Paper Example on Black Psychology

Introduction

The movie "Crash" centers its narrative on a variety of intertwined experiences relating to racial relations as well as the levels of the socioeconomic status of the diverse cast of characters. In particular, the movie speaks about how human beings, who are the contract with real-life situations and also discusses how racial injustices and stereotypes have adverse effects on our societies. For instance, these stereotypes negatively impact the society through sourcing a division of customs that disregard human and civil rights as well as a representation of how racism sources cultural, moral, as well as economic distress (Haggis). On the other hand, the movie Do the Right Thing, which focuses on a single day of the lives of racially diverse individuals living in a lower class neighbourhood in Brooklyn New York, centres its narrative on how race, social class, and the moral decisions made by characters directly impact the way people interact with one another (Lee). This being said, the core intent of this essay is to critically evaluate these two movies and discuss how humanity and racism conflict.

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Does Humanity Transcend Racism or Does Racism Transcend Humanity?

To begin with, based on the movie Do the Right Thing, it is evident that humanity, in many ways, transcends racism since the movie centers its theme on love against hate. Nonetheless, based on the different incidents that are developed in the two films, the creators of the films expound on the point that when social and racial disparities are not properly addressed by those who are deemed to be in power, the ultimate result is extreme violence amongst those who consider themselves powerless. Besides, based on an analysis of the two films, it is evident that human beings have the capacity to do good and evil. Therefore, the assumptions that racist attitudes, prejudices, and stereotypes are a significant part of human beings' daily lives. For instance, in the movie do the right thing, Mookie Lee, the creator of the film makes use of different characters to exemplify the fact that love which represents humanity surpasses violence. For instance, despite the fact that the film is built on the assumption that racist attitudes and stereotypes characterize the daily activities in people's lives, there is an inclusion of characters such as the radio DJ, Radio Raheem, who chooses to remain detached from any form of violence and he instead continues to broadcast a message of love. As he tells his random stories, Radio Raheem states, "Love: These Five Fingers, They Go Straight to the Soul of Man, The Right Hand: The Hand of Love." (Lee). Therefore, drawing from this concept, the film substantiates that despite the fact that all human beings have the capacity to love or to hate, love always surpasses the hate and hence signifying that humanity is always over any racial bias. Besides, to do the right thing in the events of racial biases means to reconcile the two often conflicting tendencies in the human spirit, love, and hate.

In a similar regard, in the film Crash, which also draws attention to the multitude of tensions and frictions brought about by the coexistence of racially diverse people from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds signify the role in which stereotypes play in interpreting the actions of people living together. In this regard, the film gives evidence to the fact that, as a social species, we as human beings must rely, to a broader extent, on our impressions and stereotypes of other people. In particular, owing to the fact that the theme of the movie is connected to a variety of features to prejudice, the subject of class difference is substantiated in the distinction of characters. For instance, based on the character of the district attorney of L.A, who struggles to salvage his public image in the midst of black voters, the film indicates that racism and the evils that characterize the society are social constructs and not inborn characteristics. Therefore, drawing from this conceptual base, humanity transcends any racial biases.

Also, the movie Crash makes us believe that humanity transcends racism, especially through Jean's character. In the movie, she progresses as a stereotypical and privileged white woman. For instance, when talking to Rick, Jean describes an Africa American boy referring him to a gang member, she states, "Yes. The guy in there with the shaved head, the pants around his ass, the prison tattoos" (Haggis). However, regardless of the fact that she progresses as a character who is always tirelessly complaining about every different domestic helper in her house (who are not white), the film does not leave the audience with bad feelings about Jean. This is because, although she carries herself in a manner that affirms and suggests her white privilege and the ideology of white supremacy that was prevalent throughout the film, she eventually realizes that the people around her were not the problem and instead, she was an unhappy woman. For instance, after she realizes that she was the problem, she begins addressing the people around her with respect. When addressing her house assistant, Maria, Jean says, "Do you want to hear something funny? [...] You're the best friend I've got" (Haggis). Therefore, the fact that she chooses to change and begins to show love through hugging her Hispanic housekeeper, Maria, and also calls her best friend paints her in a more positive light. This, in essence, is an indication that regardless of the evils that are prevalent in society as a result of racial and ethical differences, humanity will always transcend racism.

