Racism and world essay

Racism has been a part of our culture for far too long, and has affected people’s lives in ways that are unexplainable.

People may sometimes only believe that racism happens between whites and blacks, but in truth, racism is a universal problem, and includes people of all cultures and backgrounds. The thing is, just one or two people cannot stop the world from being prejudice. The whole world would need to put aside their differences and get along with one another. Honestly, the odds are very slim to nothing that the whole world is going to get along with each other any time soon. Racism affects many people of different races every day because of hatred and stereotyping. The movies Crash and Do the right thing illustrate different scenarios that consist of racial stereotyping, and depict how the lives of people of multiple races are affected by racism. The movie Crash, which was released in the United States in 2004, is all about racism between people of multiple races. Even though Crash may be one movie, there are different stories tied together in the story line.

The movie starts with Rick and Jean trying to get into their SUV, but instead being carjacked by two African American males. When they made it home Jean got so upset because of everything that happened, and started conveying her hatred against all other races. Not too long after that, while the police were patrolling in their police car, they saw an SUV, just like the one that had been carjacked. They pulled it over, but it was the wrong vehicle. The driver’s name was Cameron. His wife Christine was the passenger.

The police ordered them to get out of the car and they gave the two a pat down. Christine was abused during her pat down, and Cameron did nothing, which caused the couple to get into a dispute later. Later in the movie, Christine was involved in an accident. The officer that had pulled her over before stopped to help her, even though she was terrified of him. Meanwhile, the two African AmericanRACISM IS HARD TO STOPmales, Anthony and Peter, that carjacked the SUV ran over an Asian man while they were arguing. They ended up dropping him off in front of a hospital. At the end of the movie, Peter was shot by an officer because a misunderstanding. After that, Anthony freed Asians that were being held in the back of a van that belong to the Asian man that they had run over.

Just as the movie was ending, there were two women shouting racist remarks at each other. Crash shows good illustrations and scenarios about racial tensions and stereotypes. It shows how discrimination involves all races.

It is not just one nationality against another; it is the whole world against each other. Crash did a great job in showing how the lives of people from different nationalities are affected by stereotyping and racism. Plus, from my knowledge, people hold grudges against a race, in general, because of things that they have experienced or seen someone that they know experience from someone of a particular race.

This is known as stereotyping. They do not just hold this grudge against the person that hurt or offended them; they hold it against the race as a whole. Someone may think that just because one person acts a certain way, they all act that way. In my opinion, Crash depicts the way the world is today. There were specific parts of Crash that really expressed the way a racist mind thinks. In the movie, Jean was prejudice against everyone that was not white because of what had transpired in her life. The confrontations that she had with people of a different race offended her in a way that was unalterable. Now she is taking that out on their whole race.

This is not fair, but it is how some people in the world act. I think that it is human nature for people to try to find someone to blame for their problems. Although, I also feel that this is an ugly habit that people need to overcome. Another stereotype portrayal of a stereotype in Crash was at the studio where Cameron worked. The producer-a white guy, wanted to do another take because he said that the guy recording did not sound “ black” enough. To me this is just plain ignorance.

Everyone has3RACISM IS HARD TO STOPtheir own dialect and way of speaking. He was just stereotyping all African Americans, just because he may have heard the way the others speak. These are just a few examples of things that happen every day in our nation, and other cultures. Situations like the one portrayed in Crash offend people and they carry this hurt with them in their daily life. Do the right thing, a movie by Spike Lee from 1989, is about a black man named Mookie, who lives in Bed-Stuy with his sister.

He also has a son named Hector. Mookie works at the local pizzeria for an Italian man, named Sal, who has a wall of fame in his restaurant. Although, his wall of fame only features people of the Italian heritage, which ends up causing problems between Sal and a couple of the guys that live in the neighborhood. Sal has two sons, Pino and Vito. Mookie is friends with Vito. Later in the movie Sal, his two sons, and three guys from the neighborhood: Radio Raheem, Smiley, and Buggin’ Out, get into a huge fight because of the wall of fame. The three men demanded that Sal change his wall of fame so that it can display idols of the African American race.

Sal refused and called Radio Raheem a racial expression then broke his radio. The fight ended up outside, and the police were called. They arrested Buggin’ Out and accidently killed Radio Raheem.

When the police realized that they killed him, they tossed his body into their car and proceeded as if nothing had happened. When they left, Mookie got so upset because of his loss, that he threw a garbage can through Sal’s pizzeria window, which caused a riot to start. Before the restaurant was totally destroyed Smiley walked in and hung up pictures of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. on the wall of fame. At the end of the movie, after getting into an argument with his girlfriend, Mookie went to see Sal. They slowly started to reconcile, even though Sal felt betrayed by Mookie for abolishing his pizzeria.

4RACISM IS HARD TO STOPDo the right thing depicts racism primarily between African Americans andItalians. This is another great example as to how racism involves many different cultures and races. This movie shows how a simple disagreement can turn very ugly because of an ethnic outburst. People take racist remarks to heart because they know that they should not let anyone try to tear them down because of who they are. Racism affected the lives of the character because Sal had to deal with his restaurant being destroyed, and Radio Raheem’s loved ones had to deal with his death. This movie, in general, depicts how racism affects the people’s lives in damaging ways that could potentially destroy them.

Do the right thing illustrates stereotyping, but it is more underlying in the story line than it was it Crash. Sal, the owner of the pizzeria, refused to change his restaurant to fit the image of the neighborhood, because he felt as if his heritage was superior to all other races. In my opinion, he had a feeling that his business would be threatened if he did not change his wall, but just fought back. I do not think that he realized that his words against the opposite race would have such an impact in his life. In addition, the police officers killed Radio Raheem, and did not do anything about it because they really did not care. So, if the police are supposed to mean justice and protection, but some of them are prejudice, then who can someone trust to help you if you are a victim of racism? How are they supposed to help with discrimination situations, when they are most likely going to side with their race in the argument, no matter who’s right or wrong.

Crash and Do the right thing are alike because they both portray racial issues that are still current today. In addition, they illustrate how lives are affected by racism. There also many stereotypical matters addressed in both movies. Like Crash, Do the right thing’s message was to show the world that racial issues and stereotypes are involved in all cultures. Both movies depict how cruel societies can be to each other, and for no apparent reason.

The stereotypes that were5RACISM IS HARD TO STOPshown include how people blame, or look at, one whole culture just becausethey were offended by just one person from that background. The movies Crash and Do the right thing both depict how stereotyping people is a form of racism and how it has damaging effects on people’s lives. They both show many graphic and violent scenes that are to teach us about racism and how it continues to exist in today’s society. Crash, in general, is a movie that touches on the lives of people from different backgrounds.

In comparison, Do the right thing also tells the story of a couple of different people of different nationalities. From watching these two movies, the messages seem to be the same. Racism hurts everyone that it comes in contact with. Plus, people need to forget the stereotypes that revolve around the world today. Although, in order for that to happen, everyone would need to come together in this world and realize that we are all in this together. We should not put each other down, because that would only make matters worse. We should be lifting each other up and making so that everyone has an equal opportunity in this world.

6RACISM IS HARD TO STOP7ReferencesHaggis, P. (Producer), & Haggis, P. (Director). (2004). Crash [motion picture].

United States: Lionsgate. Lee, S. (Producer), & Lee, S. (Director). (1989). Do the Right Thing [motion picture]. United States: Universal Pictures.

Comment [G1]: This revision shows yourcommitment to your academics. Good job.