After reading this weeks in Senft Noble’s Race and Social Media, it reminded me of a youtube video where race roles are reversed. In the article they discuss how racist acts in the media are highlighted in a way to not include the rest of the society and how almost the rest of society is not racist only the person who performed that act.
However, I feel like there are small comments everyday that occur that maybe people don’t realize that they are saying that are somewhat racist.
This video illustrates that in itself, by having black people say typically phrases they would hear but reverse and saying them to their white friends.
I thought this video was humorous but also illustrated a good point that a lot of the time there are comments made everyday that highlight race and while they may not seem outright racist maybe to others they do.
In a way I was also thinking does this show that there is racism a well towards white people, because of they way they are portraying them to act towards their friends…anyways just a thought I had
I definitely agree with your idea about small comments made daily that are somewhat racist, but people just don’t realize it. I believe these instances are the “micro-aggressions” that were mentioned in this week’s readings. I know I’ve read various online articles that point out some examples of these micro-aggressions and the reactions of those people affected. One that is often mentioned is something like “Oh, you speak English well” said to an Asian-American, as sometimes Asian-Americans are assumed to be really foreign and not know how to speak the English language correctly. I think micro-aggressions and these everyday comments are important to note because they can be quite offensive and racist, and they are just as (if not more) harmful because they are subtle and hidden. They are played off as jokes, even though racism is an issue that should be taken seriously. These kinds of comments really do need to be more at the forefront in the discussion of racism throughout the Internet, as I think people feel that because it’s online, these micro-aggressions are even more acceptable due to the assumed free-reign of cyberspace.
Your observation about unnoticed micro-aggressions is definitely valid, and lately there has been a lot of attention brought to well-meaning but thoughtless remarks like some of those seen in the video. What might be even more difficult to recognize as racist though are the moments of white people making physical contact without any sort of prompting from their African American friends. It comes up a few times in the video, which definitely highlighted the unacceptability of the such an action, making it seem insensitive and dehumanizing.
This is an interesting observation about racial micro-aggression. One thing I have thought about with many of the examples brought up in the blog posts and in the Senft and Noble’s reading as well is the peculiar fact that we realize these underlying phenomenons through video memes like “Stuff (Blank) Say”. I shouldn’t be surprised, as this doesn’t really break from history, but it is nonetheless interesting that these videos (some posted in pure jest, others with more of a political suggestion) really poke at people’s consciousness. We laugh but then we step back and think “Wow…I have said that before.” It’s interesting to me that the affordance of video platforms like Youtube have acted on a seriously political level.
Your piece reminded me of an article I read yesterday while at the YRL library. The article was about how millennials have forgotten that racism exists. While I didn’t fully agree with the article in regards to our generation believing racism in the younger age demographic is gone, the article highlighted how we now see more spectrum when it comes to the media. Your piece also reminded me of all of the remakes that this video is related to. One that I connected with was called “Shit white people say to Latinos”. It just goes to show that while extreme racism may be dying down, blunt and “casual” racism is alive and well.