Blog #5

Both "Monster" and "Incognegro" focused on the advantage of race and how it can affect the mindset of people.  In "Monster" the jury's ability to look past Steve's race is constantly in question and it is implied that they see him as just another black criminal.  "Incognegro" is interesting because it provides the view point of two men who get the perks of being white but are actually African American. 

In the book monster one quote stood out to me above all others, when Steve told his mom that "its not about race."  He said this to her after she asked him if she should have hired a black lawyer.  While reading this I felt happy about Steve acknowledging that he was in his predicament not because he was black, but because he was involved with a robbery/ homicide.  After reading the novel "Incognegro" I was exposed to the viewpoint of an African American who was pale and able to get the same perks as a white man.  After seeing the way that Carl was praised as a white man and then hung one discovered to secretly be black, I realized more than ever the perks that came along with being white during that time period.  The videos we watched of the kids destroying the car forced me to see that white advantage does still exist to an extent.  What surprised me the most was that some people laughed about the white kids destroying the car.  At the same time another person called the called the cops on black kids for sleeping in a car. This reminded me a bit of how Carl was loved by the southern people when they thought he was white, but hung after they discovered the truth.  Looking back on what Steve said to his mother about it not being about race; it seems that while his predicament was not because of his race, the way it was being handled may have had something to do with it.  Overall the two books and the video did a good job of creating awareness about racial advantage.

Are All People Equal?

One of the questions asked to the class was "are all people equal?"  The truth is that people are not all equal.  There are small people. There are tall people. There are smart people. There are not so smart people.  Race should never be the determining factor for anything, and it bothers me that it some times is.  A few years ago I was working for a clothing company that was required to meet a racial quota.  I was informed that my hours were going to be cut in half because they needed to hire somone that was a minority and that the person would be taking some of my hours.  At first I thought it was not such a bad idea, that is until the guy who was hired turned out to be an extremely bad worker.  The guy was not a bad worker because he was black, he was a bad worker because he was lazy.  While I realize that racial quotas in the work place are meant to prevent racism, they actually promote it.  My first thoughts after having my hours cut so that I could be replaced by some one who is taking advantage of a system were definitely not "Oh my! I feel so thankful that the government provides equal oppurtunities to all people!" The idea that I am trying to get at is that people should not be treated equal, they should be evaluated and hired based off of their skills and attributes which would make them valuable to a company.  Race should make no difference.  I propose equal rights, not a system that gives advantages based on race.