I chose to read the article Dear Fellow White People by Rebecca Haines. In this article the author did a really good job pulling you into the article immediately because she just starts off so intense right away. In this article the author talks about when white people get offended when someone calls them racist when they think they didn't do anything racist and claim because they have black friends they possibly can't be racist. She mentions racial biases that white people have that they might not notice is racist and she goes into what they can do to fix that. So she goes into some steps of what white people should when they get called racist instead of just getting defensive. Step one is to stay in the moment and recognize that what matters most is what just happened, step two is to remember the broader context, step three is to stay calm and ask for clarification, step four is really listen to then answers you receive, and step five is to express gratitude then use it as motivation to work on yourself. The author did a really great job on educating in this article but also being able to connect with the reader and trying to make them understand their wrongs without being too mean about it, in the end she says "Being a white anti-racist ally isn't easy, but it's important. Anyone can rise to the challenge - and pay it forward."
I don't know why but this really makes me think of the show Dear White People on Netflix. This show is about a group of black college students that have a radio/podcast show where they talk about the racial bias they see on campus from white students and they give advice to white students on what they can do to fix that. It's similar to the article because they make white students notice what they are doing is wrong because the students think it's fine and they go deeper into how what they are doing is affecting them and that they need to fix their behavior and actions. It's a pretty good show.
Hains, Rebecca. “Perspective | Dear Fellow White People: Here's What to Do When You're Called Racist.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 23 Aug. 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/dear-fellow-white-people-heres-what-to-do-when-youre-called-racist/2019/08/20/6e31941a-beda-11e9-b873-63ace636af08_story.html.
Hello Amina,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you on how well the article was written. The author does an amazing job pulling the audience in from the beginning. I believe that writing style and approach is extremely important when trying to educate an extremely sensitive topic. She included a lot of reassures for her readers that might have been called a racist, which is important in order to get through to them. Do you think the author was trying to reach a certain age group of audience based on her writing?
I have not heard of the show you mentioned, but It sounds really good! I am adding it to my Netflix binge list.