One of the most important facts to also remember when talking about racism is that it is not always the same race discriminating against another. Racism is typically spoken about in terms of black and white (literally), but racism exists between so many different races and nationalities. While I completely understand that black and white relations are probably the most prominent in the United States, so many other stories go unheard or slide under the radar.
A more well known and recent example is the World Series. While he was in the dugout during a game, Houston Astros' Yuli Gurriel used his fingers to slant his eyes and mouthed a derogatory term in Spanish of the LA Dodgers' pitcher, Yu Darvish. While Gurriel later apologized and Darvish wished not to pursue the topic further, Gurriel mentioned that in Cuba, they often used such derogatory terms to describe Asians and commonly referred to all Asians as Chinese. This story is just one example of how racism does not always have white or black involved.
I should also say that I did really like Citizen. I had heard about the World Cup story because I follow soccer pretty closely, but I did not know too much about Serena Williams and the U.S. Open. Honestly, when I was reading some of these stories, I kind of didn't know what to feel because there were so many occurrences of it over and over and over. I also think that reading this after Beloved was interesting because it gave me a new perspective on Sethe. Even though I thought I understood her point of view on the murdering of her baby, I think that after reading this book, I understand the novel a bit more.
Citizen also resonated with me because it was written fairly recently and contained many recent events in the past few years or so: events that I heard about on the news and followed for weeks and months following the incidents. It kind of felt like what I assume adults and people more than five or so years older than us would think then talking about 9/11. Although I was alive for 9/11, I was only one so I have no memory of it. Reading about something that I lived through and can recall what I was doing when I heard about the news is simply something else. This blog was a bit all over the place, but I had quite a few thoughts that I wanted to talk about. :)
I agree with everything you say. It is quite unfortunate that people in this current time feel the need to discriminate against someone who might not look like them. It is so disappointing also to see that professional athletes, who are supposed to be "heroes"/"icons" are also capable of being racist, and setting a terrible example for all those that are watching their games.
ReplyDeleteYeah! I totally agree with you! There is more than just racism but it is important to realize how this might effect future generations and how it will effect several generations from now!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree, looking at racism through a purely WHITE/black binary ignores the discrimination other races have faced in both the past and present. I'm a big fan of how positive this post is, I wish every post was like this, mine included.
ReplyDeleteI agree that racism toward many other races is overlooked. When discussing the topic of race or racism, everyone's first thought is the injustice of the binary between blacks and whites. However, there are many other racial binaries involving many combinations, and not involving whites. Racism is a problem all over the world, and Citizen sheds an important light on racism, but only a small portion of all the racism in the country let alone the world.
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