ktmeng/mec huggingface dataset:
Topic: racism

The heading advising that Indigenous media will go under the microscope screams to the reader, before even reading the story that things may not be completely above board. The content focuses on government and public funding which stereotypes the Aboriginal community as needing their hand help and continually wanting handouts to get ahead. This approach I believe displays the ‘Australians,’ covert approach to racial stereotyping. This stereotyping, and approach to this particular story can perhaps be explained.
Topic: racism

According to Forde, Meadows & Foxwell-Norton (2001, p. 1) the Australian media Sector has held long term concerns regarding the governments support for smaller, independent or even alternative media organisations. As this is the case, it’s no surprise the Australian focussed their funding story in such a manner. The Australian is part of the News Limited Media Group, the largest media group in the country. The Australian media appears to segregate Indigenous figures within the Australian Government.
Topic: racism

To build on the view of content within the ‘Australian,’ a story titled “Labor anger over Warren Mundine Senate push,” focuses on painting an “us and them,” mentality. Mundine’s interest over a vacated senate seat apparently had the media in frenzy, resulting in him being involved in a number of interviews. The article underlies Mundine’s Aboriginality as opposed to simply being a candidate. Other candidates weren’t pursued for interviews at such length, are we assuming the interest surrounding Mundine is purely generated by his cultural standing?
Topic: racism

Racial stereotyping in the pursuit of a commercial story bought about an undoing of Mundine’s aspirations for the vacant senate seat. Labor was angered by Mundine’s overt involvement with the media, one party spokesman even labelling the interviews the “dumbest thing possible” I assume then that the media jumped on the Warren Mundine story to stick with the idealism of Indigenous sensationalism reporting. I believe this type of reporting was what Mckee (1999, p. 451) was referring to when looking into how indigeneity is formulated, and circulated throughout the Australian media channels.
Topic: racism

In conclusion it is clear from my presented evidence that the Australian media’s and in my example the ‘Australians,’ representation of the Indigenous people is based on cultural stereotype and sensationalism. My argument draws on evidence to portray views from the standpoint of the media, views from the perspective of Indigenous Australians, and what the media feels should drive content in relation to indigenous issues. As stated, Indigenous communities are taking more and more control over their incoming and outgoing content.
Topic: racism

Ethnic Notions is a documentary directed by Marlon Riggs. The title itself explains what the movie is about-impressions of race. Throughout the documentary, Riggs presents the history of stereotypes and shows how they still exist. In today’s society we have become so accustomed with stereotypes that they are considered normal. The movie Ethnic Notations introduces the problem of stereotypes by explaining their origin and history, giving examples, and showing how they still exist today, so that we are no longer fooled and unaware of stereotyping and racism.
Topic: racism

The Sambo was a caricature created to depict the black male as being lazy, child like ignorant and care-free making the black male seem more like a child than a male. Another example of a racist caricature is pickaninnies which are black children. Pickaninnies were depicted as ugly kids with rough wooly hair, big eyes, dark black skin, big mouths and bright red lips. Pickaninnies often resembled animals in children cartoons and were viewed as savage by white people. One of the most popular caricatures of the 1900’s is the mammie caricature.
Topic: racism

However not all stereotypes today are exactly the same as the caricatures from the 20th century but a new modern version. For example instead of black women being depicted as unattractive mammies on television, they are now ghetto loud and un-lady like. Sometimes I even find myself acting out a stereotype, like being loud or cursing in public. After watching Ethnic Notions I feel like stereotypes are too deeply rooted in Americas culture to ever be completely gone. Although this conclusion is unfortunate I do believe that we could make people believe in stereotypes less and less through media, by depicting blacks in a more positive light.
Topic: racism

Racism plays important roles in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner. The author uses racism to describe the characters and the culture represented in the stories. In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini uses prejudice as a tool to tell this story of betrayal and redemption. He pursues his story with prejudice and racism in Afghanistan as well as in the United States. While the author uses individual characters to tell the story, he portrays the general attitudes and history associated with the characters’ Hazara and Pashtun ethnic origins and the conflicts that arise in Afghanistan.
Topic: racism

The author gives us a glance of this when Amir reads about the harassment of, and attempted uprising of the Hazara, and how Amir’s people, the Pashtuns had: “…quelled them with unspeakable violence”. The disregard that people have for the Hazara is reinforced when Amir asks his teacher about what he has read and he responds by saying, “That’s one thing Shi’a people do well, passing themselves as martyrs”.
Topic: racism

Some other historians would argue that it was the impact of World War One that deepened the racial problems and others believe that blacks had to deal with discrimination because of the fear of the whites that their social and economic status were under threat. This essay will examine all those possible reasons why black people were treated with hostility in the interwar period and will prove that while the Jim Crow laws were important in justifying this approach; it was in fact the deep-rooted racism that caused all the other factors and led to the savage discrimination of African-Americans.
Topic: racism

