Essay Example on Cultural Clash: Examining Black American Perception in the U.S.A.

Cultural diversity is a controversial issue frequently discussed in most media programs in the U.S.A. Topics of how black Americans and other minority groups are perceived are presented in most Television and radio programs. The essay will analyze how Black Americans are viewed in the Cultural Clash Movie (2017). The movie depicts how the Africans who relocate to the U.SA are presented. Racial discrimination in schools, place of work, and even by the authorities is exhibited.

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The movie is based on a Nigerian family that relocates to a ghetto in the U.S.A due to the hard times there were experiencing in their Roswell mansion. The family is perceived to have traditional values, which make it hard for them to survive in the ghetto. The main characters Yinka and Ade Johnson, who are high school students, are enrolled in the worst school in their new neighborhood. The low-income family who wins a visa lottery to America hopes that their life will be better than what they are used to in their country. Racial discrimination makes it hard for them to survive in their new school. They are perceived as inferior to the whites due to the notion that the whites have that the blacks live on trees with wild animals. However, racial discrimination comes not only from the whites but also from other minority groups in the U.S.A, including their fellow Black Americans. Racism and bigotry in the movie is evidence of how cultural diversity is viewed by most people in the United States of America.

The minority groups in this movie are presented to be inferior and less human than the dominant group. The traditions and the myths surrounding the way of life of the Africans, as shown by the School mates of Yinka and Ade is an indication of how the dominant group judges them. The Nigerian family, despite being bright in school are unable to cope up with the mistreatments by their fellow students. The Whites affect both the esteem and the performance of the students both in games and academics. The impact of the abuse is an indication that the dominant group can influence the lives of the Foreigners and minority groups in the state.

Livingstone (1992) states that" relative power refers to the control that one party has over the other". The Americans are presented in the book to be having power over the minority group. The ability to influence the day to day life of the foreigners is depicted. The Nigerian family finds itself in problems daily due to the influence of their white neighbors. The police are in pursuit of the drug syndicates that are seen to be discriminating against the Black people living in the ghetto. However, Ada Johnson is understood to have overcome this by indulging in a relationship with a white. The family is against this form of association, and Ada receives warnings from both friends and the parents. Parental disapproval of the relationship is an indication of the power that the family has over cultural diversity acceptance. Failure to acknowledge that all races are equal and giving them a chance to enjoy their relationship represents racial discrimination among families.

Based on the storyline of the movie, the media personality influences how people view Africans. The media presents Africans as an inferior race, and their discrimination is evident. The writers of the scripts depict the way of life of the Blacks equal to that of animals. The media being a source of information to millions of people , can influence the perception people to have on racism. Stating that the Africans live in the forest with monkeys and elephants in the play portrays the role the media plays in spreading this myth. The students' misjudge in the play is built on the information they obtain from the media. They discriminate against the Blacks based on the rudimentary knowledge acquired from the media. The media has a significant role to play in eradicating racial discrimination in the United States. They can build a culture free from discrimination by portraying the equality of both the dominant group and the minority.

Structural Pluralism is utilized by the media to depict the minority group as influential in the Society ( Hindman, Preston & Neumann, 1999). Ada Johnson is presented as a strong character in the movie despite the challenges she faces in her new home. The producers of the film utilize this theory at the end of the video to show that the prejudice that people have on Blacks people is false. They present the African girl to be a success later in her life after the suffering she endures both at home and in school. The producers have also utilized Marx's Weber's theories of inequality to display how the social class describes how people are treated (Acker, Baca, Collins, Cox, Davi et al.,2006). The poor Nigerian family cannot afford to take their children to a good school. Life in the neighborhood, as well as school life for the two siblings, is full of mystery. They suffer from poverty and mistreatment from children from a wealthy family. The drug traffickers are seen to be targeting the minority group, which is at the lowest social class. The theories have been utilized in the play to make it meaningful and depict the real life of people.

Racial discrimination in the movie is based on false notions about Africans. The prejudice presented in the film is based on myths that cannot be proved. The culture and tradition of the Africans do not prevent them from excelling in their life, as seen in the life of Ada at the end of the movie. The media and the society at large must fight the tradition of racism as all races are equal. The film is a clear indication that the lives of Africans and other minority groups have been made miserable by racial discrimination.

References

Acker, J., Baca-Zinn, M., Collins, P. H., Cox, O., Davis, K., Eells, K., & Marx, K. (2006). Social class and stratification: Classic statements and theoretical debates. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Retrieved from https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=Acker%2C+J.%2C+Baca-Zinn%2C+M.%2C+Collins%2C+P.+H.%2C+Cox%2C+O.%2C+Davis%2C+K.%2C+Ee3A+Classic+statements+and+theoretical+debates.+Rowman+%26+Littlefield+Publishers.&btnG=

Cultural Clash Movie. (2017). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBvLB1R9DGk&list=PLQ1N-fVtaai05m_0wTS8NcYIg7D9ltJ9o

Hindman, D. B., Littlefield, R., Preston, A., & Neumann, D. (1999). Structural pluralism, ethnic pluralism, and community newspapers. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 76(2), 250-263. Retrieved from https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=Hindman%2C+D.+B.%2C.+Structural+pluralism%2C+ethnic+pluralism%2C+and+community+newspapers.+Journalism+%26+Mass+Communication+Quarterly%2C+76%282%29%2C+250-263.&btnG=

Livingstone, S. (1992). The meaning of domestic technologies. Consuming technologies: Media and information in domestic spaces, 113-130.Retrived from https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=Livingstone%2C+S.+%281992%29.+The+meaning+of+domestic+technologies.+Consuming+technologies%3A+Media+and+information+in+domestic+spaces%2C+113-130.&btnG=