Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Cultural Heritage
Where to begin? This is a perfect example of the socialization process in action, and the socialization process is responsible for the dark world Richard Wright is forced to inhabit. Because the parents of these children permit or even actively encourage anti-semitism in young children, it becomes instilled in them as they see their peers and leaders disparage another group in order to displace anger. Because of their hatred and fear of the white oppressors, blacks must find an attackable target to unleash their pain upon, and this becomes the jews. But Wright sees these same reactions when young white boys disparage him and his friends. Because the white parents do the same for blacks as the blacks do for jews, white children are taught to believe that blacks are inferior and racism is not only acceptable but encouraged. If Wright had then been conscious of what he was doing I would call him a great hypocrite: he is doing to others exactly what has been done to him time and time again. And yet, he was but a child and so, to some degree, blameless. The fact that he overcame his racism as an adult (I assume) shows the man he really is.
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If Wright retained his anti-Semitism as an adult would it still be his fault? Surely by then somebody would've given him a speech similar to this blog post - you're making fun of Jews because you're tired of white children making fun of you. At what point would've it become his fault? When somebody gave him that speech? When he turned 18? Even if he eliminated all outward signs of racism, but retained an ember of bias in his heart, would we be able to blame him? Can you blame a brainwashed child for forgetting his parents?
Racism as an adult, I think, becomes just as much a pressure valve as it does a tradition of sorts. You've heard people logically explain to you the illogic of racism, but you and everybody you know has always hated X group. At this point the human natural resistance to change plays in. I believe this portion of adulthood racism can be traced back to the socialization process. In short, it wouldn't totally be Wright's fault if he was still racist as an adult. It would also be his parents, his childhood friends, and his community's leaders. This is not to say it's acceptable, this is just to say that the socialization process (which in inherently blamable on a group of people) has consequences beyond the age of 18.
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