"I See You How You Are"
I thought of this race card because I think it describes two important points: society's current tendency to engage in racial profiling and stereotyping, while also serving as a call to action. First, it describes how people's immediate reaction is to see other people how they are - to look at someone and immediately formulate specific, stereotypical beliefs and expectations about him or her. For example, in Trayvon Martin's case, he was walking down the street with a hood on, which made an onlooker suspicious of him. The call to action in this case would be that people need to stop making hasty generalizations based on appearances and instead need to see people how they really are, which means to talk to them and get to know them. And perhaps most importantly, it means not to judge someone before you actually know them. Although "judging a book by its cover" is practically a reflex among most people in today's society, the "powers that be" who have the ability to influence others and serve as ambassadors for change, should begin advocating to end (or more realistically, decrease) racial profiling.
I really like this race card and can see your perspective when you say it has two components. I feel like this can be interpreted in many ways, both of which are negative and positive --negative as you mention when people judge and stereotype before they know a person and positive--when it gives a hope to see a person not only by what they appear to be but what they really are as a person.
ReplyDeleteI agree, formulating specific stereotypes to one race is the problem in our society and people need to take the time to actually get to know their true colors instead of overgeneralizing about one's race.
ReplyDeleteI am a big believer in the message of your race card. I think that all races, even the ones that have not suffered from prejudice, have been judged. Just as people judge those who are African American, for example, they also judge those who are white. The judgements have different effects but they are still judgements made from how someone looks. I hope that we can learn to look beyond the initial appearance and discover who the individual really is, regardless of their race.
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