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Ashley Lee

Zanartu

SOC 300

May 10, 2014

Racism Taught By Society

All people experience or witness racism in their everyday lives. People who encounter racism

can be offenders of racism or victims. However, through different contexts and situations, the roles of

victim and perpetrator can change. The film Crash (2004) illustrates the blurred lines of these roles and

its ability to change in individuals during different situations. Crash retells the stories of several short

racist encounters in Los Angeles. Farhad, despite being American and Persian, is met with racial slurs

such as “Osama”. A white middle class couple, Jean and her husband Rick have their vehicle stolen

from them by two black males, Peter and Anthony. Jean later assumes that Daniel, a Hispanic

locksmith is a gangster because of his appearance. Daniel later visits Farhad's shop and they have an

argument. When Farhad's shop is broken into, he blames Daniel and retaliates. LAPD officers John and

Tom pull over Cameron and Christine who are black, and own a similar car to the one stolen. Christine

refuses to comply with this discrimination, leading to John molesting her under the pretense of a pat

down. Peter and Anthony later attempt to rob Cameron of his car, and fail. Cameron becomes angry at

being pushed around and causes a scene. Tom arrives and convinces Cameron to go home instead of

committing the crime he planned. Later, Christine is involved in a serious car accident where John

arrives and saves her. Peter, who is hitchhiking, is picked up by Tom. Tom assumes Peter is reaching

for a gun and shoots him, leading to his death. The movie interweaves the encounters of several

characters and describes the racial tensions in these events. Using social theories underlying race and

stereotypes as well as implementing the conflict, symbolic interactionist and functionalist perspectives,

Crash illustrates the idea that racism and prejudice exists in each of us though society.

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What exactly is race? Race is constructed by society and is influenced by those around us. Race

is defined as a group of people whose inherited physical characteristics distinguish it from other groups

(Henslin 227). However, race is difficult to classify by any one category. The concept of race is

arbitrary, and is so flexible that our social location changes the race we “are”. For example, within

Latin America, people were born from any mix of American Indian, African and Spanish roots. They

were identified by words such as peninsulares, creoles, mulattos, and mestizos. However, they could

also be identified by Americans as Hispanic or Latino. In addition, there is no real difference between

peninsulares and creoles except for their place of birth. We learn to classify ourselves by race because

we grow up with these assigned labels (Henslin 228). People who are dark-skinned Spanish speakers

can choose to be either black or Hispanic, or mulatto. The concept of race is unreliable, and does not

create clear divisions between people.

Racism is the prejudice and discrimination of others on the basis of race. Racism is also learned

from others. A study by a sociologist Michael Kimmel found that members of neo-Nazi skinheads

joined the group for its ideals of masculinity, and later learned its views of hatred (Kimmel). A similar

study by Kathleen Blee of female members of the KKK revealed that they were not racists before

joining the group, but after (Blee). It is shown here that joining was the cause of their racism, and not

the other way around. Contact theory is the explanation that our associations can increase as well as

decrease racism. A study by psychologist Eugene Hartley also revealed that people do not have to rely

on negative experiences for prejudice against others to form (Hartley). People who are prejudiced

against one racial-ethnic group tend to be prejudiced against other groups as well. He found that people

can form prejudices against others that they've never met, and even against groups that do not exist.

Racism can also exist against one's own group. By internalizing the norms of the dominant group, a

minority group can associate negative views with their own race. Racism and prejudice is learned from

outside influences, and can discriminate anyone – even people who are similar.

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Charles Horton Cooley concluded that society produced our “self”, which is our image of who

we are. The self develops from our interactions with others, when we internalize the reflection that is

seen in their eyes. He called this the looking-glass self. First, we imagine what others perceive about

us, and then we interpret their reactions. This frames our self-concept and our ideas about ourselves. In

the movie, Crash, there were several instances where this concept was displayed. Anthony and Peter

are two blacks males seen leaving a restaurant in a busy part of downtown Los Angeles. Anthony

believes that they were unwelcome in this part of the neighborhood. He states that no white people

were seen waiting as long as they did for food. In addition, they were not offered any cups of coffee,

while the waitress poured cups of coffee for every white person there. He has a negative self-concept

from this event, believing that he was intentionally ignored for being black. However, he may be

interpreting the situation in favor of his view of racist discrimination. In reality, he does not drink

coffee and Peter did not order any, so they were not necessarily deprived because of their race. Anthony

interpreted the situation as an encounter of racism when it could have been situational circumstances.

