Question #1: The racism exhibited by the cop (Matt Dillon) with the TV show producer’s wife was incredibly sickening because he took advantage of her, and was basically mocking her, for she did not do anything wrong or worth being checked for. But because of her race, he felt it was okay, or necessary for himself to behave the way he did. The cops intentions were also just be to cruel, because he accused the TV show producer of drinking, when in fact he had no proof at all, and then for the wife, even though she had been drinking, still had to check her even though she wasn’t driving.
Question #2: When the store owner and his daughter were trying to buy bullets, the main behind the counter was simply mocking them and their culture. And because the store owner couldn’t speak English very well, the man behind the counter was making fun of him and getting angry. And even when the daughter decided on a box, he assumed she didn’t know what she was doing. Also, when the white cop was in the car with the black man who was hitchhiking, he assumed he was going to pull out a gun, so he shot the black man. And the black man was only going to pull out the same figurine.
Question #3: When the TV show producer said to the young man in his car, “You embarrass me; you embarrass yourself,” what he meant by this was that if Ludacris acts the way he does, which is stealing and crime, then he is just making a worse image for all African Americans, because the TV show producer understands that they are living in a racist society. And this statement affected Ludacris because he even understood that he was discriminated against in the beginning when he was talking to his pal about Jean who inched closer to her husband when they walked by them. But he still attacked them and stole their car, which was making their accusations true (even though not all of the African Americans behaved this way).
Question #4: People that look at others and see their whole race instead of that specific individual could be because they may have had bad experiences with more than one of that certain race, so they assume that they all are the same. But It does not even give that individual a chance to show who they really are. It could be because they are just scared, like in the movie Crash, when Jean (Sandra Bullock) had a gun held to her head by a black man and then got her car stolen. So I could see why she would be scared of him, but it is completely wrong to generalize a whole race based on his only actions. And besides, she was just racist as a person because she even thought the man, whom was Hispanic/Latino, was going to steal a key to the lock he was fixing on the door.
Question #5: Is it natural (within our genes) to be racist? I highly disagree with this, because I feel that it’s natural for anyone who they have grown up with or lived with to feel safe around them, meaning if it is the same race or not, but it is not natural to be born and have hatred towards other races, just because of their skin color. Our genes are what make us look the way we are, it does not affect the way we think of others.
Question #6: Race is learned by defining what the color of one’s skin. It is nothing more than one pair of genes. And the types of racial messages that people get from their family would depend on how one family’s viewpoints are of other races. But regardless, if you are born into a family that is racist, it is very easy for you to become the same way, or exactly the opposite, I feel. Because your family’s influence on your, as your growing up and maturing, can highly impact the way you think. Now, the media now-a-days have created an image of all types of beautiful races. Our society today in American is much less racist than it was 60 years ago.
Question #7: It is hard to tell in this world who is racist and who is not, because some people are racist, but are quiet about it. But this means that we are at a point in our generation where everyone is getting more along with everyone and not judging by the color of one’s skin. So personally, I think that here in America is it possible because we have lived through so many important times where African Americans, American Indians, and even women, have fought for the freedom of being only one thing. Equal. But I have to say, it is easier for America to become less racist every year, every day, because our country is filled with different races that we live with each day. But as for the rest of the world, I believe the only way for everyone to be non-racist is for races to be mixed and living together.
