ipl-logo

What Is The Theme Of Under Our Skin By Benjamin Watson

906 Words4 Pages

While most people like myself avoid discussing the hot topic of race, Under Our Skin: Getting Real About Race by Benjamin Watson has encouraged not only me, but it should encourage people of all races to deliberate the looming issue of race in our country without fear of saying something erroneous or offending someone who does not coincide with you. Watson’s book has given me the opportunity to march on a new route as I discuss the reality of racial conflict with my peers. Although I myself do not agree with absolutely everything that Watson stated, Watson’s experiences set forth in the book do help in elevating my level of understanding of the complicated issue of race and other diversity and inclusion issues arising under Title VII of the …show more content…

Firstly, Watson describes a day when his Pop Pop decided to jump into the public swimming pool, which of course was designated as whites-only. Nevertheless, Pop Pop swam in it anyway, and Watson’s grandfather received a call from the authorities, demanding that the family pay for the cost of draining the pool and refilling it with “pure” water. Reading this aroused an emotional response out of me because we as a nation failed to understand the basic human and civil rights of people regardless of the color of their skin. Moreover, a young boy of color being able to impurify water – please, give me a …show more content…

Although Chris’s racial attitudes were shaped positively by family and friends early in life, they were turned around later when he had his own family. Chris described to Watson that his son’s college application was turned down, even though his grades and test scores were plenty high enough to get in, and Chris’s job promotion, which was in the bag, ended up going to a black coworker. Consequently, Chris was visibly incensed at the affirmative action and welfare system policies, and Watson knew that. The imperative aspect of their conversation is that even if it became heated, they were both one hundred percent authentic with each other and respected each

Show More
Related
382 Words | 2 Pages

It has become common today that people of all ages go through mental changes, that transforms them into the person that they will become. This is seen in the historical fiction novel by Christopher Paul Curtis, The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963, when the whole Watson family decides to visit Alabama. The two dynamic characters in the book, Kenny and Byron, transform after arriving in Birmingham. Kenny Watson’s transformation (middle child) was so important because it was what exposed him to how reality was like in the 1960’s, such as the Civil Rights Movement against segregation. In this scene, Kenny is confused about why people would kill little kids that were in a church.

Read More
310 Words | 2 Pages

In the book, “The Watsons Go to Birmingham’’ written by Paul Curtis there are two brothers one named Kenny and the other is named Byron. There are major personality differences between the boys including the way they treat other people. Kenny is a gracious and generous person who cares about people’s feelings. Byron is a bully that enjoys picking on people and beating them up.

Read More
1779 Words | 8 Pages

While Clare has pretended to be okay with the racial slurs abruptly leaving Jack’s mouth she stopped to ask a question and the question rang as, “My goodness, Jack! What difference would it make if, after all these years, you were to find out that I was one or two percent coloured?”(Larsen, Page 29) Jack’s reply was, “Oh, no, Nig. Nothing like that with me. I know you’re no nigger, so its all right.

Read More
725 Words | 3 Pages

The common theme shared by the poem, “Making Sarah Cry,” and the play, “The Watsons Go To Birmington,” the theme is acceptance. In “Making Sarah Cry,” Sarah doesn’t get accepted for who she is, until the end of the poem. While, in “The Watsons Go To Birmington,” the kids go visit Birmington where no one is being accepted for their color. Even though both texts have the same shared theme of acceptance they have their differences. In “Making Sarah Cry,” the mood of the story is not very violent, while on the other hand, “The Watsons Going To Birmington” is a more violent text, with the bombings and segregation.

Read More
398 Words | 2 Pages

“The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race,” Chief Justice John Roberts stated this on the Supreme Court case of Ricci v. DeStefano. This case, which was on the issue of discrimination of African American firefighters in the city of New Haven, Connecticut, isn’t the only one of its kind. Brown v. Board of Education, Korematsu v. U.S., and Batson v. Kentucky are just a few of many. Cases like these, the situations in Ferguson, Missouri, Baltimore, Maryland, and Sanford, Florida, have all occurred because of racial discrimination.

