I think it is extremely respectable on Du Bois part as to how he makes it clear that he does not want to forget his history and culture, but evolve from it. On page 293 in the excerpt from The Souls of Black Folk he talks about how he does not want to conform to being either a Negro or an American but instead to be both and strive in the world today without being condemned for being black. I think that says a lot about his character in that he is okay with not changing who he is, and he just wants him and his race to be accepted."Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away, and that in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty." -Martin Luther King, Jr.
Racism is still a very significant issue in the world we live in, and not just towards blacks but many other races as well. I don't understand why it still has to be such a big issue, and I think it is in a way getting worse because now people are becoming increasingly sensitive to the "racial" things around them. Some harmless things that people say or do is over-analyzed and interpreted as being a racial slur, and then it causes a big issue about how people feel about races. I think that racism would be more of an insufficient problem if people would just not be so sensitive about things sometimes. For example, like we talked about in class, I see absolutely nothing wrong with the NFL team name of the Washington Redskins. Could someone who is from Native American culture take offense to this? Well sure, but I'm fairly certain that they did not name this team with the intent of bashing all Native Americans; as a matter of fact, there is a theory that the Redskins adopted that name in HONOR of the team's coach, who was Native American (http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=ac-7098910). So, yes, I think that Racism is a largely significant issue in today's world, however, I think that sometimes we make it out to be a little more controversial that what it actually is. Like Du Bois said, if we would just accept everyone for who they are, and not worry about the color of someone's skin, we would be all able to get along much easier.
I agree with what you said about people over analyzing things. Like you said, I'm sure the name of the Redskins wasn't came up with to be racial towards Native Americans. I definitely agree on key with what you are saying in this post, it says that if people wouldn't be so sensitive about stuff, things would be a lot easier. That is a great statement. The people that got offended by the name of the Ole Miss Rebels need to just let it go as well as all of the people getting offended over the names of these high schools that have been established for years. I think that people want to start stuff like this just for the sake of fighting over it. These are fights that could be avoided so easily if people would just let it go. Honestly, I would not be offended at all if there was a team called the Rednecks or something like that. It really has no effect so people should let it go.
ReplyDeleteI agree that people over analyze things, but does it not seem that historically those who are discriminated against usually have a better perspective.
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