For those of you who were not able to attend this event, boy did you miss out!
To give you a little context, Students Promoting Ethnic And Cultural Kinship (SPEACK), in collaboration with lots of other campus organizations, put on this event in which we looked at some of our favorite childhood television cartoons and animated movies from a more race-conscious perspective. Four professors sat on a panel to discuss some of the images shown and answer questions from the audience about the consequences of living in a racialized society.
The program started off with attempting to quiet a room over over 100 people. The video did just the trick, featuring video clips from movies and cartoons such as: Dumbo, Aladdin, Mulan, Snow White, Pocahontas, Captain Planet, and The Simpsons. Each clip focused on a scene that was racialized, but most would not notice the racial subtleties. For example, a scene in Dumbo featured faceless black characters who were working and sining. When we were little, this scene seemed fun because they panned to a young Dumbo trying to help them and he did not make much of a difference. Looking at it years later, you might notice the fact that this scene was very similar to the minstrel shows we spoke about in class last week. Another clip shown was from Captain Planet. It was interesting to see people chant “GO PLANET” before realizing some of the underlying issues associated with the clips. Many don’t notice the subtleties of this particular show; for instance, the boy from India powers Heart and the boy from Africa powers Earth.
One thing that stood out to me was looking out into the audience during the viewing, I was able to watch as people got excited about the scene that they were most familiar with. They would first get excited, and then they would notice the problematic elements of the scene and suddenly become much more reserved.
After the clips were shown, professors Hazel Markus (Psychology & CSRE), Al Camarillo (History), Matthew Snipp (Sociology & CSRE), and Paula Moya (English) provided great commentary on the clips and on how the subtle messages bleed into the way we view the world around us. Professors Markus and Moya have taught numerous classes and published articles expanding the concept of race to get students to understand that race happens all around us. Race is something that is seen by others and used to influence how they will interact with you; race is not an accessory that you can put on or take off, but something that is done both individually and societally.
Questions came from the audience about the function of race in media (they should have taken the class!) and how we might respond to the subtle messages that are found in a large amount of todays media. Admitting that this is quite a challenge to take on, the professors asked that we just allow ourselves to see those messages and acknowledge the implications they have on society. It is easy to view Pocahantas as a strong, Native woman, but understand that her image does not accurately portray Native American women. In fact, there are studies to show they her image has negative psychological effects on young Native girls.
Some take away points: It is always difficult to be the person who brings up race but instead of seeing it as being “too sensitive,” see it as “being informative.” Should you find yourself in a situation in which you don’t know something about another group, approach it with an open mind.
For anyone who missed the program, it was recorded and you may be able to get a copy. For any questions, comments, or concerns regarding this program or general information about SPEACK, feel free to email stanfordspeack@gmail.com.
I’d love to hear what others have to say about this post, about the program or anything at all. BLOG AWAY!
And it’s those subtleties that are often the most dangerous, a way to normalize the pathologies and stereotypical depictions. A site that might be of interest to you and folks in class is the Race Project. Check it out. http://www.understandingrace.com/
For those of you who were not able to attend this event, boy did you miss out!
To give you a little context, Students Promoting Ethnic And Cultural Kinship (SPEACK), in collaboration with lots of other campus organizations, put on this event in which we looked at some of our favorite childhood television cartoons and animated movies from a more race-conscious perspective. Four professors sat on a panel to discuss some of the images shown and answer questions from the audience about the consequences of living in a racialized society.
The program started off with attempting to quiet a room over over 100 people. The video did just the trick, featuring video clips from movies and cartoons such as: Dumbo, Aladdin, Mulan, Snow White, Pocahontas, Captain Planet, and The Simpsons. Each clip focused on a scene that was racialized, but most would not notice the racial subtleties. For example, a scene in Dumbo featured faceless black characters who were working and sining. When we were little, this scene seemed fun because they panned to a young Dumbo trying to help them and he did not make much of a difference. Looking at it years later, you might notice the fact that this scene was very similar to the minstrel shows we spoke about in class last week. Another clip shown was from Captain Planet. It was interesting to see people chant “GO PLANET” before realizing some of the underlying issues associated with the clips. Many don’t notice the subtleties of this particular show; for instance, the boy from India powers Heart and the boy from Africa powers Earth.
One thing that stood out to me was looking out into the audience during the viewing, I was able to watch as people got excited about the scene that they were most familiar with. They would first get excited, and then they would notice the problematic elements of the scene and suddenly become much more reserved.
After the clips were shown, professors Hazel Markus (Psychology & CSRE), Al Camarillo (History), Matthew Snipp (Sociology & CSRE), and Paula Moya (English) provided great commentary on the clips and on how the subtle messages bleed into the way we view the world around us. Professors Markus and Moya have taught numerous classes and published articles expanding the concept of race to get students to understand that race happens all around us. Race is something that is seen by others and used to influence how they will interact with you; race is not an accessory that you can put on or take off, but something that is done both individually and societally.
Questions came from the audience about the function of race in media (they should have taken the class!) and how we might respond to the subtle messages that are found in a large amount of todays media. Admitting that this is quite a challenge to take on, the professors asked that we just allow ourselves to see those messages and acknowledge the implications they have on society. It is easy to view Pocahantas as a strong, Native woman, but understand that her image does not accurately portray Native American women. In fact, there are studies to show they her image has negative psychological effects on young Native girls.
Some take away points: It is always difficult to be the person who brings up race but instead of seeing it as being “too sensitive,” see it as “being informative.” Should you find yourself in a situation in which you don’t know something about another group, approach it with an open mind.
For anyone who missed the program, it was recorded and you may be able to get a copy. For any questions, comments, or concerns regarding this program or general information about SPEACK, feel free to email stanfordspeack@gmail.com.
I’d love to hear what others have to say about this post, about the program or anything at all. BLOG AWAY!
And it’s those subtleties that are often the most dangerous, a way to normalize the pathologies and stereotypical depictions. A site that might be of interest to you and folks in class is the Race Project. Check it out. http://www.understandingrace.com/