Prejudice in Race

 

          One of the most important concepts that has marked the history of race has been the prejudice that people have with people of different races. In the past, African Americans were treated as inferior and were all considered to be the same. Whites did not see any difference between two African American individuals. This is criticized in the video “Race: The Power of an Illusion” when it shows, with evidence, that there is more difference among people of the same race than there is among people of different races. This completely disproves the argument that all African Americans are identical. In addition, it is important to highlight a very influential idea that was pointed out in this video which was that the concept of a Black individual varies depending of the country in which the individual is. The concept of a Black individual has been greatly generalized with the American view; however, this is not necessarily true in all cases, since different cultures view concepts differently.

            In the portion of Song of Solomon that I read, I found it very interesting to observe a situation that related to this topic. This can be seen when it is said, “They stop anybody they want to. They saw you was colored, that’s all. And they’re looking for the Negro that killed that boy” (p. 204). In this case, one can clearly see the stereotype that African Americans have in that community. The police just assumes that the killer is black and therefore starts stopping and searching any African American that he sees. These type of thoughts are guided solely by the external differences among Blacks and Whites, but they are omitting the internal differences, which in many cases are the most important. Finally, it is crucial to point out that Blacks are treated as a whole in the community, disregarding the differences inside their genes and personality and this is exactly what the book and the video are criticizing and trying to make their audiences aware of.