November 26, 2012

The "Other" in 21st Century

The question was brought up in class who or what could be the "other" in the 21st century and this question was complicated to me because the 21st century has had a time when women were othered, African Americans and people from the middle east. Women were the other when Hilary Clinton was running for President and this brought out the bias of people who did not agree with a women being president. when 9/11 happened the middle eastern people became a automatic enemy depsite their accomplishments as Americans and them being individuals. When Obama became president of the U.S many people believed the African Americans being an "other" had been erased because he was a good speech maker, but when looking at "racial alienation with economic alienation (Gates 6)" it can be seen that African Americans are still the "other" in the 21st century. I say this because they are still the minority in businesses and they have reserved beds in prisons waiting for them. As a people, they are not respected enough in any industry and it is still believed that "black people are regelated to a lower place in the great chain of being (Gates 8)." Black people are still dealing with this 'trap' Gates discusses as being "inversion 'race' as a term for an essence (Gates 13)" and "indenture (Gates 13)."

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Are we not all in "servitude".. to acclimate.. at least try, one an"other" to one "another".. what keeps us congregated is rejection, or ejection from what we've attempted to transcend into. Black on Black gets Blacker.

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.