Some historians, such as John A. Kerr argue that the Jim Crow laws were the main cause of the discrimination present in American states. The decision of the Supreme Court in 1896 led to proliferation of these laws throughout the South as Homer Plessy lost his case and the Court found that the laws were not breaking the US Constitution. The Court decided to support the popular “Separate but Equal” policy, which meant that as long as equal facilities were provided, the segregation of the races wasn? unconstitutional. Seven of the eight justices at the trial favoured this decision and stated that the 14th Amendment to the US constitution was not “intended to abolish distinctions based upon colour” and that separation of those does not “necessarily imply the inferiority of either race to the other. ” This decision disappointed black people as they knew that it was very unlikely that the states would provide them with equal facilities.
Topic: racism

As a result of this case states could impose legal punishments on people consorting with members of another race. The most common examples of Jim Crow laws were forbidding intermarriage and ordering business owners and public institutions (schools, offices) to keep their black and white clientele separate. Basically, the discrimination of black Americans was now legal. The only justice that didn? t agree with the court? s decision, John Harlan, summarised it well stating “the present decision… ill not only stimulate aggressions, more or less brutal and irritating, upon the admitted rights of coloured citizens, but will encourage the belief that it is possible, by means of state enactments, to defeat the beneficial purposes which the people of the United States had in view when they adopted the recent (13th and 14th) amendments of the Constitution. ” In addition, even though black people possessed the right to vote, by the year 1902 there was only 3,000 black voters in Alabama as it was one of the states that created impossible qualification tests for black voters.
Topic: racism

In a state where African-American population was significant with around 900,000 individuals this isn? t surprising and only proves the extent of discrimination and racism present. These ridiculous tests, with questions such as “How many bubbles are in a bar of soap” denied blacks the opportunity to vote for their politicians and thus decreased the chances of a change of the situation. The Jim Crow laws were clearly a manifestation of the racism present within American culture, but they alone weren? t the reason for the hostility and discrimination towards the blacks.
Topic: racism

The factor that caused the laws to come into existence and be accepted and followed was the deep-rooted racism and the presumed dominance of the WASPs and this was the main problem African-Americans had to deal with. Many historians would thus argue that the main reason why ethnic minorities and blacks in particular, faced discrimination was the existence of racial hierarchy and deep-rooted racism inherent within the American WASP culture. After the 13th Amendment in 1865 that freed the former black slaves and the 14th and 15th Amendments that provided them with equal rights and suffrage, African-American hoped for a new better beginning.
Topic: racism

However, the former slave-owners and other WASPs living especially in the south were not willing to undergo such change. The problem wasn? t only with blacks, other ethnic groups different from the white “acceptable” Americans of northern European origin suffered from discrimination and perceived inferiority as well. Americans wanted to keep their standard of WASP Americanism and were unwilling to accept other cultures as equal. There were many pseudo-scientific findings that were meant to prove this inequality.
Topic: racism

Joseph Le Conte, an American anthropologist, for example claimed that “modern ethnologists have thoroughly established the fact that in all essential qualities the Negro race seems to be totally incapable of development”. Racial stereotypes of blacks as inferior beings were popular throughout American society and although the racial hierarchy was mostly unspoken, there were clear signs of it in every aspect of the culture. As the blacks were always regarded as inferior, low-class people, it was not easy for the white supremacy supporters to all of a sudden support their equality.
Topic: racism

Racism had a strong historical context in American society and it was this that caused the Jim Crow laws to be legalised and supremacist organisations, such as the Ku Klux Klan, to form. Therefore the deep-rooted racism must be seen as the key problem Blacks had to face as it caused all the other obstacles for them and resulted in discrimination in all levels of the society. However, some historians would argue that it was the existence of the supremacist organisations that posed the biggest trouble to the black Americans.
Topic: racism

Ku Klux Klan was formed immediately after the end of the Civil War but its main wave of actions happened during the 1920s and 30s. The founder of the second KKK, who awoke the old tradition in 1915, was William J. Simmons. His aim was to purge Southern culture of corrupting influences that were according to him trying to “destroy WASP America. ” These were apparently not only blacks, but also other ethnic and religious groups, such as Catholics, Jews and even communists. The Klan used violent methods to intimidate and suppress these groups.
Topic: racism

Mob violence and lynching were a daily fact of life in the south during the 1920s. However, the organisation became gradually more national with members in the northern countries as well as in the southern ones. It restricted its membership to native-born white Protestants and it attracted many people due to blacks? migration and social fears resulting from it; many people across the country became committed to the “100% Americanism” and were afraid of losing the position on the top of the racial hierarchy. As historian Paul S.
Topic: racism

