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Racism in The Color of Fear Essay

Decent Essays

Racism in The Color of Fear

Let’s start with the definition of racism. Racism refers to the belief that race is the primary determinant of human capacities, that a certain race is inherently superior or inferior to others, and/or that individuals should be treated differently based on their ascribed race.

There are two main issues in the movie the “The Color of Fear” that I will discuss. These two issues include grouping people of color on the basis of the way one looks, and the attitudes of different races towards one another. Including also the idea that the white “do-gooder” feels that subconsciously racism is being taken care of, when in all reality it isn’t. The eight men in The Color of Fear candidly discussed racism not …show more content…

It is important that if one wants to understand a race that they have to have an openness towards that culture.

Depending on where someone lives also plays a large part on why they group by color. In the movie there were two Whites, two Asians, and two Blacks. They were all mostly from the west, and only portrayed the racism that is felt in that area. All over the United States racism differs, but grouping still emerges. It is natural for groups of people that feel close to one another to stick together. This is shown by how areas of cities will be predominately black, Asian, Hmong, Mexican or White. The colored men in the movie had difficulties with grouping. They mainly felt that whites needed to group outsiders that didn’t look white. One of the Asian men stated that he felt only white was American. He had troubles with how the white man would start to let in other cultures, but then in turn expected other races to give up their cultures to become American. The colored man does not want to give his identity to become apart of the white group, he feels that to end racism we should not have to all be the same.

Another issue in the movie was attitudes. All races have attitudes towards people that are not like their own, whether they are good or bad. Attitudes I believe are connected with experiences. What one experiences with another race can affect the way their attitude is towards them.

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