"One point of clarification: are you saying that you think systemic racism only involves Blacks?"
No, definitely not. There are clear examples of systemic racism against white people and even moreso, Asian people today. But I do think that, given America's history, the people most affected by "systemic racism" are most likely to be black.
"One point of clarification: are you saying that you think systemic racism only involves Blacks?"
No, definitely not. There are clear examples of systemic racism against white people and even moreso, Asian people today. But I do think that, given America's history, the people most affected by "systemic racism" are most likely to be black.
But a) I'd say the discrimination in the case of non-black people hasn't been as severe, b) impact takes time to accrue and the discrimination has obviously targeted black people for longer, and c) there are more examples of positive discrimination for white people than for black people to act as a counterbalance.
The example of this that always makes me chuckle is that affirmative action, almost universally seen as positive discrimination for black people (which indeed it is) has still benefited white women more than any other group (https://time.com/4884132/affirmative-action-civil-rights-white-women/).
As for films, yeah, it's tricky. I don't have data to support this, but if anything, I feel as if there are more films coming out at the moment that portray black people as criminals or on the fringes, because it jibes nicely with the "America is indelibly racist and life as a black person is always and everywhere a battle for survival" narrative.
Even "positive" depictions of black people being needlessly harassed by the police often show us looking angry and embattled, wearing hoodies and sagging jeans because that's just how black people dress and shouldn't be viewed as a sign of criminality by the police.
I'm still infuriated by the "gritty" reboot of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. That took a funny, universally positive representation of black people and turned it into a violence and drug fuelled piece of oppression porn.
"One point of clarification: are you saying that you think systemic racism only involves Blacks?"
No, definitely not. There are clear examples of systemic racism against white people and even moreso, Asian people today. But I do think that, given America's history, the people most affected by "systemic racism" are most likely to be black.
But a) I'd say the discrimination in the case of non-black people hasn't been as severe, b) impact takes time to accrue and the discrimination has obviously targeted black people for longer, and c) there are more examples of positive discrimination for white people than for black people to act as a counterbalance.
The example of this that always makes me chuckle is that affirmative action, almost universally seen as positive discrimination for black people (which indeed it is) has still benefited white women more than any other group (https://time.com/4884132/affirmative-action-civil-rights-white-women/).
As for films, yeah, it's tricky. I don't have data to support this, but if anything, I feel as if there are more films coming out at the moment that portray black people as criminals or on the fringes, because it jibes nicely with the "America is indelibly racist and life as a black person is always and everywhere a battle for survival" narrative.
Even "positive" depictions of black people being needlessly harassed by the police often show us looking angry and embattled, wearing hoodies and sagging jeans because that's just how black people dress and shouldn't be viewed as a sign of criminality by the police.
I'm still infuriated by the "gritty" reboot of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. That took a funny, universally positive representation of black people and turned it into a violence and drug fuelled piece of oppression porn.