Final blog post

The era we are living in is surrounded by social media. The biggest concern is that social media creates polarization. The era we are living in is the era of social media and political activism as a trend. The era of social media is showing that people will support political activism the moment it becomes important to the world. However when time passes it no longer becomes of importance to people. 

A big example of this is the Black Lives Matter movement. The movement was centered around fighting for justice for black people and trying to fight for justice and equality. Once the movement moved to social media it became a trend of political activism for attention without truly caring for the issue at hand which is police brutality in the black community. 

The biggest takeaway from our discussion as a class when we spoke about Black lives matter was that to myself and other classmates of color is that black lives matter is more than a movement it’s the way we live our lives everyday navigating the world. In closing I believe our class discussion opened my eyes to many different perspectives of the world. 

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner reaction

The film Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner is about an interracial couple Joanna Drayton and John Prentice. The marriage between Joanna and John is innocent and sweet. However, the perspective of their love is interesting to see, because Joanna never had any concerns about being in an interracial relationship because she was only concerned with being in love, she never once thought about John being a Black man. Whereas John was concerned with Joey’s parents' reactions and the ones of the world. 

The film also focuses on the differences in race discrepancies between Joanna and John's fathers. The fathers of the film were the biggest obstacle in the relationship, because they claimed it was irrational for their children to be together however it was all based on their differences in race, and it was damaging to the relationship that Joanna and John had formed all because they couldn’t put aside their differences to see the bigger picture that love is the only thing that matters. 

I also enjoyed how the film used comedic relief to sugar coat the original awkwardness of Joey and John’s relationship. The film shows that many characters make jokes to relieve the racial tension. My favorite comedic joke was spoken by Tilly when she was asked by Joanna “Who’s Coming to Dinner” and her response was Martin Luther King Jr. The film was well written in expressing the different perspectives of interracial dating especially from certain people in the Black community, because it’s seen as a questionable act to date outside of your race. A great example of that in the film is when John’s father makes the comment that he’s never made a mistake like that before as if choosing to love someone different than you is a mistake, which can translate years later into the black community in this day and age. 

Klansville USA

              

Klansville USA was a documentary about the second uprising of the KKK in Southern states after the civil rights movement. However, the documentary also focused on the KKK activity in the state of North Carolina. The charter organizer for one chapter of the klan in North Carolina was Bob Jones. He was a prominent member of the klan even before his birth. His parents were klan members and his mother participated in a klan parade while pregnant with him. The klan was seen as a birthright to Bob. Bob’s birthright into the klan was officially certified when he became a grand dragon in Raleigh, North Carolina. 

The moment Bob Jones became a grand dragon, he increased the size of the klan in North Carolina. The size of the klan went from a small group to a few hundred thousand in a matter of years. The state of North Carolina had the largest klan population in the capital of Raleigh. The greatest accomplishment Bob wanted to be known for was the rise of the klan in North Carolina, so much so that he petitioned for a klan in every area of the state. The biggest reason for Bob’s actions were fear of integration and finally black people being considered equal. 

Bob’s petition for klansman groups was earning justification because the members of the klan were fueled by the same racist energy that Bob held in his heart. The argument made by the klan was always centered around the inferiority of black people being so low that being in the same area with white people was seen as criminal.  The argument was always a weak leg to stand on, but it’s how the kkk survived and thrived. 

In closing, the Klansville USA video showed the true feelings of the South and the threat it felt when faced with integration and the fear it spread throughout racist white people everywhere. The kkk is a terrorist organization that thrived off of the harm it caused towards black people and the video showed the true motives behind the actions, with the biggest motivator being fear of change.  

 

Hazel Scott

Hazel Scott was born in Trinidad in the 1920’s. She later moved to Harlem, New York as a child. She grew up in a musical and intelligent household with her mother being trained as a pianist and her father who was a scholar. Hazel followed in her mother’s footsteps and became a pianist. Hazel following in her mother’s footsteps led her to become a prodigy and private student at Julliard at the age of 8. The beginning of Hazel’s piano career occurred when the great depression hit.

Hazel Scott was an inventive individual who became a powerhouse throughout her teenage years. Her big career moment happened at nineteen with the help of Billie Holiday. Hazel Scott’s career skyrocketed at the Cafe Society which was New York’s most popular integrated nightclub. Hazel was known to perform classical pieces with a jazzy twist. She was determined to avoid any circumstances of her venues being segregated. When she would arrive at her venue and notice segregated areas, she would decide to opt out of performing at that location. 

This provided Hazel with an opportunity to develop an acting career. She refused to accept  any demeaning roles. Hazel refused to back down from her morals to demean Black women. The movies she played in were done in the early 40’s and late 50’s. The power held by Hazel Scott was so influential that any role she accepted accompanied requirements for the producers to accommodate.  The most important demand she ever made was done in the film “The Heat’s On”. The film was a sendoff to soldiers in the military, however it still found a way to demean black women by having them wear dirty aprons to appear disheveled. Hazel disagreed with the message the film was sending to audiences. She said she would not lend her performances to the film if the costumes were not changed. The director originally met Hazel’s demands with disdain, before changing his mind. 

Hazel’s career was a whirlwind full of impact. Throughout her career in film and music, she also fought for equal civil rights and she was able to find love through her activism. She found love with Adam Clayton Powell who was an activist and pastor. Adam and Hazel began an affair, because he was married at the time, but four days after his divorce they married in 1944 and two years later Hazel gave birth to their son Adam Clayton Powell the third. Hazel’s marriage was thriving for some time, but when the marriage dissolved she moved to Paris to leave her old life behind and get away from the racism and discrimination she faced in the US. She lived out the rest of her life in Paris, before she returned back to the US in the late 60’s to see that her time of fame had faded into the background with the uprising of new music from rock and roll artists. Hazel Scott lived out the rest of her days in the US, before dying of cancer in 1981.   

EOTO reaction: Redlining

The redlining was what stood out to me the most from the EOTO presentation. The redlining stood out because it was the start of low income housing and denying equal housing opportunities to black people. The redlining of districts was created to condense the area where black people lived and keep them from encroaching on other living districts. The process of redlining was showing the reality of housing discrimination. For example, the areas where the district lines on maps were shown in blue were the areas with money and a higher chance of receiving a loan for housing consideration. The other districts that were deemed acceptable for loan consideration were the yellow and green areas. The housing areas that were considered unacceptable for loan consideration were the red areas. The areas that were red earned the title of redlining. 

The housing districts were separated into colors as explained above but the creation of said districting allowed for loan discrimination and terrible living conditions for people of color. The housing areas that did not qualify for loans became known as low-income housing that gained the reputation of being commonly known as housing for black people. The housing discrimination was determined to keep black people in an inferior position. The housing loan redlining had programs known as the Home Owners Loan Corporation and the Federal Housing Administration which made paying for loans and mortgages more accessible and reasonable to pay. The services were offered for most people; however minorities were excluded because they were seen as a risk in terms of credit. 

In closing, the struggles that were faced by these minority groups are still present in this current day, but it is done in a different way. Redlining still exists and is termed government housing. The truth of redlining was to discriminate and put all people of color in a place of inferiority. It also attempted to try and keep them from moving up in economic status. This was kept in place for years, before becoming illegal in 1968 with the passing of the Fair Housing Act.

                                                          

  Sources

                                    redlining | discrimination | Britannica

  A 'Forgotten History' Of How The U.S. Government Segregated America : NPR

Redlining was outlawed in 1968. Here's how the practice is still hurting Black Americans. - CBS News