Boyer states, “The organisation consisted primarily of ordinary people, not criminals or fanatics. The Klan? s promise to restore the nation to an imagined purity – ethnical, moral and religious – appealed powerfully to ill-educated and deeply religious Americans. ” By 1925 KKK had 5 million members and it dominated state legislatures. Assembly men, sheriffs, judges – all were members of the Klan and agreed with its policies, either secretly or publicly. The Klan used symbols, such as white robes and burning crosses to bring about and emphasise fear and as historian David M.
Topic: racism

Chalmers argues they were viewed as a “super-secret organisation; masked and mysterious, with a tradition of violence for which a generation of legend had achieved a high measure of social approval. ” They were feared by the blacks and praised by the whites. Although the white supremacy organisations, such as the KKK played an important role in supporting racist actions and discrimination, they didn? t exist without a cause. This cause was the deep-rooted racism within American people as well as the social and economic fear after the “Great Migration” and the First World War.
Topic: racism

It is also surprising that such a violent organisation was free to carry out its actions and was not stopped by neither federal, nor state governments. This shows that the legal aspect of discrimination was to a great extent the major problem for the blacks. However, racism would have existed without the laws, but the laws would not have existed without the deep-rooted racism in American culture, which establishes it as the key reason for all the problems. In any other instance, organisations such as the KKK and racist laws such as the Jim Crow laws would not be accepted by any government.
Topic: racism

Thus, historians debate also the option that one of the biggest problems African Americans had to face during this time period was the federal government? s apathy. By the ruling of the Supreme Court in 1876 it has been decided that individual states could govern themselves as they saw fit. This led to proliferation of the Jim Crow laws in the South and increasing ignorance of the problem of discrimination in the North. What is more, it provided the federal government with an excuse to not intervene and carry out the ineffective laissez-faire policy.
Topic: racism

Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat president during and after the First World War, was even racist himself. He declared that the blacks were “an ignorant and inferior race” and strongly defended segregation stating in 1916 that it is “not humiliating and is a benefit to you Black gentlemen. ” Even though he is known for his campaign for international brotherhood and peace and he denounced the tactics of the KKK, he openly sympathised with its efforts to restore the white supremacy. Clearly, the racism in America was deep-rooted in all levels of the society.
Topic: racism

In the 1920s Republicans held the presidential office in their hands and as part of their overall approach to ruling they applied the laissez-faire attitude towards social affairs. As Calvin Coolidge stated “the chief business of the American people is business”. They simply did not think it was their job to intervene in people? s everyday lives. Moreover, the various administrations seemed to close their eyes to racial discrimination. Anti-lynching law in 1921 was never passed as it was defeated by Southern Senators and that meant that the organisations such as the KKK could continue with their horrible actions.
Topic: racism

What is more, the Klan was allowed to organise 40,000 men march on Washington DC in 1925 showing its strength and being de facto supported by the federal government. Blacks were also further excluded from the Republican Party and had to submit to segregation in the White House and the federal civil service. The evidence shows that Blacks were discriminated in all levels of the society. Even the presidents themselves were racist and did nothing to tackle the inequalities, if not making them worse.
Topic: racism

The federal apathy clearly rooted from the racism present among the public and the government was simply responding to the will of the people. This created further complications for the African Americans to gain their civil rights as they had to face racism and discrimination not only at everyday levels but also at the proper political ones. Historians also debate the possibility that the aftermath of WW1 causing the “Great Migration” and wide spread social and economic fears was itself the reason for discrimination of black Americans.
Topic: racism

In the WW1, many African-Americans fought for the country, but even more of them were employed in munitions, other factories and agriculture to keep the country going. As a result, many blacks moved from the South to the North as they saw it as a chance for better life. Whites didn? t always welcome these migrants as they, too, had racism deep in their minds. Black migrants were also seen as an unwanted job competition – in 1917 in St. Louis 40 blacks and 9 whites were killed in race riot over employment.
Topic: racism

As shown above, the KKK had huge number of supporters and members in the North as well ever since its reformation and this meant that even the Northern WASPs were ready to discriminate. This leads back to the deep-rooted racism in the American culture and indicates it as the key problem. After the war ended, the closings of munitions factories hugely affected large proportion of the population. Blacks were then used as strike-breakers and were accused of lowering the wages as they were willing to work for less money.
Topic: racism

This, of course, created tensions and caused the “native” white Americans to feel their economic and social status being genuinely under threat. However, this attitude towards African-Americans was nothing new. On balance, there have been Klan members and other WASPs discriminating previous to the war, but the “Great Migration” caused by northern agents recruiting black workers in the South for munitions factories and other jobs, significantly increased the hostility towards blacks and heated the already existing racial tensions.
Topic: racism