When Jean and Rick walk towards Anthony and Peter to get to their car, Jean tightens her hold

on Rick's arm. Anthony interprets this as a sign of being threatened by his presence. He says, “You

couldn't find a whiter, safer or better lit part of this city. But this white woman sees two black guys, …

and her reaction is blind fear. We're the only two black faces surrounded by a sea of over-caffeinated

white people, patrolled by the trigger-happy LAPD. So you tell me, why aren't we scared?” Following

this statement, he and Peter proceed to point their guns at the couple and take the vehicle. Jean felt that

Anthony and Peter were dangerous and threatening, and they internalized these perceptions. Anthony

had interpreted her reaction negatively and this helped framed his idea of self-concept. The looking-

glass self led to the perpetuation of racism in these two examples.

“If people define situations as real, they are real in their consequences”, said W.I. and Dorothy

S. Thomas. This became known as the definition of the situation, or the Thomas Theorem. Our

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behavior depends on what we interpret is real, which is our definition of reality. Jean moved closer to

Rick because she learned from society the reality that black people pose a danger to the safety of

others. Following the encounter, she said, “I just had a gun pointed in my face! And it was my fault

because I knew it was gonna happen. But if a white person sees two black men walking towards her

and she turns and walks in the other direction, she's a racist, right?” It did not come from the fact that

the danger was real, but from her having grown in a society that taught that the threat from blacks are

real.

The way that we learn to view things as good or bad from our interactions with others is called

the social construction of reality. This is how we learn to interpret experiences in life and construct

reality. Jean, fearing more danger following the robbery at gunpoint, haves a locksmith come over to

change the locks on her house. Daniel is Hispanic and has a shaved head, mustache, tattoos, wears a

white shirt and sags his pants. Jean demands that the locks are changed again in the morning because

she assumes that Daniel is a gangster. “And he's not gonna go sell our key to one of his gang banger

friends the moment he is out our door? … Now I am telling you, your amigo in there is gonna sell our

key to one of his homies.” Because of his appearance, Jean believes that he will also endanger her

safety. Having been a victim of robbery already, she's not willing to be victimized again. She believes

that he is a danger, and she's not willing to risk taking chances again. Farhad is in a gun store and is

accused of being associated with terrorism and the 9/11 attacks, despite being Persian and an American

citizen. The gun store owner calls him Osama and says to him, “You're liberating my country, and I'm

flying seven four sevens into your mud huts and incinerating your friends.” The gun store owner

learned to view people who look Middle Eastern as evil terrorists. He views Farhad as threatening

because of society's impressed views of terrorists. Following 9/11, Americans fear terrorism and are

wary (to this day) of perceived threats of terrorists. His social construction of reality is shaped by

American society and its views on dangers to its state of being.

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How do people identify themselves in terms of their racial-ethnic identity? People who feel a

sense of belonging with the part of the majority and feel very little discrimination with the group that

they identify with have a low sense of ethnicity. On the other hand, people who have a heightened

sense of ethnicity have lesser power and face discrimination, identifying differently from the “national”

identity. Cameron, a middle class black man, is a Buddhist and far from a stereotypical black man. He

is subjected to discrimination when he meets John the officer. Before, he may have felt a low sense of

ethnicity, and felt less discrimination because of his social status. However, he cannot change being

black, and is reminded of this during this encounter. As a director, a white coworker later remarks that

the black character in the show was not acting “black enough”. He is forced to recognize that racism is

not limited to social status. He is angered further by the thought of being powerless in stopping his wife

from being violated. He is finally pushed to his limits when Anthony and Peter attempt to steal his car.

They are surprised to see a black man sitting in this car; they only steal cars from people who are white,

and condemn those who steal from other blacks. They fail to take his car, and Cameron creates a scene

that attracts the attention of two police cars. He plans to direct all his anger towards the officers and

retaliate against them because of his inability to stop his wife from being violated. In this way, he is

attempting to fulfill the stereotype of a black man who fights against the authorities. Tom, the officer

who witnessed the incident of Christine's violation, arrives at the scene and convinces Cameron to go

home instead. This situation leads to his heightened sense of ethnicity and he recognizes that he is

black, and cannot change this defining characteristic of his self-concept.

From a Functionalist perspective, society is seen as being composed of various parts. Each part

has a role, or function that contributes to society's equilibrium. Robert Merton said that functionalists

needed to analyze both structure, how these parts fit together to make the whole, and function, what

each part does and how it contributes to society. Racism and prejudice were functional for generating

negative feelings about people. It creates in-group solidarity and destroys human relationships. In

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Germany, the Nazis created scapegoats out of the Jews, and took away their property and key positions.

