Jack Gabrilowitz, Blog Post #6, Tatum: Defining Racism

  

   Throughout the text, Beverly Daniel Tatum discusses the importance of recognizing not only what racism is, but also how it plays a role in our everyday society. We learn from the text that for the most part people do not actively have racist attitudes towards others. However, much of what we are taught about others is distorted in some type of way. For instance, in text, Tatum describes the example of the preschoolers drawing Native Americans. The way they knew how to visualize them was with a feather head-dress with weapons such as a bow or an axe in their hand. This is not how all Native Americans appear, but the preschoolers did not know that. They did not have outwardly racist attitudes. But they had to have gathered this information from somewhere. It turned out that the source of their information came from the popular movie "Peter Pan." This is important to keep in mind because it shows how popular media can shape the way we think about others. Racism should be avoided for obvious reasons, but what some do not experience is the part of internalized oppression. Tatum tells the reader that this is when an individual in a stereotyped group internalizes the stereotypical categories about his or her group. This leads to false narratives being written about a person which only leads to more hate and ignorance. 

    Racism however, is more than just an ideology. It encompasses aspects such as power and privilege. Someone may not outwardly be racist but they may benefit from systematic advantages more than others. For instance, whites have a greater access to jobs and housing.  Advantages such as these must be recognized. Sometimes, it is not always easy to consider, but as Tatum describes, it is something that must be done in order to promote justice. One way we can go about doing this is by acknowledging its existence. This is seen as the first step. Then, Tatum tells us that we must ask ourselves questions that make us think about how to approach a situation in order to take appropriate action. 

         Finally, the video we watched as homework entitled Precious Knowledge highlighted instances of unfair treatment towards individuals living in a Hispanic community. There was one girl who described what it was like being what is called a "Chicano." She told us how others think of her. This is unfortunately not in the most positive way either. This can be linked to what my group read about Tatum. This is because the girl experienced internalized oppression. 

Here is a link to an article that talks about the systematic advantages of racism in our society. 

https://www.americanprogress.org/article/systematic-inequality/