It also gave further reasons to the “ordinary white workers” to support or join the Klan. Overall, there was no legal basis for discrimination in the north of the country, but the deep-rooted racism causing de facto segregation of the races provided strong enough reason for the racist Americans to discriminate. The black Americans faced serious problems of discrimination as they were regarded as members of the inferior race during the 19th and most of the 20th century. During the 1920s the tensions increased as the African Americans began to migrate within the US.
Topic: racism

Jim Crow laws made it legal to discriminate in the south as they sought segregation of the races and indirectly approved the white supremacy. This, alongside with federal government unwillingness to do anything about them, made it possible for racist organisations, such as the KKK, to exist and promote the WASP superiority through violence. However, the view that the KKK itself was the cause of racism is over simplistic misconception as it would not exist and be widely supported if the people would not agree with its goals.
Topic: racism

In addition, the impact of the First World War which meant increase in black migration to the North caused further deepening of racial problems there and was a factor in the increasing tensions. The problem black Americans faced was discrimination. This was possible to a great extent due to its de jure legalisation in the Jim Crow laws, but in actual fact the main problem blacks faced was the established racial hierarchy within the American society and the deep-rooted racism present in majority of the people.
Topic: racism

Simply, Blacks were denied to vote, federal government refused to do anything about their inadequate treatment and the Ku Klux Klan successfully managed to question their equality by themselves. However, all these actions taken by the WASPs to secure their position were but a manifestation of a wider racist attitude that was deep-rooted in the culture. In final conclusion, Jim Crow laws were a problem for the black Americans in the 1920s and 30s, but it was not the main one as they had to deal with the deep-rooted racism first to get rid of their discrimination completely.
Topic: racism

Diversity in america is a trademark of the beauty in our country. Without diversity, America wouldn’t be what it is today. A country that is an obvious reflection of the multiple cultures it contains. The rise and struggle of the African-Americans, The Spanish, Asian, and European immigrants who have all come to the U.S. and contributed to a diverse country. Chinese resturaunts, Soccer, Spanish music, There are so many diverse things that we love. With myself being a part of the Diverse community, it has shown me that being different doesn’t matter.
Topic: racism

These challenges can’t always be always be solved it’s up to the people to Be more open minded. Langston Hughes faced a great amount of racism in his days, he had this to say, “I learned very early in life that our race problem is not really of black against white, and white against black. It’s a problem of people who are not very knowledgeable, or who have small minds, or small spirits.” This quote from hughes tells it all. The benefits from being such a diverse country outweigh the bad, being so diverse means many different people who have different interest and lifestyles.
Topic: racism

The climate of acceptance in the U.S. is very high, i feel a haitian or cuban immigrant can come to the U.S. and be welcomed and ultimately succeed in this country. This is done by eliminating any racial exceptions and qualifications. Limiting Prejudice is no easy task for any country, there is no law you can put in place to stop it. Ultimately the people have to be educated and told that prejudice is just a factor that exists in your mind to create doubt. They have to know that races are not what many people may perceive.
Topic: racism

The appreciation for diversity in this country comes from the appreciation of the friends we have made who celebrate their diverse holidays that we too should embrace and the ways of other people and their culture. I happen to already know that our country does appreciate the diversity here and wouldn’t want to see it go and become one-sided. I hold myself to not being prejudice and being accepting, I like to learn of other cultures every once in awhile and be inclusive. All in all, Diversity is an important part of our society and it is a benefit to our country.
Topic: racism

“The students, united, will never be defeated! “. This was the rallying call of students at San Francisco State University trying to save their Asian America Studies classes in 2008. 40 years after the first Third World Liberation Front protested and fought against discrimination and for their rights to have ethnic studies classes, the fight still continues. Students fought to have classes from the perspective of ethnic peoples, and not the Eurocentric point of view. In doing so, the struggle for ethnic studies from students and the community challenged and broke the status quo and construct of “race” in a Eurocentric America.
Topic: racism

” Them referring to the white political leaders of the schools. The first to stand up to discrimination is usually those that are educated and realize they can make a change through their actions. Students of ethnic background fought for social justice not only for themselves, but for a larger picture going back to their communities. Ethnic students are representatives to their families and communities. Many of these ethnic students were the first to attend college because their parents or families came to America in search for a better life and an opportunity for their children at an education.
Topic: racism

As these strikes were occurring, the community came to support them. Not only the communities of ethnic students, but white supporters as well. Supporters that understood the struggle of the ethnic groups, and came together to fight together. “Quite a few white students had come to the point of understanding, what our cause was, what it meant, and that we did not want to take over the university, take over the country, we wanted ends”. When we think third world we think of people that are improvised, poor, and lacking education.
Topic: racism

