive direction for female equality.

Our Country Today

In "The Partly Cloudy Patriot," Sarah Vowell discusses the impact that the events of September 11th have had on her life. This made me think about what important national events have had an impact on my life. After thinking this through thoroughly, I concluded that all of the national events that have had a major impact on my life have happened before I was born or old enough to remember them. I am not saying that there have been no important or tragic national events in my lifetime that I remember, but the most important and effective events have happened before my lifetime.

As for the events of September 11, 2001, I do not remember that day at all. I was only two years old. Sarah Vowell writes, "What did happen, a lot, was that citizens or politicians or journalists would mention that they wonder what it will be like for Americans now to live with the constant threat of random, sudden death."  All that I have ever known is the world post 9/11, I have nothing to compare the world today to; but from what I know our country has changed drastically. For example, the Patriot Act was passed in October of 2001, adding security and law enforcement to help prevent terrorism. This is why airport security is much more intense than it was previous to 9/11. Many people are against the Patriot Act because it limits our freedom, but it is necessary to prevent anything like this from happening to our country again.

A few events that have impacted my life the most include the Revolutionary War and the struggle for women's suffrage. Of course, these events happened many years before I was born, but they still affect my life today. Just imagine how different our lives would be if the Revolutionary War never took place in 1775. Our freedom would be nonexistent and who knows what other differences would be prevalent. We could still be under the rule of the British. Or instead of obtaining gay marriage rights in 2015, we could be having a revolutionary war against the British right now. Also the fights for women's suffrage and other women's rights took place many years ago, making it so that women today are treated more equally. Granted, our country still has inequalities and other flaws that we must work on; but compared to life back in the 1700's, 1800's, 1900's, and even the early 2000's we have come a very long way. Our generation may face some difficulties and they may not be easy to overcome, but we are lucky that our country's worst struggles are in the past, and that we can continue to make our country great.