The Iron Gauntlet

Angry Eye

I saw a photo-set of images from this documentary, so I clicked the link and decided to spend the next 52 minutes watching it. At first glance I thought it was going to be an interesting experiment regarding racism in America today; but by the ten-minute-mark I realized just how ridiculous this entire documentary was going to be. Jane Elliot attempts to make skin color (or culture) the end-all be-all of individual identity and I just don’t buy it.

• Is racism alive and well in America today? YES, without a doubt.

• But is the level of racism the same as it was in the 1960’s as it is now? NO. While racism is still a horrible force of evil in this country, things have improved in the last forty years.

Jane acts as if the Civil Rights Movement never happened. Every example of racism and terror she brought up was not something that occurred in the last twenty years. She consistently recites examples of lynchings, murders, and beatings that occurred before any of these students’ parents had even hit puberty. Does this mean that racism is over? Not in the slightest, things are still quite bad, but not nearly as bad as they once were. I’ll never deny the fact that racism exists (especially in our current politics), but to assert that teachers in the year 2012CE can be THAT openly prejudiced in a classroom without fear of consequence is bullshit. I went to a public high school for four years and spent a lot of my time learning about other cultures. Every February first until about April or May, our American history classes were spent learning a lot about famous African Americans. Across from the school’s library there was a giant mural dedicated to Malcolm X. There were pro-Black Panther rallies held by some of the more vocal teachers (teachers I was quite friendly with). It honestly seemed to me like things, while not necessarily equal yet, had gotten MUCH BETTER. I know it is taboo to say that I myself might have felt a little out of place considering these surroundings, but I honestly didn’t mind any of these things. Everyone has a right to their opinion and to be vocal about it.

But maybe I’m wrong. Maybe my school was an exception? Are all other public high schools in the country filled with old racist white teachers who hate and ridicule their students on the basis of their skin color?? If I’m wrong then I will gladly admit it, but something tells me I’m not.

Jane singles out one girl (for no particular reason; and by that I mean that the girl did not express any feelings of racism toward anyone else) and continues to harp on her to the point of tears. I understood the point of this; to assert that people of color go through the same persecution every day. But is that true in the present day? Are teachers really attacking students in this way in the year 2012? Are teachers able to be openly racist toward young people of color in their classrooms, without being fired? No. There would be a public outcry and then they would be fired. I’ve never seen or heard anything like the racism portrayed by Jane in the documentary and I went to a very multi-racial public high school. I never saw any of the teachers treat anyone differently because of their skin color (and trust me, I was one of those kids who was always looking out for discrimination, even if it was nowhere to be found). In college, I was an anthropology major. I spent over two years learning all about other cultures. I even took an interest in African and African American history (I took several courses in this field). Those classrooms were filled with very mixed cultural groups, and many students that would be considered “white.” We learned an awful lot about how horrible life was were any person of color in this country before the Civil Rights Movement. I remember reading about every single incidence of murder that Jane cited in the beginning of this documentary; she does not get to tell me that ALL white people are free to be ignorant of other cultures. That is insulting and untrue. 

What completely destroyed this entire documentary:

• The moment Jane said that Carrie could change her sexual orientation in order to avoid prejudice.

Done. Over. Finished. You have completely and utterly invalidated yourself and your argument by assuming that racism is a bigger problem than homophobia in this current time period. With the amount of bullying that leads to suicide over homophobia, with the amount of ridicule and hatred that comes from simply admitting you’re a homosexual, and with the extensive religious-condemnation of homosexuality, I believe that homophobia is a much bigger issue in the year 2012 in this country.

The idea that racial identity is the end-all be-all of individual identity is so short-sighted in my opinion. It’s so limiting. I personally don’t care about the fact that I’m Italian (I’m hardly considered “white” in this country and I really don’t care), or that I have dark features. I care much more about who I am, what has shaped me, who has inspired me, and where my personality and mentality will take me in my life. Those things are worth far more to me than the legacy of ancestors whom I will never meet. My skin color is my skin color. It doesn’t matter to me and it shouldn’t matter to anyone else.

I expect to lose some followers over this. Look, I’m not trying to downplay the fact that racism is indeed a plague upon this country, I’m just asserting that the progress that has been made shouldn’t be tossed aside.