These third world people a Though they weren’t really “third world” students, inadequate access to classes that represented their ethnic background meant they had no way to really learn the struggle of ethnics people that came before them. Luis Alarcon made a point that he considered UC Berkeley his university, but the president of Berkeley disagreed and said the university was for “the people of California”. Although Luis is a person of California, the president did not consider the university for him.
Topic: racism

As a race of minorities, they were trying to free themselves from being “third world” citizens in the United States. “What we got from this agreement were things that we as third world peoples deserved, and we as students, and we as citizens of this country deserved”. But is there a scientific claim that makes certain people “third world”, or is it a political agenda to people ethnic people third world citizens? Ethnic people living in the United States in the were often discriminated against.
Topic: racism

As Laureen Chew said,” of course I blamed it all on ourselves and our family for being born Chinese, etc”. They blamed their race, instead of finding a fault in society for making them an inferior race that were mistreated unfairly. Even today, although racism is not as obvious, it is still alive and in place. “Color-blind racism serves as the ideological armor for a convert and institutionalized system in the post-Civil Rights era”. Minorities can be discriminated against their morals, values, and character without whites sounding racist. But is being color-blind
Topic: racism

“The word ‘domination’ reminds us that the institutional racism is a type of power that encompasses the symbolic power to classify one group of people as ‘normal’ and other groups of people as ‘abnormal’, the political power to withhold basic rights from people of color and marshal the full power of the state to enforce segregation and in equality. To break this institution, learning ethnic studies brings out the truth of this country, which in turn brings out the greatness of the United States. Ethnic studies allows us to think critically about our relationship in terms of our relationship this country and our backgrounds.
Topic: racism

It gives us a basis to deal with historic racial issues such as the Zimmerman trial. “Ethnic studies departments in the CSU are at the forefront in leading students to balanced, critical, and open discussions of racial and ethnic matters that, unfortunately, have yet to be resolved in the US”. It’s important to have a format in educating students so that we may form our own educated opinions and learn facts on the history of our ethnicities. People gave up their bodies for their right to have ethnic studies. “I wanted to give you a poem, but I give you my body instead”.
Topic: racism

As she finished her speech, her fellow supporters agreed with her with loud applause. She was only one of many proponents in decades of struggle by students to fight for their ethnic studies departments. The protesting for ethnic studies was intertwined with the opposition against the war, civil rights, and other social issues going on at the time. In 1999 the issue was California becoming increasingly wary against immigrants, using them as a scapegoat for the economy failing. Protesting at Berkeley meant defending affirmative action, defending the rights of immigrants”.
Topic: racism

The protesting in SFSU was the longest lasting student protest. Their cries for “we want the puppet! ” meant they wanted to discuss ethnic studies with S. I. Hayakawa who did not rally with the students even though he was Asian American. These students were subject to police violence, who went into the cafeterias to harass and attack the students. At Valley State University, Latino students with the black students protested in order to have more representation in and open up classes for Chicano studies and Black studies. So what role does race really play in all of this?
Topic: racism

We know that even if it’s not about race, it’s always about race. You can say that the student protests were all about race. When you ask people about which “race” they are, one normally gets a response like, asian, black, white, or so on. The two schools of thought, Primordialism and Instrumentalism, are opposing forces in which the former believes that “races existed, that races are biologically determined and distinct from one another. ” The latter believes “race as a man-made, human created reality. It is an instrument that was constructed sociohistorically in order to allocate resources”.
Topic: racism

An outcome of the struggle for ethnic studies is that it challenged what the racial norm really was. By fighting for their rights, the protestors inadvertently chipped away at what really defines race; “a racist invention” to divide and allocate resources’. But can we really ignore that our race has nothing to do with our genetic makeup and the way we look? Discriminatory and prejudiced behavior towards minorities was the cause of the student unrest, as well as gaining support from non-ethnical students and community.
Topic: racism

Jesus Rodriguez realized “people can be so quick to attach certain characteristics to a person’s race”. The characteristics we attach to minorities are they’re lazy, they don’t want to leave the bottom, they’re slow learners, etc. With this in mind, white people in power discriminated these minorities, saying they don’t belong in their universities. Many white people believed in the status quo or race at the time and opposed the ethnic protestors. But what about everyone else that eventually sided with the protestors? Especially during the 60’s and 70’s, people began to fight for each other’s rights.
Topic: racism

The division between races between people were lessening, and the thought of a human race were expanding. They fought for their own rights and they fought for each other’s rights, because they realized all minorities at the time were going through the same struggle. ” I believe that it is important for every American to know their history, even if it has nothing to do with their color or ethnicity: since events such as the Third World Strike influenced some of your fellow Americans, these same events indirectly influenced you as well”.
Topic: racism

