Kreuzberger 1

Mikaela Kreuzberger
Prof. Jackie Hymes
November 17, 2014
English 115

#boycott
Racism is alive in the United States of America today, however it takes on different
forms that are often more subtle than its pre-civil war era counterpart. Although there are many
other types, the most prevalent in todays society are stop and frisk laws and how they are used to
target minorities, cultural appropriation, and race bending. Social media acts as a catalyst for
spreading information in order to bring out change. But what good is this awesome tool if no one
take action against injustice? Racism is defined as prejudice stemming from the social descriptions of biological differences between people and categorizing said people into groups so that
they can then be treated differently. This pattern of thought is not a thing of the past and is worsened in severity by the fact that people deny its existence in todays society.
Racism has deep roots in american history but is no where near an extinct concept. During the eighteenth century scientists were determined to prove that some races are better than
others. This psuedoscience of racial hierarchy was used to justify the use of slavery on the premise that some races were more submissive by nature. Even familiar philosophies and scientists
like Voltaire, Carl Linnaeus, and Charles White took part and led this movement, All of them are
known for their ideas and are built into the foundation of America.These scientists were trying to
ultimately prove that races were different species coming from different origins altogether. Although it wasn't the intent of most of the scholars and scientists of the time to create such dissent,

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the ideas they put forth proved to be dangerous and pit humanity against itself. This way of
thinking is behind modern racism and Cultural appropriation, stop and frisk laws, and race bending are the products of oppression.
There is a thin line in defining what cultural appropriation actually is but the most widespread definition is taking parts of another culture that could be held sacred to others and devaluing it. By doing this people can unknowingly offend others by not recognizing the possible negative past between two cultures. Shaping another cultures customs into your own beauty standards
or renaming them in the name of fashion is not okay and even more devalues something exclusive to that race. Examples of this is wearing Native american headdresses, Bindis, and headscarves. Although in the United states everyone is given freedom of expression, one should keep
in mind how others can be affected by actions. One argument states that a white girl wearing
corn rows is the same as a black girl straightening her hair as both people are adopting their hair
styles. This statement is flawed because Corn rows are not forced upon anyone by beauty standards or in the media nor are white girls forced to assimilate by taming their beautifully wild hair
in order to fit in. Blogs are filled with people speaking out against this very active form of racism
through raising awareness to it's doing in the media, by celebrities, and in politics.
The antonym of cultural appropriation is cultural exchange in which two parties share
customs equally and respectably, an example can be found in mixed weddings where two cultures come together and share values. This is okay because the two groups come to an acceptance of each other in a respectful manner. It is important to recognize these key differences
in the two

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words but ultimately anything that could offend another should be taken into consideration before flaunted about.
The word crime seems to be loosely affiliated with minorities and is made even worse by
laws that grant police the ability to search anyone fits the description of a criminal or basically
looks the part. My father told me a story of when he encountered the same injustice. On his way
home from work he noticed that he was being loosely followed, and to his surprise when he
pulled into his driveway the police surrounded him with their cars and helicopters. After his
quick surrender they began to rip apart the upholstery of his car and searched it thoroughly. In
the end they failed to find the kilos of cocaine they were searching for. They then explained that
he fit the description of a wanted criminal, of course there is more to this story but he was never
reimbursed for the damages to the car and the emotional trauma of the situation. Michael
Bloomberg of the Washington post states that this law actually keeps New York safer. He failed
to realize however that many innocent people are targeted vs. the few that actually mean harm.
Safety is kept at the expense of innocent people and my dad explained how embarrassed and violated he felt being arrested and then given a less than decent explanation of why he was put in
that situation. This became an unforgettable memory for him who was 25 at the time and his two
toddlers and stay at home wife. The cons of this law vastly outweigh the pros and a different solution should be considered.
The last form of the three is race bending or white washing in the media, this takes place
in casting roles in movies, commercials, and entertainment. The idea behind it is that the majority of people cannot relate to people of color in productions, the roles in a cast don't call for diversity, or it doesn't reflect the setting of the work. There has been a lot of uproar through social

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media about a new movie, set in Egypt in a time long ago about a story everybody knows. Titled
Exodus: Gods and Kings this movie is controversial because its cast is primarily American and
European. Ridley Scott, the producer defends his casting as upholding the idea that Egypt is in
the crossroads of Europe and the middle east so they cast actors based on that ideal. This reflects
the ideas of the same seventeenth century scientists that were determined to prove that the kings
of Egypt could not possibly be african. Christian bale plays the Israelite Moses who saves the
day against the all powerful Rhamses played by Joel Edgerton. The only roles played by people
of color is that of the assassin, or thief, or servant. Social media is calling for the boycott of this
movie with the hashtag Boycottexodus. And rightfully so, this movie is the perfect example of
how racism is very subtle but still exists in full force.
The idea of racism is not a thing of the past yet in todays society it is more subtle in nature. Three forms were mentioned and although these are only a few of the many forms racism
takes they affect most people in some way or another and are the ones usually denied or excused.
The only solution to rid our society of the underlying elephant in the room we must raise awareness and stoop to the only way to achieve change, boycott.

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Works cited
Bloomberg, Michael. Stop and Frisk Keeps New York Safe Washington Post: Opinions.
Web. 2014.
The Editorial Board. Racial discrimination in Stop and Frisk. NYTimes .com. Web. 12 Aug.
2014