President Obama clearly pointed out in his March
18, 2008, the "More Perfect Union" speech at the Constitution Center
in Philadelphia regarding the role race played in the 2008 election, that even
though we have made great strides and changes in this country, more action is
needed. For many years the answer to
the slavery question was already embedded in our Constitution, but was left to
future generations to fulfill. This Constitution promised the people liberty
and justice for all, but words on a piece of paper were not enough. As President Obama stated it took many
generations that were willing to work together and do their part, even when it
meant protests and struggle, on the streets and in the courts. Many risked and lost their lives to achieve
that promise of equality and freedom.
Now each generation must continue to work at creating a “More Perfect
Union” and world (National Constitution Center, 2009).
Using Communication to Promote Change
Whether
the resentments people feel about racial injustices are valid or not is not
what matters. It is what they believe or
were raised to believe for many years that cause feelings that they express by
either actions or words. Depending on how
people channel those feelings would affect whether they are productive or
counterproductive. For instance if I am
angry because I am white and do not get financial aid and scholarship
opportunities that a minority may get, and go around talking bad about and
blaming people in minority groups, that would be counterproductive. If because I found out that there are
scholarships for high GPA’s, and I studied hard to receive good grades so I
would qualify, that would be productive.
As our text stated our communication can either help spread prejudice
and racism or help to decrease it (Jandt, 2013). That means if I went around complaining about
minority groups and saying it was unfair, then I would be increasing the
prejudice against minorities, but if I talked about how important it is for
everyone to get an education no matter what race, nationality, or sex they are,
that would have a positive effect and help decrease negative communication
about minorities and promote a more positive image of minorities getting an
education amongst the general population.
Many
times I have heard comments like “that black person has a chip on their
shoulder”, or “why are they blaming the white people today we do not own any
slaves.” Fortunately when people like
President Obama very calmly and clearly, as he did in his speech, point out why
they have resentment and that they are not the only ones, who are angry. All people are resentful about something that
has happened in the past and affecting how they live now, and many express that
anger. The way they are expressing themselves is the
problem. If you do not have something to
say that will fix the problem, do not add to the problem by just complaining
about it. Using our communication
skills, knowledge and drive to make things better between all citizens and
people of this world is a goal everyone should strive for.
Changed but Not Gone
Philip
Kasinitz, who wrote in his article “Creating an American Identity” (1995)
states that we have never been a nation that was united only by ideals, but by
an informal vernacular culture that is organized by regular ordinary people. This is different from other cultures that
form from a deeply rooted folk culture or religious cultures like in India or
Middle Eastern countries. This is due to
the fact that we are such a melting pot of different cultures and have been
from the very beginning.
Looking back to the times of our
Founding Fathers, Kasinitz (1995) states that they took Anglo-Saxon hegemony
for granted. This means that it was not
written but just assumed that the white people both European and American were
the leaders of the country. The exclusion of non-whites was achieved by
political means. Until the civil-right
revolution came along and formed a ‘multicultural America”. Instead of blending the two races together
they ended up in “race-like communities which were supposed to eventually be
blended in a future unity, but instead became permanent communities or cultures
as some mistakenly called it. This was aided by affirmative action groups and
groups that created partisan advantaged districts that would help or hinder
their desired outcome. These groups
separated the whites from the non-whites in order to keep their own identity,
but also hurt them as they did not receive the same benefits as the white
communities such as poor education system and housing (Kasinitz, 1995).
We have come such a long way since the
Civil Rights Movement and have made progress in the area of race. There are
still many who we think of as backward thinkers, we may like to think the
people who have strong stereotypes of different cultures and races are only a
few, but we would be kidding ourselves.
Instead it is very much a part of our society today. In mainstream media we often see these
stereotypes projected when they show the black criminal, the Middle Eastern
Terrorist or the spiritual American Indian (Wong, 2013). Even if we do not believe the stereotype is
true or not, they still have an impact on people. They show up everywhere, in our prison
system, our schools, and in the job market, becoming so much a part of American
social sensibility that they even affect our public policy (Wong, 2013). There are more black men in prison than white,
and less black CEO’s of large corporations than white.
Trans-racial
Society
Many, as well as myself, hope for a
trans-racial society, as evidenced by many trans-racial adoptions. Even though racism has experienced changes
over the years, it has unfortunately not disappeared and is not a thing of the
past (Wong, 2013). Recognizing that
stereotypes are false is not enough to get rid of racism, it is important to
realize that these images and stories form us and our society (Wong, 2013).
Even though Congress has passed laws
like the Communications Decency Act, which makes it a federal crime to put
indecent words or images on the internet, it did not stop hate crimes from
existing (Jandt, 2013). Education and
learning why people feel and think like they do is the best way for change to
happen. Due to the gradual changes being
made in each generation, maybe someday we will have a trans-racial society, but
we still have a long way to go.
References
Jandt, F.E. (2013). An introduction to intercultural
communication: Identities in a global community (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage.
Kasinitz, P.
(1995) Creating an American Identity;
retrieved from
National Constitution Center (2009) A More Perfect Union; retrieved from
Wong, J. (2013) Racism in America hasn’t Disappeared; retrieved from
library.ashford.edu/docview/1447073736/58130EA2BF154FE7PQ/5?accountid=32521
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