This paper addresses the identity that is constructed of African-Americans through Rock’s language use of racial speech and taboo language. It also attempts to portray Rock’s function of the skit and the controversial attitudes that arose, including my own. 1. 0 Introduction ‘Sticks and stones may break your bones but words will never hurt you’. Unfortunately for Randall Kennedy this limerick held no connotation that he wished to acknowledge, as he recites his Mother’s words, he finds himself in war with a word, a word that for every African-American is at the core of inflicted pain; Nigger.
Topic: racism

Kennedy narrates his Mother’s experience during the era of the Jim Crow segregation, ‘I have been called nigger to my face on a couple of occasions by people who sought to convey their racial hatred or contempt for all blacks including me. ’ (Kennedy, 2002) This word for Centuries, although has been at the centre of normalisation and empowerment in recent years, is the definition of prejudice assigned by white supremacists.
Topic: racism

Racial discourse has changed over the years, the media has been at the frontline of these changes along with the law and democratic societies yet the word nigger still remains a temperamental taboo, its history foreshadows it and no matter what context the word may be used in, its cultural inheritance warrants its preservation. (Kennedy, 2000:3) A man that attempted to manipulate its detrimental meaning was the illustrious comedian Chris Rock. Rock is known for his politically incorrect humour and his fight to tackle racism and his 1996 HBO special, Bring the Pain performance is what give him his contentious status today.
Topic: racism

‘Niggas vs. Black people’ is a twist on street culture vs. working class; it is a linguistically controversial skit that portrays how boorish behaviour feeds racial stereotypes while including his own personal assessment of the state of Black America. Rock empowers the word nigger and attempts to change its injurious meaning. The pain this word has caused the African-American community has been an expedient one, compromising the dignity, identity and representation of their race.
Topic: racism

Rock intends to fight and abolish the pain and with this is calls his performance, ‘Bring the pain’. 2. 0 Laughing Matters The intrusion of laughter is an ideal that is sought after by many comedians; it is the notion of laughter that holds profound significance amongst its audience. It gives society and the individual access to the truth, truths which become identifiable from a different view point, ‘laughter serves as a means to understand both what is found in the world and what is found within the individual.
Topic: racism

’ (Gray & Putnam, 2009:18). Without laughter fear would not be defeated and fears of the truth would not be overcome, with this society becomes reliant on laughter, it gives a sense of belonging, understanding and serves as a joint understanding and belief. (Clark, 1996) This idea of the truth is based upon Bahktin’s theoretical view on laughter, as Gray and Putnam (2009: 18) state, ‘Laughter is also a defence mechanism against external realities that contradict our inner truths.
Topic: racism

’ These truths and fears are identified with concepts such as, racism, politics and feminism. 2. 1 Encapsulating the audience To capture Daniels’ (1989: 15) phrase when discussing the subjectivity of humour, ‘it’s funny because it makes me laugh’, highlights individual social ideologies, each individual has their own set of attitudes and beliefs and this therefore contributes to the success of an anecdote, whether or not it fits with ideological views is at the core of an audiences’ hilarity.
Topic: racism

According to Daniels (1989: 15), he states that comedy is not achieved through content alone, however when picking apart the history of African-American comedians on black comedy; it is in fact the content alone which becomes a pandemic with the characteristics of the comedians talk that sets off the entire performance. Dating back to the Minstrel era – the pioneers of comedy today, ‘Bert’ Austin Williams took stage to be the first black American to take a lead role on a Broadway stage, Williams first became noticed in Vaudeville as a successful double-act “Williams & Walker”.
Topic: racism

This stereotype of African-Americans is one that became a collective ritual of rhetoric complaint and occurrence. In 1951, a TV show called ‘Amos ‘n Andy’ came to our screens but was cancelled in 1953 due to complaints from the NAACP (National association for the advancement of coloured people), who acknowledged the programme to be only one representation of black folks. ‘Stereotyping is a process of selective perception by which the complex character of experience is filtered and simplified into fixed categories.
Topic: racism

’ (Daniels: 1989) Parallel to these representations of African-American figures in the media, notions cited from Daniels (1989:3) are those of Halls who profoundly highlights, ‘[t]he depiction of blacks in popular media is restricted to a repertoire of basic images – the slave, the native, the entertainer – as only certain traits and characteristics are selected for emphasis. ’ Black people were subjected to the notion that as a cohort they were portrayed to be the same as one another; having no original identity as an African-American as there were no other representations of the black cultural community.
Topic: racism

Comedians such as Dick Gregory, Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby and Eddie Murphy were just a few of many that fought against these racial negative stereotypes that were portrayed within the media. In 1984 the introduction to ‘The Cosby Show’ was set across our screens. ‘The idea of The Cosby Show which was rejected by ABC, they felt that America was not ready to accept the concept of an intact, black middle-class family. ’ (Crenshaw, A) The Cosby Show declared positive attributes to the black stereotype in opposed to the black sitcoms that came before it.
Topic: racism

