A race is just how society groups humans. Different races have different characteristics which make each of us unique. Everyone regardless of race should be treated equally and fairly, because we are human and put simply humans have rights. Reflecting on Derek’s lecture surrounding social inequality and engaging with the materials on week 3 of the values module, I have certainly gained insight and have grown an interest how as a society we still are learning and developing to treat each other equally. Racism today isn’t so much of an issue compared to decades ago, however it still exists today and forever will. After Derek’s lecture, it made me realise how complex racism actually is.
Surrounding the term race. It is simply how humans are categorized. Many years ago racism was a major problem in society. Derek showed us cases such as Emmet Till, Stephen Lawrence and many other cases which clearly shows the social segregation at that time in history. Black people were not treated fairly at that point in time. Events like this and how they were handled at that point in time clearly highlights the injustice in the system and how it has affected society today. Stereotypes exist and will do for the rest of eternity and racism is partly to blame for this. Evidence wise it shows that police are far more likely to stop a coloured person in the street presuming they have a gun and are going to cause harm, this is much less likely with if a young white person was walking down the street. Why does the colour of someone’s skin make police think they are harmful? Unfortunately, we only have a society to blame for this. At this point in time, you would think that it has changed however innocent unarmed African American people have been shot or physically hurt by the police force in America, as people still have stereotypes and prejudice towards coloured people. We refer to this as unconscious bias, we are all guilty of implicit bias. The implicit bias of the mind encourages stereotypes concerning social groups, they come into your mind automatically and it is exceptionally hard to control these as they are engraved in our minds. As unfair and unjustifiable it sounds, two women going for the same job, the black women have more qualifications compared to the white women the white woman is more likely to achieve the position. Implicit Bias gives a reason why discrimination and inclusion in various forms still persist today. Discrimination is wrong and always will be, it does in no way give an excuse to discriminate against certain groups however always be on our conscience.
Engaging with materials on campus pack the videos linked I found practically interesting. While watching the videos I felt myself not being able to take my eyes off the screen the words they used were so powerful. Clint Smith’s video “How to raise a black son in America” opened up my mind, by putting yourself in the shoes of someone who has gone through the prejudice black people face every day. Clint reflects on how as a child his parents felt like they had to protect their children much more than white parents. Playing out on the streets, simple fun for kids of a young age playing with water guns. Just because Clint was black a water gun can be interpreted as something very different. In the video, his dad quotes ” you can’t act the same as your white friends”. To me, I find that absolutely unfair and non-justifiable, children are young and just because they are a different colour of skin they should be able to go out and play and not worry.
Every human should be treated equally. No question about it. Your unconscious bias does not reflect your actions. As a teacher, every pupil will be treated with respect in my classroom.
