Racism is a dilemma that has haunt humanity for centuries. From slavery to discrimination, it has loomed over society like an everlasting smog; a toxic cloud corrupting the mindset of individuals. Although numerous attempts have been made to erode racism, obstacles still remain for the people of color.

The biggest source of knowledge for a modern society is the media. Studies in 2016 showed that 62% of American adults rely on social media such as Facebook and Twitter to obtain news. As we all know, in modern society, people also rely on films, such as documentaries and historical movies to learn about the past. Now one may ask, is this really a bad thing? Yes, technology has made it easy for information to be accessed, to be learned, but at the same time knowledge acquired through technology, through media has its downfalls. How many times has a person from a different culture attempt to write about the history, the perspective of people he did not know or grew up with, or even share the same culture with? This concern was shared by Claudia Rankine in her article “On Whiteness and the Racial Imaginary.” She continued on to say that, people, such as white people, proceed to write about others such as black individuals. She says although that it is not necessarily a bad thing for authors to voice their imagination, it is also wrong. It “is to make a mistake. It is to begin the conversation in the wrong place,”(Rankine and Loffreda).  She further stated that “our imagination are creatures as limited as we ourselves are.” People’s imagination is limited to what they know as an individual. People can’t accurately depict history simply through their imagination. People can’t play the role of historical figures without experiencing the pain, and suffering of those figures. People using imagination to show their perspective on cultures and history they do not fully understand is an issue.
 

1 thought on “

  1. Useful summary of the main idea of the piece. I’d like to hear more about where the “right place” to begin the conversation might be, in Rankine/Loffreda’s view. They get a little vague here, and it takes a bit of speculation on the part of readers to think through it.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.