Emily Dion- Four ways to talk about race and Louis CK

"I'm not saying that white people are better. I'm saying that being white is clearly better."- Louis CK

In the Bonilla-Silva piece, there are 4 ways to talk about race that are mentioned.  These ways are actually racist in themselves.

The first frame, Abstract Liberalism, puts an emphasis on mediocrity and discounts history.  It basically pretends the past never happened, but as well all know there is always something we can learn from the past.  This frame obscures reality by equaling the playing field.  I find the idea of equal opportunity to be good on paper, but the way it has been implemented in the US has not served its intended purpose.  The idea that the best candidate will be hired for a position is not true in the US.  The fact still remains that getting a job most of the time regards who you know, not what qualifications you have.  Because of economic stratification in the US, not everyone has an 'equal opportunity' to find connections in the job market.

The second frame, naturalization, assumes that people of like race gravitate towards like people as a means to justify self segregation.  This is not accurate in my opinion because people don't necessarily base their living situation on where like people. Most people, in my experience, base that decision on economic feasibility.   It just so happens that because of our country's past discrimination of minorities that many minorities find themselves in a state of economic inferiority thus resulting in cheap housing as the only option.

The third frame, cultural racism,  equates culture and race.  It claims that people act negatively because it's in their culture to do so. This frame uses negative stereotypes to justify racism.  Can I just say that this is bologna? I am a firm believer that we are a product of our environment but that doesn't mean that our environment, or culture, is to blame for our personal actions whether they be negative or positive. Only the individual can be held responsible for their actions, not an entire culture or race.

The fourth frame, minimization, claims "it's not as bad as it seems" and involves the idea of "pulling the race card".  From previous class discussions, and my own personal beliefs, I find this to not be the case.  If we marginalize a problem nothing will come of it.  By making it seem as if we don't have tensions with race in our country (like when the media was saying our nation is post race because we elected a black president)  only makes matters worse. We need to talk about problems, address differences, and fight for change otherwise things will remain the same.

My favorite comedian, Louis CK, constantly references racial injustice in his stand up.  He points out that inequality exists even though we believe that it doesn't.  By using  a comedic approach, he can expose racial problems in a way that doesn't make people feel uncomfortable.  I feel that this clip references many of the topics that were discussed in the Silva piece. Be warned, there is some explicit language.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CmzT4OV-w0

My question is, do you think that even when we do recognize racial inequality as a common occurrence in our society will anyone step up to do anything about it? Will we have another civil rights revolution, or will things remain constant?