Paul’s words

After watching Jane Elliote’s video today in class, I was bummed to hear so many Black people in class use the word “reality” to describe Elliote’s video.  I assumed that most Black students would have thought that the video was outdated in terms of how Blacks feel they are treated by society today.  Even though I understand that there are some people today who do in fact treat Blacks with the same degree of disrespect that Jane Elliote used in her interactions with the Blue Eyed Adults, it was my understanding that such disrespect was more common thirty years ago.   

I am interested to hear more about what my classmates have to say about how Black Americans feel that they are disrespected.  It is my initial sense that while many Black students in our class have been disrespected on the level seen in the video, the majority of their everyday stresses are more subtle and in some ways more difficult to understand and address. 

Take our discussion on hurricane Katrina.  As Mr. Dr. Williams noted, many in the press blamed FEMA and the breakdown of communication between the local and federal government as reasons for the failed relief effort.  Despite the fact that these are potentially valid reasons for the failed relief effort, Black people were still confronted with the dilemma of having to question the extent to which relief failures were influenced by race.  This is not an easy dilemma to face.  I would guess that given our countries historical and current day treatment of Blacks,  a Black person might naturally suspect that Katrina was just another example of government’s and society’s failure to address persisting racial inequalities.  Yet, the difficult part about facing this potential reality is not concluding that race influenced the relief effort, but more-so finding a way to address such a concern.  If you as a Black person claim that racial prejudices explain the major failures of the relief effort, you are likely to be perceived by some Whites as shortsighted, ignorant, and stuck in the past.    I say this not in an attempt to discount racial prejudice, but more-so to affirm that such prejudices exist and likely cause anxiety among Blacks as they try to evaluate the extent to which racial prejudice influeces their lives.

I look forward to continuing our discussion about how people in our class act differently as a result of stereotype threats.  The discussion will undoubtedly allow me to grow in my understanding of how these threats create stress in the lives of people that face social dilemas that are different from my own.