They later gave these property or key positions to other members of the Nazi party as incentives. This

resulted from the frustration that they experienced in Germany with high inflation and other troubles as

a result of their defeat from World War I. Racism and prejudice are dysfunctional for society, and helps

to create more instability. Dysfunctions undermine a system, and reduces the capability of the parts of

society to work together. By creating these conditions in Germany, the Nazis led an unstable country

committed acts of genocide against Jewish people. Millions of people were mistreated as a result of the

Holocaust. In addition, the Rwandan genocide was the mass genocidal slaughter of Tutsi people and

Hutus. It led to the destruction of infrastructure and a severe depopulation of the country, causing

challenges to economic growth and stability. Racism and prejudice in these extreme conditions can

work against society.

From the Conflict perspective viewpoint, racism and prejudice are used in the struggle for

power and access to resources. Conflict theorists say that powerful groups control and manipulate our

society's institutions. These groups maintain their privileged wealth and power. Workers are split along

racial-ethnic lines and weakened and exploited by owners. For example, when Japanese laborers struck

against the plantation owners in Hawaii, the owners replaced then with Koreans (Jeong). This is called

the split labor market. It creates fear of competition and of being replaced to keep workers in check.

These divisions among workers deflect anger and hostility away from those in power, and redirect

these emotions towards racial-ethnic groups instead. These workers learn to fear and distrust one

another rather than working towards their common interests and mutual welfare. Today, the split labor

market works in terms of gender, racial-ethnic, age, or other lines. Men know that women can easily

replace them, and the elderly know that there are plenty of younger people ready to take their jobs.

From the Interactionist perspective, racism influences both individual and small group behavior,

primarily with face-to-face interaction. They stress that the labels we learn from society affects how we

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perceive people. These labels create selective perception by leading us to see certain things while

creating blind spots to other things. We perceive members of a group as alike when given certain labels.

Some stereotypes and ethnic labels are powerful for blocking out rational thought about other people.

Self-fulfilling stereotypes also produce the behavior that is depicted in the stereotype. For example,

Anthony and Peter are carrying guns so that they feel safe in the whiter neighborhoods. Because they

perceive white people to be against them and the LAPD officers as targeting them, they feel like they

should protect themselves. However, this helps to reinforce the stereotype that black people are

dangerous and are likely to commit crime. These negative stereotypes affect what people “see” by

creating or reinforcing prejudice that encourages and justifies discrimination. Cameron also was

planning to fulfill this stereotype when he became angered by his inability to act against the policeman.

He took Anthony's gun and was ready to shoot the officers. Because he knew that they saw him a black

man who was dangerous, he was willing to show them that they were right.

Culture helps to reinforce the ideas of racism and stereotypes. In medias such as television,

books, movies, music, among others, the ideas of race and prejudice continue to thrive. In a

multiculturalistic society like the United States, we learn about all kinds of stereotypes. It helps us to

become aware of the ideas that are out there, and we learn that while there are some cases where these

stereotypes can be applied, it does not encompass everyone into certain characteristics or into certain

ways or actions. The stereotypical black character in Crash was Anthony. He is seen as a vigilante who

has a gun and an agenda against white people. He steals cars mostly from white victims and he is under

the belief that white people are generally dis-favorable towards black people and that the LAPD is

always targeting blacks. However, Cameron was a character who challenged this stereotypical

character. He was a middle class black man who was a Buddhist. He does not wear baggy clothing or

sags his pants, and he does not commit crimes. However, he does have a vendetta against the police,

which is an idea that everyone holds about people who are black.

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The movie crash helps to highlight some of the underlying ideas about race, and why racism

occurs. We learn that ideas about race, stereotypes, and prejudice are learned from society. We

internalize views that others have about us, from the looking-glass self. We also learn to interpret

situations as real because we believe them to be real, with the Thomas Theorem. We learn that our

ideas about ourselves are shaped by how we think others think about us, and how we identify ourselves

in the larger picture. If we have a low sense of ethnicity then we are less likely to experience

discrimination and we have a greater sense of belonging to the national identity, such as being

identified as American rather than being identified as a Chinese-Vietnamese-American, for example.

We also learn that racism plays certain roles through the views of the Conflict, Interactionist, and

Functionalist views. Racism fuels conflict between different ethnic groups and between clashes of other

groups. We also learn to internalize prejudices against ourselves or our groups, as well as develop ideas

such as stereotypes against others. Culture influences racism, and helps to instill ideas about others.

The film Crash helps to prove that racism, of any degree, exists in everyone through society.