Read More
143 Words | 1 Pages

In contrast, Alan Jenkins, in a more didactic and informative style, goes a step further by showing that Dr. Loury 's well-intended position only helps perpetuate racial discrimination and inequality. Using logos as his strong rhetorical foundation and to support his viewpoint, Jenkins cites a research done in the cities of Boston and Chicago where candidates, with the same job qualifications, but with more black-sounding names, received fewer calls than their white counterparts. Unlike Dr. Loury, who sees race distinctions as a tool to eradicate racial inequality, Jenkins explains that race is only important if one wants to understand the problem and create solutions to end racial discrimination and inequality. To that point, Jenkins (2013)

Read More
640 Words | 3 Pages

The style relies and is similar to news stories, research, and it allows the reader to feel and visualize what Lopez had going through his head as he was writing the story. The main idea or central aim of the story was to explain how racism has evolved since the civil rights era. Lopez draws upon cutting scholarship in history, sociology, psychology, and translates them into terms illustrated through examples. It is an eye-opener on how racial appeals generate broad enthusiasm for policies that hurt the middle class. His book was based on sources from history about racism and the civil rights era.

Read More
554 Words | 3 Pages

“The Most Eulogistic of the Dyslogistic”: Burke and the Usage of “Person of Colour” The term “person of colour” is currently the preferred and most politically correct way to refer to non-white people in the United States. (I use “non-white” as a placeholder here; its implications are discussed further in the following paragraph.) Even so, it is not without its problems. When using the question-begging appellative of “person of colour”, one is inadvertently participating in a system that continues to label non-white people in a manner that directly connects to more antiquated terms that Bentham refers to as “dyslogistic” (Burke, 92), or negative, and emphasises binary categorisation between those who are white and those who are“other”, effectively harming the people that the term is in some way trying to define.

Read More
1836 Words | 8 Pages

Regardless of an individual 's perception of the issue, both sides of the topic demonstrate compelling arguments. There are people who will debate that race is a positive and distinguishing factor in an individual 's character, culture and actions; and those who assert that race is a phenomenal tool, a motivational tool to achieve one 's success in the world. Our race, our heritage is an invisible bond. Many examples exist in history.

Read More
473 Words | 2 Pages

The poem “Making Sarah Cry” and the play “The Watson’s Go To Birmingham” share a similar theme of being different. They are similar because both the characters are different and are treated unfairly. For example, in the poem, “Making Sarah Cry” the theme was addressed as being different because Sarah was different because she was slow and not as smart. In the play, “The Watson’s Go To Birminingham”, the characters are different because they are a darker color and are also rtreated unfairly.

Read More
571 Words | 3 Pages

One point he raises is that two students are applying for admissions into school. They each take a test testing their knowledge. The black student makes a 700 while the white makes a 720. The school accepts the black student even though his score was lower to have more black students brought into the profession. Both students exceeded the standard score of 600 but the white student was turned down because the blacks were once racially discriminated.

Read More
514 Words | 3 Pages

Although many people will appear to believe in racial equality, they do not recognize in our society people of color are disadvantaged due to race due to socioeconomic factors, which are affected by legislation. It is often presumed everyone has an equal opportunity for success and nothing can determine it except for the individual’s effort. So with a distorted definition of racism society can not collectively fight against true racist legislation that hinders the success of people of

Read More
1572 Words | 7 Pages

In the epitome of education, racial segregation is still a major factor in the world today. In today’s society when you hear the word racism, what comes to mind? In the wake of recent events at the University of Columbia – Mizzou, we find that racism is alive and well. You would think in the 20th century, we would have come further along in the way of racial issues and be more tolerable of others regardless of their race.

Read More
675 Words | 3 Pages

However, seeing race as more than something you are born with, but rather something thrust upon you at many different points in life is a good way to start. The racial profiling of African Americans, Latinos, Asians, and Native Americans has been built into society throughout history through discriminatory traditions, assumptions and amplified stereotypes. Today, contemporary forms of mass media both enlightens people to and exemplifies the problem of racism in the United States. Just like the classic game of Jenga, one by one, race is consistently picked apart and manipulated as generations upon generations find new ways to define it. Just like the classic game of Jenga, every different race- the blocks in the game- is imposed on society as independent from one another.

Read More
310 Words | 2 Pages

The government of the United States has taught and interpreted the idea of race onto its citizens. Race is not something that we are born with but instead we are taught who to discriminate against. Burgett and Hendler (2014a) state that race has established, “who may be property, and who are citizens, and among the latter who get to vote and who do not, who are protected by law and who are not, who have access and privilege and who are (to be) marginalized” (p. 208). The success of the United States as a nation can be attributed to the work of slaves. “[As stated by Bush], ‘the very people traded into slavery helped to set America free through their struggle of injustice’”

Read More

More about What Is The Theme Of Under Our Skin By Benjamin Watson

Open Document