Additionally, Haggis, in the film, "Crash" puts across the point that humanity transcends racism through Matt Dillon's character as Officer Ryan. More specifically, Officer Ryan is introduced to the audience as a racist man whose phone call to, Shaniqua, the receptionist of the doctor's office is filled with tasteless racist comments. In one of his phone calls. He goes ahead and ridicules the lady's name, an indication of his senseless racist character. Nonetheless, upon meeting the lady, Dillion is apologetic, and he further begins to give a sob-story relating to his father's health. He says, "Yeah, I wanted to apologize. I haven't been too much sleep and my father's in a lot of pain" (Haggis). At this point, the film shows how much humanity surpasses racism since, despite the fact that we know full well that Officer Ryan is a racist, the audience sympathizes with him due to his emotional story about his father health.

Also, throughout the film, Haggis makes the audience see Officer Ryan, who is a horrific racist, as a tender and loving individual while he is around his sickly father. This, in essence, is an indication that regardless of the cruelty that is as a result of racism, the human nature of an individual always has the capacity to outshine the negativities of racism. Besides, despite the fact that there is racial tension between Ryan and the lady receptionist, Shaniqua, the film shows that his humanity outshines his racist character, when he saves the same innocent black woman he had earlier molested, in a nearly fatal and a dramatic incidence of heroism.

Are We All More Different than Alike?

Based on the themes of the two movies it is with no doubt that despite the fact that human beings are of different ethnicities, racial backgrounds and also different personalities, we all are more alike than different. This is essentially substantiated by the ideology of racial socialization which is an indication that even in the midst of differences and diverse social convictions, human beings will always learn how to socialize in the society. A critical review of the ideology of race socialization depicts that it is the unique verbal and non-verbal messages that are passed to the younger generations in a specific society for the sake of developing attitudes, values, behaviors as well as beliefs concerning the meaning and the significance of race and racial stratification.

According to a majority of studies conducted by various scholars across different disciplines, it is evident in the absence of racial socialization, human beings are all alike and perceive different things from a similar perspective. For instance, African American and the Native Whites have been the most important and often cited social contexts to play a formative role in how racial socialization brings about a disparity in the alike-nature of human beings.

What We Know About Racism and how it contributes To Human Experience

Racism and prejudice refer to the negative view of one group of people based entirely on their membership or their ethnic background. A growing body of research, today in the United States substantiates that Racism can occur just anywhere. However, based on the existing literature, scholars increasingly contend that racism in, in most cases, experienced in specific places such as shops, work place, and neighborhoods among others. Besides, the prevalence of racism and racist related behaviors have, in the modern day today, been experienced in places public transport, during sporting events, and also in the media. For instance, (Smith) argues that the media has exemplified expressions of racism in cases where specific racial groups are represented in negative a negative light or in unfair commentaries or reports. For instance, there are cases where the media violates its independence policies and consequently favors a certain ethnic group over the other. Besides, unlike a couple of decades ago, the extremities of racism, in the modern day today, have become popular online or better yet, in the cyberspace. Ranging from inflammatory memes to hateful and offensive comments shared online, cyber racism has had a substantial impact on the growth of racist expressions and attitudes and hence grave impacts on human experiences.

With reference to how racism and prejudice have increasingly affected human experiences, (Nile) contends that throughout the history of the United States, racism, especially between the Native Whites and the minority African-Americans, has caused great suffering to different groups of people.

Effects of Racism on Human Experiences

Psychiatrists and psychologists, alike, contend that racism has both physiological and psychological impacts on human experiences. For instance, stress, mental illness, low self-esteem, and suicide, among others have been some of the most common impacts and effects of racism on human experiences. Dating back to the historical times, essentially, during the Cold War, a majority of African-Americans, alongside other members of minority groups were directly or indirectly impacted by racial prejudice. Based on this context, numerous studies point out that experiencing racism, whether it is through violence, or more subtle snubbing makes life difficult for the victims. As a result, stress, which may build up and lead to adverse results such as suicide, occurs.

The previous class reading has greatly broadened my perspective about how racism is a significant factor leading to emotional abusiveness and trauma among the people of color. Smith contends that, there is a need for an enhanced understanding of the effects that racism has on the psychology of the ethnic minorities so as to prevent as well as mediate both psychological and physical distress among individuals as well as the less visible negative consequences to majority members (Smith). For instance, Tang, Sandra, et al. argue that although a majority of the existing literature only highlight racism among the minority groups, the truth is that even the ethnic majorities suffer consequences of racism and what makes it worse is that these effects go unnoticed. For example, a 2012 study conducted regarding the performances of students in school substantiated that even the mos...