Although the success of The Cosby Show dispelled negative perceptions of the black community the initial idea was thrown, which contributes to racial segregation in American at that time during the 80’s. However, the typical black family perception did change as a result of ‘The Cosby Show’ and opened the doors for many comedians and sitcoms to come. ‘The fresh prince of bell air’ and comedians such as Chappelle and Chris Rock were the start of a new generation of insurgences. 3. 0 Rock’s linguistic segregation ‘Now we’ve got a lot of things, a lot of racism going on in the world right now. Who’s more racist?
Topic: racism

Black people or white people; black people. You know why, cause we hate black people too! Everything white people don’t like about black people. Black people really don’t like about black people. ’(Rock, 1996) In 1996 Chris Rock took to the stage with his controversial stand-up skit ‘Niggaz vs. Black People’ at the HBO special Bring the pain performance. Like Bill Cosby, Rock too was in attempt to eradicate negative perceptions of the black community but a way in which engages with a diverse group of audiences, to do this he interplayed cultural and linguistic taboos to mock ideological perceptions of African-American identities.
Topic: racism

Rock’s main aim of the debated skit was to diminish stereotypes that were apparent amongst the American public, this notion from white supremacists that African-American citizens are categorised to be ‘all the same’ was, in Rock’s eyes about to be obliterated. Rock proclaims ‘Nigga’s’ to be in clear detachment from working class African-Americans, whose bad behaviour is giving detrimental negative images towards other ‘black people’, his attempts to deliver vital messages in a comedic format is a portrayal of Rocks adamant intention to not allow a minority of troublesome individuals tarnish the image of the African-American.
Topic: racism

‘Every time black people wanna have a good time, ignorant ass niggas fuck it up. ’ (Rock, 1996) His immediate intention is to of course eliminate racism not promote it, however from the view point from an audience member who are a collection of a variety of different races, the question to whether he reached out to all individual members is debatable due to ideological boundaries and beliefs, as discussed in (2. 1). Rock opens the show with Irony, it draws a ‘white’ audience in and takes members of the public by surprise; an African-American man is standing on stage telling his audience that black people are more racist.
Topic: racism

Rock attempts to take on a social discourse, giving the ideology ‘Nigga’ a new contentious status, separating it from working class African-American citizens. In congruence to this, Gray and Putnam (2009:19) states, when referring to Chappelle’s ‘Exploring Niggerdom’, ‘[C]hapelle succeeds in appropriating a terminology that has previously been held in the hands of the whites. By using language for his own purpose, with his own nuances and intentions, Chappelle takes back the power that whites had originally given to that language.
Topic: racism

’ The key notion that is represented here is power within language, although Rock attempts to capture this power as Chappelle (2003) successfully did, a small percentage of Rocks audience failed to connect to his language use decorously because of this Rock never performed that skit again. Some critics state that the ‘black’ community was offended while others felt they too had the public authority to say the ‘N’ word. 3. 1 The ‘N’ word; Nigger. ‘There’s black people and there’s niggas and nigga’s have got to go.
Topic: racism

’ (Rock, 1996) The term ‘nigger’ is one many do not wish to publically celebrate, it is derived from the Latin word ‘Niger’ and has transformed over Centuries to hold different connotations; throughout history, the term ‘Nigger’ has been a frequent occurrence, its use is, ‘[e]mployed to impose contempt upon [blacks] as an inferior race’(Kennedy, 2002:5) It has even been employed upon children with nursery rhymes, one that may be commonly known is, ‘Eeny-meeny-miney-mo, catch a nigger by the toe, if he hollers; let him go, eeny-meeny-miney-mo.
Topic: racism

Terms such as, ‘Nigger’, ‘fuck’ and ‘shit’, are commonly known to be censored words, taboo words, words that when used today in a western society become intertwined with concepts of face and politeness. (Goffman, 1967; Brown & Levinson, 1978) Face-saving views of politeness start from this idea that humans are rational agents who are conscious of their language choices.
Topic: racism

(Brown & Levinson, 1987; Clark, 1996; Grice, 1975; Locher, 2004) Both interacting participants, for example H and S, would have an interest in maintaining each other’s face but often have to commit to face-threatening-acts. (Brown & Levinson, 1987) Face threatening acts can threaten the independence of ‘H’s’ face and the face needs of ‘S’s, (Locher, 2004: 66) in relation to this concept, when Rock uses racist speech and taboo language he puts his own face at risk, which knowingly as a comedian it is a risk that threatens the involvement of their face.
Topic: racism

