For example, for this week, I would like you to read this blog post: No Apologies: On the Killing of Trayvon Martin and Being "Good". I chose this particular blog post because it raises interesting points about the ways in which dominant groups talk about discrimination based on "otherness." In this particular blog post, the writer talks about how racism is often reframed as a punishment for people of color not being "good," using the murder of Trayvon Martin as an example.
Before next Tuesday's class (Tuesday, April 10th), I would like for you to read the blog post and write a short (100-200 words) response based on one of the prompts on the assignment sheet for The Blog Project. BUT DON'T STOP THERE: come back throughout the week and respond to your classmates' comments: how are they making you think about this in a different way? What have they said that you find interesting or unique?
When I first opened the link to the blog and the strange faces loaded on the background I thought I had a pop-up or clicked the wrong link, but the rest of the page soon loaded. The title of the blog called “Black Snob” implies that an African American thinks they are better than the rest of those who surround them, particularly other races since the title focuses on a specific race. The illustrations show a black female with bright red lips and over exaggerated glasses with her nose held high as to solidify her decision no one is better than she is. The font of the blog title is extravagant, but the contrasting black and white colors hint at the content the blog will hold on race inequality. This interface implicitly suggests that black Americans are severely disadvantaged and are encouraging other black Americans to become “black snobs” or at least take pride and stand up for their race. It implies the writer of this blog is begging those around her to become a “snob” by thinking their race is better than others and to act on that refusing to “ take up the load” any longer. The values are clearly demonstrated by the tabs located at the top of the page focusing on the unjust treatment of blacks in America, and the unification of African Americans against other races.
ReplyDeleteI agree and disagree with your post, the writer does have a snobby view on the way her race is treated, but I don't think she is trying to urge other African Americans to be snobby together as one race. The writer is trying to unify African Americans to stand up to racism, but I don't think she is trying to say they are better than other races, rather just wants them to be treated equally. The black snob raises the idea of racism playing the only role, which it could have, but there is also the fact that many people with different views on race still wouldn't go and shoot someone just for walking down the street with their hood up. As the black snob says, you can't live your life worrying about what other people think, in which I agree, but for more reasons than people being racist. Is Zimmerman racist, or is he a man who was raised incorrectly and has the wrong thoughts imbedded in his mind. He really could of thought the kid was up to no good on his street, but who would really track him down with a gun and shoot him. Some people are just plain crazy and think in different ways that cause harm to others, and those are the people that you try to stay away from, even though you can't always manage to.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was a very interesting take of the whole Trayvon Martin tragedy. I might be too idealistic in my thinking, but I disagree with the way the author groups people together. Sure, there are plenty of bad people out there, bigots and racists that think illogically and commit horrible crimes like Zimmerman did, but it overlooks a key point. There are plenty of good people in the world, both white and black. I agree with the author saying that the black community should not have to take this on the chin; they absolutely shouldn’t. Race isn’t even important, a man shot a 17 year old boy for no reason, and deserves to face the full consequences of the law for that. But by forgetting about all the good people in the world, white and black, it prolongs the problem of racism in America today because it generalizes. I don’t feel that people should be so readily grouped, white, black, Christian, muslim etc. We have to look at everyone as just another person who is different from any other person out there, a person just like you are. Maybe if we finally stopped looking at people as labels and instead as individuals there wouldn’t be so much of a problem anymore.
ReplyDeleteThis article to me is very raw, intense and straight forward. The way the author keeps saying, "its your load pick it up and move with it" shed light on so many truth. In today's society people were taught to fear the black man, that he is up to no good just because he is black just shows how corrupted our world is. We can change being black it was Gods intended plan but we are suppose to apologize in that sense? I agree with Eric M.,there are good people in the world not all are bad, but the idea of one person out of that group is bad makes everyone else bad and the rest of use get the bad end of the stick in that sense. Racism still exist today but why cant we move past it, being good can only get us to far. No one can protect us from the inevitable truth, someone in this world is going to hate you because you are different that's just how they were raised. Its like we are accepted to a point and hated behind the curtains or in other words tolerated, that's the idea "Race" brings along. The author makes valid points,we shouldn't apologize or act differently to conform and be accepted, we all similar but at the same time separated by this Race,why do we put labels on people to point out their differences?
ReplyDeleteWhen I read this post, I feel really sorry for the death of him, and at first I feel the strong feeling of powerless. Race is a thing out of people’s control, decided by inheritance and genes. Physiologically, race does not mean anything. It is the society culture but not “race” itself causes the racism. No one should be judged only by his/her color of skin. The stereotype of colored people hurts them deeply and let them live in the fear of being attacked, treated unequally and discriminated. Colored people are suffered from white privilege. Actually, being “good” is a way to ignore the existing racism in some level. However, it is not an efficient way to solve this problem and get the true freedom of the colored people. To protect themselves, colored people should have the courage and resolved mind to confront racism first. And as Snob says black people should not restrict themselves and their freedom to subject to white people. On the opposite, they should fight back when their safety and rights are threatened by others. So do all colored people.
ReplyDeleteIn most of the comments of this post, commenters agree with Snob’s point and many of them thanks Snob to tell the truth. Many commenters use their own experience and some commenters tell the facts of this murder and reference others’ opinions to express their ideas and support Snob. Many commenters are belonging to the group of colored people, not the “norm” in American society. So, although the commenters seldom reference the comments of others, many of them share the same feeling, which is said in the article that colored people are never “good” enough and the problem is not how colored people behave, but how white people think and do. What value in the community are their different views of one article or issue. People make comments based on the same thing but there can be hundreds of different ideas about it. Commenters of different identities and living in different environment usually have different notion of one thing. For this article, commenters basically agree with Snob’s claim while they add their own thoughts. One of them reminds Snob that the racism is not always between white and black, but also others. And several of the commenters say that what the things told in the article is exactly what is happening in their own lives. Commenters analyze one thing from different perspectives.
