First I want to substantiate a point that was touched on prior to the movie by the Black Law Student Ass'n President, prior to this class, and really prior to the movie... I had no clue about the Tulsa Race riots. Not once had a teacher mentioned it in history class, nor had I heard of it in any form of media. Does that mean the media is in denial of the situations existence as a whole? I think so. I am embarassed to say I, like much of the rest of the world, had no prior knowledge of the events that occured. But I am equally angered to find out much of the world goes on without acknowledging the tragedies and horrors of the tulsa race riots. Personally I think it just attests to the fact that the government has ultimate and endless influence... its almost scary. As easily as they have denied these poor people the necessary and proper reperations and recognition for surviving these events, they have just as easily hidden these facts from the rest of the nation. One could infer our nation as a whole is substantially embarassed by the facts and in turn has attempted to no longer recognize or acknowledge these events. One image that stood out to me, and probably will continue to remain with me for some time, was the image of the young man who had been lynched and adorned with a sign that read "This Nigger Voted." Now correct me if I'm wrong but this tragedy occured long after the 15th amendment had been implimented, allowing any true citizen of the country to vote. For that sake, the 13th and 14th amendments had just as substantially proved African Americans to be just as rightfully able to vote as the next man. So I am still insensed in how one could find themself justified in killing a fellow human being for doing what was their civil right and liberty, to make their voice heard in this "democracy". This is just a testament of how deeply rooted racism was back then... the only justification these people saw was that african americans were apparently seen as less than human... and far from equal.Sunday, March 8, 2009
Disrespected and Neglected, The Tulsa Race Riots
First I want to substantiate a point that was touched on prior to the movie by the Black Law Student Ass'n President, prior to this class, and really prior to the movie... I had no clue about the Tulsa Race riots. Not once had a teacher mentioned it in history class, nor had I heard of it in any form of media. Does that mean the media is in denial of the situations existence as a whole? I think so. I am embarassed to say I, like much of the rest of the world, had no prior knowledge of the events that occured. But I am equally angered to find out much of the world goes on without acknowledging the tragedies and horrors of the tulsa race riots. Personally I think it just attests to the fact that the government has ultimate and endless influence... its almost scary. As easily as they have denied these poor people the necessary and proper reperations and recognition for surviving these events, they have just as easily hidden these facts from the rest of the nation. One could infer our nation as a whole is substantially embarassed by the facts and in turn has attempted to no longer recognize or acknowledge these events. One image that stood out to me, and probably will continue to remain with me for some time, was the image of the young man who had been lynched and adorned with a sign that read "This Nigger Voted." Now correct me if I'm wrong but this tragedy occured long after the 15th amendment had been implimented, allowing any true citizen of the country to vote. For that sake, the 13th and 14th amendments had just as substantially proved African Americans to be just as rightfully able to vote as the next man. So I am still insensed in how one could find themself justified in killing a fellow human being for doing what was their civil right and liberty, to make their voice heard in this "democracy". This is just a testament of how deeply rooted racism was back then... the only justification these people saw was that african americans were apparently seen as less than human... and far from equal.
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so i have been looking on other people blogs and we all seemed to have watched a lot of the same shows! i think that is telling us something and definitely giving us something to think about. i strongly agree that you don't at all see white families on television that are struggling or single parents? what is the deal? i do believe that this assignment gives us a lot to think about and makes us wonder about the media and how they decide what to show and what not to. I agree about everything you said about the movie pursuit of happyness. great movie by the way!! this assignment really hit home to a lot of us.
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