I am honestly always amazed that white men have been able to hold on to so much power for so long. In the U.S. census, white people who do not consider themselves Hispanic or Latino made up 62.6% of the population. If half of that percent is women, then white men make up only 31% of the population--but look around! White men are quite literally running this country and the media. How do we even allow this to happen? We outnumber them. I grew up watching 90s television where they really tried to have at least one token person of color in the group. By no means a perfect solution, but at least there were a good handful of shows and sitcoms that starred people of color. (Sister Sister was my favorite show growing up!) The shows my brother grew up on pretty much starred nothing but white people.
And I think that is where the danger of teleological thinking comes in. If we always assume that we're better off, that we are always marching towards a sunnier field, we become complacent and sort of just accept things. Let's be real: many parts of the world were doing great before Europe stuck their nasty fingers in there. China was light years ahead of Europe for the longest time, for example. The Americas had civilizations that could've done amazing things had they just been left alone.
Knowledge can be lost. Rights can be lost. We must always be vigilant and critical of where our culture is going.
First of all, your picture made me giggle. Secondly, it's insane how difficult it is to try to prove to someone (usually a white man) how racism exists when "we have a black president." Usually something that I point out to them is just how many white men there are in congress, also it's take hundreds of years just to get a black president (why? Because they were enslaved and barely had any rights until the 60s). Then they still try to keep the "well I'm not racist" card. Then Annie comes out and people get UPSET that she's a little black girl. It's ridiculous to me. How whitewashed our society is.
ReplyDeleteI entirely agree with you on your points of never losing sight of the present when looking towards the future. It's important to be conscience of any possible flaws in the way our system works at any given time without naively assuming we're always moving forward. In contrast to this, though, we should also remember to acknowledge our triumphs in social equality as a kind of landmark that shows the possibly oppressed peoples of the present and/or near future that just change has happened before, and it can happen again.
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ReplyDeleteI tried to post a comment and somehow deleted it prematurely so hopefully this somewhat sums up what I was trying to say:
ReplyDeleteI, too, am amazed at the way white men have held power throughout American history. Like you point out, white men are the minority in the United States, yet it wouldn't seem by looking at our political system, media, family structures, etc. I think it would help if women acknowledged the misogynistic aspects of society and attempted to alter the current standards. By accepting the role as 'the other,' women allow the patriarchal society to persist. It blows my mind even more so on a universal scale; people of color outnumber whites on a worldly scale yet people of European descent still manage to "run the world" through industry, military, etc. Maybe not anymore, as some Asian nations have far surpassed Europeans and Americans in numerous categories.
I loved Sister Sister as well, but I would have to say The Proud Family was my favorite :}