Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Do we really want equality?

       Today racism is frowned upon, and it is harder to find blatant racism. Now it is expressed in more subtle ways. In class we discussed Bonilla-Silver's term of colorblind racism. Colorblind racism involves four different frames that are used to justify discrimination nowadays. This is a new type of racism and people that are colorblind racist may say things like "It's not race it's economics," "It's not race it depends on a person's background." 
       On of the frames is naturalization which means justifying inequality by saying it is inevitable. We see this kind of colorblind racism in many different TV shows now. A great example is One Tree Hill which features mostly white characters. One of the only black characters is named "Skills" and he is a good basketball player. In the series he has an inappropriate relationship with his friend's mother.These characteristics make him out to be a deviant character. This kind of portrayal follows the naturalization frame of colorblind racism.  I wonder what the show's success rate be like if we threw in some diversity into it? I can't help but ask do we want equality or do we prefer this kind of subtle racism? 

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