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Friday, April 6, 2018

Scholastic Spotlight:Tawnee Laducer


Prisoners of Culture

Honorable Mention

Author: Tawnee Laducer
9th Grade

Educator: Caitlin Johnson
Belcourt

Racism. A word I thought I would never truly understand, because I’m not African-American. That ended up being true until I was fourteen, being called a “prairie nigger,” in a white-populated town, not too far from my own hometown. To this day, I still don’t understand why the students planned on saying that. Whether they wanted me to get angry or be embarrassed, I was definitely both. One, I was frustrated. I thought to myself, “They don’t even know me. Why would they say that?” Secondly, I was so embarrassed. I was embarrassed to be Native American. Why? I don’t know. I hadn’t done anything wrong. Shortly after this little experience, my English class started to read the incredible story of John Howard Griffin. An exquisite and brave Caucasian man who documented two months of his life traveling down to the deep South as a man who had went through many changes to have the opportunity to document his case in the early 60’s. Of course, the South was the worst place for Africans to be living and/ or visiting at this time. He talked about his experiences there, and that is what sparked my imagination to start writing about my own experiences. I didn’t realize how interested in the huge race issue I was until I started reading and discussing this book to my peers, family, teachers, or really anyone that would give me five minutes of their time.
To be honest, I never really had heard or even seen racism happening to the people next to or by me. I’ve seen it all over the Internet, but never face-to-face...until it actually happened to me. It came as a real big shock then. I was skeptical before. Ignorant, maybe. If a teacher would tell us that we would be doing a unit on racism in the 60s-70s, I would give the biggest sigh and be annoyed that I would constantly have to recover this topic every single year. Though I’d get through the lessons and discussions eventually, I was never seriously interested. Maybe when I experienced what I did, it opened my eyes are showed me that these things really do happen, and not just to the African-American people you see on Facebook, but also to the people in my community.
I guess my main purpose for this paper is just to spread the word that racism is real, and it probably will still be a huge issue twenty years from now. That is, unless we try to do something about it. I don’t know who will be reading this paper, but I hope that whoever it is, never has to experience it first hand, or is not personally giving it out to anyone. No one would ever need to feel self-conscious about their own skin color.
When most people hear the word “racism” they automatically think it’s about African-Americans. Yes, Africans are more prone to experience it, but that doesn’t mean that Native Americans, Latin Americans, Muslims, basically any race that isn’t white (minorities), don’t experience it as well. They do, and it is a very real, raw thing to go through. Now, I’m not blaming white people, because it’s definitely not all of them. Majority of the time though, white culture is the originator of the problem. For example, Donald Trump recently called Elizabeth Warren, the U.S. Senator of Massachusetts, “Pocahontas” because she claims to be of Native American descent. Trump called Warren that name using a degrading tone of voice. Pocahontas is actually a lady of Native American descent, who had been a crucial part to the white man being in North America. He belittled a whole race of people, when he knows next to nothing about them. Trump called her that name not once, but twice. One of the two times, he actually had the audacity to call her that in front of the Navajo code talkers. It might not even sound like that big of a deal to most people, but to someone that is Native American, it feels really ignominious. This is only one of the millions of treacherous facts about things that happen and are brushed off like it has no significant meaning to anyone that isn't Native, almost as if we aren’t really human.
I read on 7 Statistics That Will Change How You View Racism, that employers are more likely to not hire potential job applicants if the applicants have a “Black” name, which is a name that isn't considered to be appropriate for a white man. Isn’t that disappointing? Imagine not getting picked for your dream job based on your name, which you had no control over whatsoever. In Griffin’s book, every little detail about how he lived and got treated in the South all came down to one thing. What was that one thing you may ask? His skin color. Say, for example, you were to ask someone, of color, if they believed that the changes and laws and rights that were made for people of color, changed anything, I bet they would say no. Personally, I know I would say no. Yes, there have been things that have changed, in good ways, but there are also things that are still occurring today and no one is doing a single thing about it.
Did you ever hear of Cyntoia Brown? She's an African American girl whom was put into prison, because she killed someone. Now, you're probably thinking, how is that unfair? Well, she was sex- trafficked, and is now being punished for defending herself from one of the guys that had “purchased” her. This case actually happened around ten years ago, but is now being brought out into the light, because of all the fame her case has brought to social media recently. Kim Kardashian, for example, saw Brown’s case and she called her lawyers, because she knew that what the system was doing for her was wrong in so many ways. Rihanna also spoke on Brown’s half. Why? Because people know that it is so wrong and that our system, isn't being fair to a lady of color. If Cyntoia’s case doesn't change, she will be eligible for parole when she is sixty-nine years old! This happened to her around the age of fourteen. She was raped and drugged for countless of days. She finally got the courage to shoot the forty-three year old man who had “purchased her.” She somehow gets the blame? On the other hand, the man who had attained her was let off with no consequences. It is things like this that make us question our justice system.
It’s crazy reading about all these different people and cases about most white people not getting treated the same. A lot of time, the Caucasians are more susceptible to winning their case. Often, the Caucasians don’t see it as much more than having a strong point, but a lot of other people view it as ‘white privilege.’ This is why a lot of white people don’t necessarily experience racism or believe it to be a real occurrence in today’s society. Obviously, not every Caucasian has the same views or thoughts on racism, which is why we can’t categorize them all into having ‘white privilege’ or being a racist.
There is nothing individuals can do about racism by themselves, but if everyone works together, things could seriously change for the best. If you feel moved or inspired to do something about racism, and are asking yourself what you could do to take action, there are so many opportunities that will stand in your way. Whether the problem has something to do with you, or if it has to do with your fellow neighbor, family, friend, or even just someone you might pass by. Don’t be afraid to stick up for them. It’s a horrific thing for anyone to go through, whether they have been through it a million times or not, it still hurts them, I guarantee it. Growing up in a society with constant brawls and arguments all over the news about race, it starts to take an effect on you too. I grew up in this age. You don’t really get to form your own opinion about much of anything. You’re either categorized into the people who are considered to be “right” or the people who are “wrong.” It shouldn’t have to be a constant battle with people that are learning, growing, and experiencing all the same things as you, despite skin color. Like John Howard Griffin once wrote, “We shall remain prisoners of culture unless we become aware of the process and force ourselves to confront it and to reprogram it” (Griffin, 1960).




References

Griffin, John Howard. Black Like Me. New American Library, 1960.

“Seven Statistics That Will Change How You View Racism.” The Odyssey Online, 11 Nov.
2017.

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