DIVERSITY AND RACIAL CONFLICT

Diversity and Racial Conflict

How can we see white and racist aesthetics in our popular culture?

The whites and the racist aesthetics are to a very vast extent influential in the popular culture because they have been the ones dominating both the American and the European aesthetic fields in the 19th and 20th century. The whites dominated the art field because they were deemed to be more educated and were placed at a leisure class. The white racist dominance did not just begun when the world went digital but in the 18th century when the novel arts were just for entertaining the idle whites of the upper class.

The nonwhites did not have access to fine arts and in case some were able to afford to obtain them, the whites did all they could to deny them that chance. Mostly, nonwhites had their job off-breaks on Sundays. For this reason, many fine arts places such as museums were closed on his day just to deny them a chance. Many schools of arts could not admit a non-white, and this made many talents go to waste that is one of the reasons the white and racist aesthetics is so common in the popular culture today. These characteristics have been carried on to date, where the popular culture commercializes the art production of the whites to gain more popularity. The whites dominate many arts such as movies and in case some nonwhites are featured, they are given feeble roles.

Aesthetic is the way people have come to appreciate work, which today has come to be referred to as artistic. The racial domination in the artistic realm has been evident as the popular culture continues to bring out the differences in the white culture and other races portrayed as inferior in the sphere of the society. Many artistic works in the U.S.A. such as music, poetry and films, portray racism by bringing the characters of a particular race as the criminals (villain) while others the antagonists. The artistic composition has taken over the power to model our thoughts on how we view certain people and the standard they have been awarded by the art industry, such as painting, movies, music, and fashion among others. It has created a racial dominance in peoples’ minds as people continue to appreciate art in this popular culture. The characters featured in many art pieces bring out the racial differences and how the discriminations have led people to choose their careers. Many of the whites in the movies are law enforcers and others work in other varied white collar jobs, while the discriminated groups, such as blacks and Hispanics, are villains, who include law breakers and rely on manual jobs and dirty deals such as theft and drugs. This is a clear manifestation of what is in the ground already. The level of both interpersonal racism and institutional is evident and is passed through the media to portray the same to the public. The popular culture has a great impact on how people see others and interpret racial concepts.

Many shows and music aired on the public show some racial discrimination concepts, such as a group of people being inferior in terms of their intellectual capacity, moral and mental functionality. This matter is very sensitive to the people concerned. However, with the modern era, these cases are less portrayed where the balance is brought by using any race including the whites and blacks being either the victims or the offenders. This has brought in balance so that not just one side seems to be discriminated against. The people of the racial minority can also be racists and discriminate against other ethnic groups. The minority group, given a chance can also discriminate against the whites because of the grudge they hold against them.

Are those white and racist aesthetics effectively countered by antiracist aesthetic?

The anti-racial aesthetic is aimed at bringing racial justice to the oppressed. An anti racial artworks in helping people face their oppressors and confront them with courage and with honesty. For instance, many poems were made to mock the whites who were privileged to get into the prestigious Titanic ship and ended up perishing. To the audience, it was meant to confront the American racial history. The white and racist aesthetics are effectively countered by antiracist aesthetic because many artists such as comedian are using humor to break down the stereotypes created by people as well as ridicule racism. This has been a good way of sending a message to those that think they are superior and those that oppress the nonwhites.

The racial discrimination tension in the U.S. is however declining as many people are becoming enlightened with time. Currently, the settings are laid out to provide every individual with equal chances over the varied positions and opportunities in the social, political and economic arena. The concept of individualism, as well as liberalism, has influenced so much the decisions of people concerning the chances life has to offer them. The decisions of an individual determine how they live with their fellow men. This is because if the choices are made to make a person more independent and have a good life, then it is most likely that they do not get to the wrong side of the law where they can easily suggest they are being treated unfairly. Individualistic people thereby, presume that all the racial groups in the U.S. enjoy equal opportunities and rights.

The racial concept is changing with time as people become more modernized and enlightened, which can be proved by the fact that the president of the U.S. is a black man. Nevertheless, the opportunities and resources are not equally distributed, and the poverty levels of some people from a particular race are proof. The Blacks and Hispanic are poorer than their white counterparts and have high rates of unemployment. In as much as the campaigns to eradicate racism in America are trying to call for equality, many continue to suffer due to the interpersonal and institutional racism.

The rise of multiculturalism in America has made it so sensitive when a group of people discriminate against the others. The impacts are felt since the racism concepts are brought out in the songs people listen to, the shows people watch and the live debates people listen to. Detecting the racist aesthetics in the popular culture always requires people to be keen on what is said and note out what and who is missing. The popular culture is the screen that people look into, to have a real feel and knowledge of what is happening at the ground level. The racism practices are shown to the audience, and they become sensitive to the plight they have to go through. For instance, it has been noted that most of the commercials use the whites for their adverts, and other races become so under represented. In most of the technological goods that have more value, the whites are used in their commercial adverts, and this is a major stereotype of the blacks and Hispanic. In addition, most of the live shows and movies with the majority of the superior group, the whites, have gained more popularity and success unlike those of other races.

The racism in popular culture has evidently been portrayed from the historical times. More of the white songs that romanticize white racism gained too much popularity such as ‘Beer for my horse.’ The blacks only feature in the music videos as beggars, criminals, doing manual jobs, engaging in prostitution and many others living in standards that are not so appealing. The aim was to maintain the white supremacy and always keep the group at its superiority standard.

The common saying ‘good old days’ can only be attributed to a certain group that enjoyed all the best attention, opportunities and rights. When the blacks, Hispanic and other minority groups look back at the days, there is actually nothing to be thrilled about in regard to racism. This is the time many were made slaves of the whites, barred entrance to the U.S., discriminated against, schools were race categorized, where a specific group could not attend certain churches and many other forms of maltreatment. This is the time the minority groups were regarded as unintelligent and were labeled as a bad character. It was also a time when the ‘typical American life’ slogan meant the life of a Whiteman, not any other person. The white aesthetic deem themselves as the un-raced group, and when they advocate for others in the recent times, they speak for all.

Despite the change of time, the whites continue to have a significant impact and control over the art industry. The culture has not been entirely changed by the fact that many non-whites have tremendously ventured into the industry of music, art, as well as other cultural institutions. When the whites portray the non-whites as inferior, the non-whites reiterate by having non-white representation, ad it is fueled by the grudge they carry for the whites.