Race

We focused a lot on the topic of race last week in class and how the concept of it is socially constructed. There are some people out there who believe in "hydo-decent" which is if you are not completely 100% white, you are not white at all. Where does the line end from being black to being white? Who decides? Race is socially constructed because people feel the need to fit themselves in categories, or actually, fit everyone else who is different and not like themselves, in categories. Why can't people just be, and not have to be labeled black, or white, or asian, and all the other races out there?

We watched this video that girls documented "A Girl Like Me"which I thought to be really interesting. These girls, who were black, talked about the stereotypes that come along with their race, and the expectations that they exceed but people don't really give them enough credit for. It was heartbreaking to see them re-test the expirement that Kenneth and Maime Clark originally constructed (asked children a series of questions about a black doll and a white doll, and then asked them which doll looked like them). Kids are taught at a young age (brainwashed even) that black people are bad and mean and unkind, and white people are pretty and smart and nice. When these girls made their video talking about race, they reconstructed this experiment, and it's very sad to see that even in the 2000s, children still thought that white dolls were nicer and prettier and smarter than black dolls. What does that have to say about the idea of race today?