Essay Sample on A Look Into History: Examining Discrimination and Bias

Introduction: Understanding Bias and Cultural Bias

Bias encompasses concepts like racial discrimination that has been in existence since ages ago and women's suffrage that was popular in the 19th century. The determination for states to free themselves from the clutches of colonialism demonstrates the cry for freedom. I have learned about the discrimination of the people of color and their fight for justice through history lessons. Even in modern times that we live in, discrimination and cultural bias are noticeable. Schools are a good example of grounds for cultural bias practice. Those who are good with the books would form their own norms and values different from those involved in sports and at some point, stereotypes about these groups would form leading to certain biases. Hence, before watching the movie, "cry freedom", I had an idea what cultural bias and a cry for freedom could mean. Every group of people believe and perceive things differently and are marked by particular characteristics. Cultural biases could be caused by stereotyping where a group of people is considered inferior to other groups or stigmatized.

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Emotional Impact of Watching "Cry Freedom"

The movie depicts what happened in reality, hence while watching it, I could imagine myself in those times. Throughout all the movies I have watched, none has ever made so emotional to the point of tears. The film brought out a sincere and heartfelt empathy in me for the South Africans through their suffering. The actors were excellent since they put forward the reality of apartheid in South Africa. It almost seemed as if I was living during such a time. It is unbelievable how people had to suffer in the fight for justice and liberty. I cannot bring myself to understand how a human being with the intellectual capacity bestowed upon us can hurt another human being just because they have different skin color or because they come from a diverse background.

Cultural Bias and Racism Depicted in the Movie

From the movie, I was able to understand cultural bias in racism. The film depicted racism between white and black people. The white people came off as superior to the black people even when they were living in a black people dominated state. The black maids had to address the whites as master, indicating that they were inferior. I was also able to grasp the concept of stereotyping where the white people did not take the time to understand black people but instead used the knowledge they already had to pass judgments and take heinous actions. They believed their prior knowledge that the Blacks were backward hence regarded them as inferior. The movie has not only highlighted the cultural biases but also brought to light why South Africans today are as xenophobes.

Insights from Other Presentations on Discrimination

Presentations from other groups have featured captivating theories of discrimination, such as the aversive racism theory, which enlightens us about people who discriminate but never want to appear as discriminatory. I believe this form of discrimination is quite common these days as people discriminate through comments they think are harmless. One could say they are not racist but give racist statements being utterly oblivious that they are racist.

The society today still regards some races as superior to other races, even with the assumption that the world is connected as a global village. Resentment between races has been carried from one generation to the other, and no one has stopped to think that perhaps how we view other people might not be right. Cultural bias for me would be like, for instance, finding myself without a study group in a foreign language class like Spanish because most of my classmates are from a Hispanic background, and they prefer to work together. I believe that cry for freedom and fighting for justice can only bear fruits if we set out to educate one another about our different cultures, in turn eliminating the stereotypes that seem to be the root cause.