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Dear White People Blog Post

Dear White People was an incredibly enlightening film that possesses various connections and ties to modern-day society and culture. While there are countless examples of Racism in the film, I found the most interesting to be the racial bias that Winchester utilized while hiring the Dean and President of the University. While the two attended the same university, the Dean, a Black man, graduated with honors and outstanding grades whereas the president, a White man, barely graduated. While this scenario is moderately cliche, as the dramatic effect is necessary for films, the principle remains true as there is racial discrimination in the workforce, especially amongst white-collar workers. Historically, Black people have been at a disadvantage and received lower positions and pay than their White counterparts, despite often having reflecting resumes. Also, there have been numerous studies on the influence of names in the workforce, and how racial bias presents itself even with a blind application process. While the country has taken measures to ensure that Black people cannot be discriminated against by unequal pay throughout the job application process; those things continue to endure, putting Black workers at a true disadvantage.

Secondly, I believe that a significant message being conveyed in this story outlines the differences between intention and action. Microaggressions, while not intended to harm POC, can present themselves to be very offensive and frankly, annoying. The conflict at Winchester appeared to be rooted in microaggressions, but the question that I wondered was: were the White people poorly intended, or were they oblivious to the harm that they are causing? To connect the story to my personal life, I often find myself unintentionally committing microaggressions. Whether guessing were people with an accent are from, commenting on someone’s hair, or unintentionally making comments that are offensive; Dear White People opened my eyes to the harms of microaggressions and forced me to look at myself, and spark change. While I am not a racist person and never intend to be racist, I realized that there are instances in time where I have innocently said things that could be taken offensively. While my intentions weren’t bad, the perception of my words could be taken the wrong way, and that was eye-opening to me.

Overall, Dear White People is a wonderful film that provided me with an understanding of how White People can unintentionally cause mental harm to Black people, even if their intentions aren’t meant to do so. Microagressions are a part of society that is often overlooked, but if people make a conscious effort to minimize the number of microaggressions they commit, then society as a whole will feel safer and better off; for people of all color.

 

 

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