Today at school was our annual Black History Month assembly. The point of this assembly is typically to celebrate the achievement of various historical African-American figures and the horrors they endured and overcame not only during slavery but also after emancipation, to finally gain equal rights and equal standing in society. But has it actually worked, and is the movement over now that we have a president who is part African? Has society really listened to the demands of not only African Americans, but other minorities as well?
Well, let's take a look at the assembly itself. Of course it covered everything stated above- major figures such as Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes were talked about, performances of Harlem Renaissance poetry and music were exhibited, and discussions about the horrors in African-American past were discussed. At the very end, the controversial Trayvon Martin case was brought up, and people discussed that racial profiling and racism in general was still very much alive, what it meant for them, and why they were proud to be black. And yet, throughout not just that part of the assembly but the whole thing, all I heard were mutters like "I don't care," "Is this over yet?" "why is this necessary" and saw things like people rolling their eyes.
I think these reactions are enough of an answer. Much of today's youth does not understand why it is important to celebrate the achievements of not just this race, but so many others. Can their be improvements to assemblies such as this, or how the achievements are celebrated? Of course. But that doesn't mean we refuse to give these people the respect they are demanding.
I have found that many people are somehow even more resistant to the idea of America as a true "melting pot." This is apparent simply in the fact that the majority of people in impoverished neighborhoods are largely people of different races and ethnicities, or from foreign countries. When did the idea that foreigners were invading American and "taking all the spots in the top universities" come up? There is a lesson to be learned from that- educationally, the rest of the world is a head, and instead of complaining and blaming these foreigners or even Americans that belong to these races, we need to take a lesson out of that. The Chinese or Indian student deserves a place at Harvard, MIT, Swarthmore, Yale, etc just as much as the next American. And if they are filling up the spots, it only means that they are more prepared and have better credentials. Why does society punish them for that rather than striving to improve their own students to make them better competitors? The very culture of America is an amalgam of different aspects of the different cultures of immigrants over the years.
Let's return to the example of the impoverished neighborhood. Compare to that a town like the one I come from- full of well-educated, hardworking, and many wealthy families. But let's look at the diversity in this town- at the risk of striking a nerve, I'm going to say there is not alot. But why is that? Why aren't there more "black" people, or Indians, Middle Easterns, or Hispanics distributed among the well-educated "white" families? They exist for sure, but at an alarmingly low rate. Understood, it's expensive to live in a town like mine. But that fact only illustrates my point- there need to be more people than just "whites" earning higher degrees and thus affording to live in "expensive" towns like mine.
An example I like to use in cases such as these is the results of the previous year's Miss America pageant. An Indian girl, Nina Davuluri, won the crown in 2013's pageant. She overcame so many stereotypes and obstacles to take that crown. According to an interview with CNN, she "wanted to be the first
Indian Miss America, to be that symbol of a new face for the
organization... And to let younger girls know that
regardless of race, their socioeconomic status, their religion that
anyone can become not only Miss America, but anything." What better mission than that? Hasn't she proved that Miss America can be anyone? She was just as entitled to the crown as anyone else of lighter or darker skin. And yet, viewers are enraged. Some examples of tweets: "and the Arab wins Miss America. Classic." "This is America. not India." "Egypt dancing? this is America." Words cannot express the rage this stirred up in me. This girl is Indian-American. She is an American citizen, born and raised here. Why does her race make her any less deserving of the title? The fact that for her talent she performed a Bollywood dance should only serve to emphasize the broad cultural talents America should present! There is no solid image of an American. The "white" girl is just as American as the African-American, the Indian-American, the Asian-American, etc. She is not "Arab" as many enraged viewers claimed her to be. And if she was, so what? Why is diversity no longer tolerated during a time when it should be? I, for one, would be extremely proud if a woman of Middle Eastern origin won the title of Miss America.
This leads me to my next point, racial profiling. It still exists. It is just as much a problem as ever, and as long as racial profiling exists, racism will manage to endure. Whether or not racial profiling serves a purpose is up for debate- there are many cases to argue the positive and the negative side. There will be more posts on this to come, because I'm sure this post of mine will spark many debates and arguments. But that's good- please do debate these issues. They need to be talked about and solved. The importance of other culture's past and present needs and deserves to be celebrated. It needs to be understood that there is no "typical American." There is no such thing as "this is American not India." How dare we belittle the diversity of our own country? Food for thought.
You can view the CNN article with videos of interviews talking about the pageant and people's reactions here.
~Simran
Well, let's take a look at the assembly itself. Of course it covered everything stated above- major figures such as Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes were talked about, performances of Harlem Renaissance poetry and music were exhibited, and discussions about the horrors in African-American past were discussed. At the very end, the controversial Trayvon Martin case was brought up, and people discussed that racial profiling and racism in general was still very much alive, what it meant for them, and why they were proud to be black. And yet, throughout not just that part of the assembly but the whole thing, all I heard were mutters like "I don't care," "Is this over yet?" "why is this necessary" and saw things like people rolling their eyes.
I think these reactions are enough of an answer. Much of today's youth does not understand why it is important to celebrate the achievements of not just this race, but so many others. Can their be improvements to assemblies such as this, or how the achievements are celebrated? Of course. But that doesn't mean we refuse to give these people the respect they are demanding.
I have found that many people are somehow even more resistant to the idea of America as a true "melting pot." This is apparent simply in the fact that the majority of people in impoverished neighborhoods are largely people of different races and ethnicities, or from foreign countries. When did the idea that foreigners were invading American and "taking all the spots in the top universities" come up? There is a lesson to be learned from that- educationally, the rest of the world is a head, and instead of complaining and blaming these foreigners or even Americans that belong to these races, we need to take a lesson out of that. The Chinese or Indian student deserves a place at Harvard, MIT, Swarthmore, Yale, etc just as much as the next American. And if they are filling up the spots, it only means that they are more prepared and have better credentials. Why does society punish them for that rather than striving to improve their own students to make them better competitors? The very culture of America is an amalgam of different aspects of the different cultures of immigrants over the years.
Let's return to the example of the impoverished neighborhood. Compare to that a town like the one I come from- full of well-educated, hardworking, and many wealthy families. But let's look at the diversity in this town- at the risk of striking a nerve, I'm going to say there is not alot. But why is that? Why aren't there more "black" people, or Indians, Middle Easterns, or Hispanics distributed among the well-educated "white" families? They exist for sure, but at an alarmingly low rate. Understood, it's expensive to live in a town like mine. But that fact only illustrates my point- there need to be more people than just "whites" earning higher degrees and thus affording to live in "expensive" towns like mine.
 |
| Nina Davuluri, Miss America 2013, performing at the pageant. |
This leads me to my next point, racial profiling. It still exists. It is just as much a problem as ever, and as long as racial profiling exists, racism will manage to endure. Whether or not racial profiling serves a purpose is up for debate- there are many cases to argue the positive and the negative side. There will be more posts on this to come, because I'm sure this post of mine will spark many debates and arguments. But that's good- please do debate these issues. They need to be talked about and solved. The importance of other culture's past and present needs and deserves to be celebrated. It needs to be understood that there is no "typical American." There is no such thing as "this is American not India." How dare we belittle the diversity of our own country? Food for thought.
You can view the CNN article with videos of interviews talking about the pageant and people's reactions here.
~Simran