Even though we have well-established law, racial inequality still remains in this society. The author points out the problem, which has been brought up because of Trayvon Martin’s death that African Americans are treated inequality. In the article, she talked about how she did well in school, but when it came to a problem, teachers and classmates would suspect her first. I agree that whites do have privilege in the United States. They can live in a great neighbor. They can use their credit cards to check out without any suspicion. They can go to a public meeting without feeling uncomfortable because they are not different from anyone else. And they do not have to worry about their kids being rejected by others because of race. But it is ridiculous for a man shoot a young boy just because he is black. The blog title is called “black snob”. The term “snob” means that those people who thinks that they are much better than other people. However, I do not think that author is trying to tell us how African Americans’ culture or their ways of life are superior to all others, instead, she just wants people to know that black people can do the same thing as whites do or even better. They do not need others to agree with them, they just want respect and trust.
ReplyDeleteThe way the author describes the inequality between races at the beginning of the article really grabbed my attention. She comes across as very stern and almost hateful towards her own race because in her eyes black people are accepting inequality in society. She talks about how they are all just statistics and how they should accept the unfairness in life and just give up. After this she then switches gears and becomes spiteful towards the rest of society. She talks about the stereotypes of black people in America and how they are all seen as "not good" since some black teenage boys are not good. I agree with her on the fact that many people in America automatically jump to conclusions when it comes to black people. If they see someone who dresses like a stereotypical bad black teenager then they will assume that person acts like a bad black teenager too. She sees that it does not matter whether you are actually a good person or not. It only matters what people think of you when they see you because they are going to act based on that judgement.
ReplyDeleteHow else might we interpret the blog's use of the title "Black Snob"? Is it possible that, by using that title, she is saying, "People have called me this because of my beliefs, but I'm going to reclaim it as my way of showing that there's nothing wrong with my beliefs"? What details or wording from the blog leads you to interpret it in one way over another?
ReplyDeleteThe title "Black Snob" fits this article well. The author is very opinionated and not very open to anything anyone else thinks, but this should be obvious because she states it in the article, "You can't waste any bit of your short, precious time on this Earth worrying about what some unknown bigot thinks. Or what anyone thinks." Even though I disagree with the snobby attitude of the author and some of her opinions, I agree with her overall message. When we are young we are told if we are good we will be safe and happy, but this isn't how real life works. The author states in this article that black people are judged whether they are "good" or not. This isn't just true for African-Americans; it's true for any group with a stereotype against them against them. Muslims, Christians, Arabs, Upper-Class, Lower-Class, it doesn't matter where you come from, someone from a different group will see you as part of that stereotype and judge you for it. Some of these judgments may just be blown off, but some may end in violence and injustice. As the author says, "As it has happened before. And it will happen again."
ReplyDeleteWhat opinions do you disagree with? How does she try (or fail to try) to persuade you?
DeleteAfter reading the article and several of the most recent posts and comments, I have easily come to the conclusion that the featured post most definitely did something. In so many of the responses, people thanked the writer for coming out and saying what they believe to be the truth. Many of the comments whole-heartedly agreed with the author, some even saying that justice has been served for Trayvon. I can’t be completely sure, but I got the feeling that many of the respondents were black themselves, which could be one reason why the vast majority of them are agreeing with the author and praising her for her work. However, I found one comment particularly interesting in which the respondent called to attention the fact that Zimmerman is Hispanic. I don’t know how true this claim is, but the respondent offered a link along with their response. I think this portrays the concept that black people often target white people as the only ones who are racist, when in fact, other people are guilty as well.
ReplyDeleteWhat was it you found interesting about Zimmerman being Hispanic? What does that change and/or what did the commenter who posted it want people to believe about it?
DeleteI personally found it interesting that someone made a point to say that Zimmerman was Hispanic because like Kyle said below, race does not matter. The person who said that, though, probably does think it matters. Zimmerman was a man, who shot another man. His reasons for shooting him were because of his stereotypes of black people. I'm not really sure what the intent of the person who commented on the blog was, but from her words of "Zimmerman is Hispanic, not white. It's not always black vs. white, and that needs to be acknowledged," it seems as if she is trying to stand up for white people. She's trying to say that the fact that he is Hispanic means something negative and it seems like she is trying to start some sort of uproar against Hispanics. The focus of this crime should not be about Hispanics, it should be about how Zimmerman killed someone because he put Trayvon Martin into a group of people that he othered.
DeleteI was shocked to read the Black Snob's response to this tragedy. As a white person, I know racism still exists today, but I didn't know the severity of it. The Black Snob gave me a viewpoint of our country from a black person's point of view. It is ridiculous that an entire race can be generalized as violent or dangerous because some people of that race have committed crimes. People of all races commit crimes. Race has nothing to do with it; it's just another characteristic, no different from eye color or hair color. It is upsetting that some people live their lives feeling like a weight is on their shoulders just because of the color of their skin. As I went through the comments, many people praised the author and said that it was the truth. It is unfortunate that so many people feel the same way as the Black Snob. Even though they do everything they can to be respected and be a "good" person, they can still be labeled as suspicious or dangerous by people who have no idea about the content of their character.
ReplyDelete