When Rock uses commonly heard taboo language, there is a higher chance, as it has been heard before, that the audiences’ face needs are not jeopardised, however when using racial speech, for instance when Rock makes reference to the ‘KKK’, there is a possibility that face needs are threatened, whether that be the African-American community or the white community; it seems Rock knew that his language use would threaten the face needs of some of his audience members as near the end of his performance he exclaims, ‘Man, why you got to say that? … It isn’t us, it’s the media. The media has distorted our image to make us look bad.
Topic: racism

Why must you come down on us like that brother? It’s not us, it’s the media. ’ (Rock, 1996) Rock in this sense does not blame the media for the corrupt behaviour of what he calls ‘Niggas’, he blames the cohort minority that are giving African-Americans a bad reputation. However to oppose this analogy Van Dijk (1992: 513) brushes upon racism in the press and offers examples to emphasis the ideas that are represented within the ‘black’ community. ‘We have racism too – and that is what is behind the plot. It is not white racism. It is black racism… But who is there to protect the white majority?
Topic: racism

… Our tolerance is our strength, but we will not allow anyone to turn it into our weaknesses. ’(Sun, 24 October) The black community do have an arguable point when feeling face-threatened by Rocks notion of Black people vs. Niggas, as clear evidence of discrimination is shown within Newspaper articles such as these, but Rock emphasises that it is the unruly, uneducated, minority of black people that are giving the community a bad name, he then puts himself in the shoes of a white person, comedic irony again, by being a part of the KKK and feeling threatened at night when drawing money out ‘at the money machine’.
Topic: racism

The controversy caused by Rocks excessive use of the word ‘Nigga’ led him to remove the piece from his act; Jay Washington (2012) stated that in a 60 minute interview Rock said, ‘By the way, I’ve never done that joke again, ever, and I probably never will. Cos some people that were racist thought they had license to say nigger. So, I’m done with that routine. ’ 4. 0 Cultural Impact The cultural impact made by Rock’s 1996 performance of Niggas vs.
Topic: racism

Black people has been an pragmatic one, Barack Obama made reference to his skit in a Father’s Day speech in 2008, it also made television as ‘The office’ did a censored take on the monologue and audience members watching his 1996 performance still will laugh at his Ironic satire sketch. I certainly did, although Rock removed the piece from his act due to ‘overusing’ the word ‘N’ word, his hidden intention was genius. Rock was trying to give this word a new meaning, eradicating its history of contempt, he was trying to stop stereotypes of African-American people and push boundaries of the ideological perceptions within the audience.
Topic: racism

Rock’s intention was to unveil a hidden truth, a truth that may be covered up by fear but must be defeated with laughter. (2. 0) Why should Rock not use this word and attempt to give it a different connotation, his ancestors were victims of slavery, his parents were victims of discrimination and ridicule why should he not poke fun at true racists by empowering the tern ‘Nigger’ and giving hardworking African-Americans the voice to be disassociated with the word?
Topic: racism

A reference cited from Gray and Putnam (2009: 23), is a quote that correlates with my notion, Elizabeth Ludwig states, ‘[c]learly, if comedy is an expression of abjection, then it must be an expression of one’s own abjection. ’ I feel Rock exerts his right to use this word, despite its negative media responses. It is true racists that watched this sketch and felt that discrimination against black people was now acceptable, which is a shame because I feel what Rock intended to do was try to educate the thoughts of people who were of different ethnicities and it seems that the minority of these different racial groups let them down.
Topic: racism

Rocks main purpose was to target minority groups and bring to their attention to antiquated notions of stereotyping. 5. 0 Conclusion Rock is a linguistic comedic prodigy; he faces racism head on and delivers his content in such a confident manner that he encapsulates the audience and brings cathartic laughter from a masochistic inheritance. He draws upon truths, pushes ideological boundaries and empowers racial speech; this language use constructs a distinctive identity of working class African-Americans which is separated from the minority of gang culture which is influenced by bad behavior.
Topic: racism

’ (Kennedy, 2002:146) The truth about the ‘N’-word is that even as a euphemism the term should still be redundant due to historical context, the way in which the word has been empowered gains nothing but positive attributes however I feel its connotative history foreshadows its use and no matter who attempts to manipulate its meaning its history will always remain. References Brown, P, & Levinson, S. (1987) Politeness. Cambridge: Cambridge U. P. Chung, J. (2002) The Burden of Laughter: Chris Rock fights ignorance his way.
Topic: racism

Today being in the Marine Corps I am surrounded by different races and knowing one day my life could rest in their hands I respect them for who they are not what color they are. Martin Luther King once said “Men hate each other because they fear each other, and they fear each other because they don’t know each other, and they don’t know each other because they are often separated from each other.” If the rest of the country had been raised in a military lifestyle then I believe racism would be all but extinct in the United States.