Assignment 4

1. How does power play a role in this situation? Which group has power? Which group does not? (In another article it was stated that whites can attend the black prom but not vice-versa) Is this indicative of larger American society?

Power plays a role because the white people are able to control everything in their society. Therefore, the black people must follow the rules set out to them by this society. The white people, mainly the school board and the parents, in this situation, have the most power in that society. While the black people living there and the students have the least power. I feel like this is very indicative of how American society really is. The white males in this country have the most power while the people of color, women, and students have the least power. In high school, students literally have no rights. We did not have even our first amendment rights. While women in this society are so extremely underrepresented that we don’t have the same rights as men do. And people of color are even worse off, because almost everyone still holds racist tendencies. Though I believe that that is because of our grandparents. They still hold many racist beliefs and tend to believe that all the bad things done in this society are done be black males. When most of the bad things happening are done be white christian males (supposedly the best and most trustworthy people in this society according to our grandparents).

2. One man from the community was quoted as saying, "They do not reflect racism,but simply different traditions and tastes." What do you think of this statement? Do you think separate proms are held because of racism?

I think the fact that they were separated in the first place was definitely a racist move, but I think now, the prom is still segregated because of traditions in the school system. That is just how the school has been for many, many years; so that’s how the school is most comfortable. But I also think that using “different traditions and tastes” is a sick excuse for segregating proms. Just because someone is of color doesn’t mean they only enjoy listening to African music. In fact, they probably don’t listen to African music ever! Most of those kids were probably born in America, all they know is American culture. So, I guess, these proms are still held separately because of racism and values that don’t exist.

3. This article illuminates the generational gap between students and their parents. Do you think the prom will be different for the children of students featured in this article? One child's mother lamented , "I don’t see how things will ever change around here," "It’s hard to see my girl in the same situation I was in 30 years ago." Will this generation be the ones to make a change?

Generations change. That’s something everyone knows. Even the oldest generations in the US know that their children’s generation and my generation are completely different from theirs. But they often look at my generation and think, “Why aren’t you running in fear from the black boy next to you?” I can answer why people don’t run in fear from them anymore. Because we know that crimes are done by trustworthy white people. We know that rape happens usually by someone the victim knows. People of color are not the ones who do every single crime in this country as cop shows want you to believe. I believe that this generation, my generation, will be responsible for getting rid of the racism that still taints this country. We are smarter than the previous generations. Now that’s not to say we know everything, we’re still learning, but we have learned from the mistakes of our parents and grandparents. We know what not to do now, and that we need to change the “traditions” of this country.

4. Did you know that situations such as the one in this article still existed in America? What does this say about race relations in our country?

I did not actually know about this situation. I knew very well that racism still exists (being as my grandmother is very racist, plus Donald Trump exists) but I didn’t realize segregation was still a problem. But the fact that most of the students wouldn’t mind a single prom for all the students means that the racism from our grandparents is slowly dying out. Our minds have been made; we don’t need racism anymore. We need to be kind to everyone. Because humans are of one race. And that is the Human Race.

#Sociology #Spring2016