Reply to a classmate post
“How Racist Are You?”
Jane Elliot’s racism awareness method reveals a lot about the dynamics of racism within society. First, the training reveals that most people do not acknowledge the racism that happens every day in society. The discriminated group in this experiment initially does not believe that racism exists (Bryanweb, 2019). They believe that discrimination occurs for every person and that racism is not special in any way. They, however, complain about their discrimination but refuse to accept that this happens every day in society. As the experiment continues, some people choose to walk out while others learn the dynamics of discrimination. I believe this truly reflects how society perceives racism. Those who are privileged do not realize the extent of discrimination. On the other hand, the study by Carter and Murphy (2015) explores these differing perception and add the claim that Whites of low socioeconomic status (SES) are more likely to perceive discrimination claims by minorities as legitimate compared to their high SES counterparts. This finding reveals the variability that exists regarding racism within racial groups.
Additionally, many people do not see the imbalance of power that occurs in discrimination. When blue-eyed people complain that they get discriminated against, they fail to realize the fact that discriminated groups have different power dynamics. For example, some complain that they are discriminated against because of their weight. However, they can do something about their weight unlike their natural skin pigmentation and associated race. I believe the fact that people refuse to acknowledge the presence and effect of racism reveals that society still has a long way to go. There are several racist situations I have observed myself and done nothing about. This is because we often fail to acknowledge the depth of this racism and hence do nothing about it. I believe that the experiment forces people to experience discrimination and hence brings up discussion concerning the need to do something to eliminate racism.
Reference
Bryanweb (2019, August 30). How racist are you? with Jane Elliott (shorter version). YouTube.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJ1BQQpdX2c&ab_channel=bryanweb
