The Divide:Polictics of a Class Social System

Niya's Blog

Niya Savage
Professor Ventura
Final paper
English 285

Is Economic Class the barrier that keeps Black Women Divided?

Many may argue that we live in a classless society where men and women live together in complete equality. These very same people might also think that there is no longer a class system that affects our lives in such a way that we are shaped by our economical state from which one’s life experiences derive. These people may live in this utopia world, but for the majority of Americans, class still matters, especially in the African American community. It is easy for one to see that there are differences between African Americans that are closely related to social class that keeps our community divided, but many don’t understand why. In today’s society this is a major issue, especially when dealing with African American women. Therefore, it is easy for one to believe that Contemporary black woman’s ideas of womanhood or sister hood along with social class status shapes the differences that keep black woman from fully uniting and promotes internalized hatred for other black women. By analyzing African American women of the world along with a closer view of the young women at Spelman College, one is able to understand how class still matters and works in many ways in separating the black community.
First off, one must understand the importance of class in today’s society and who they consist of in order to understand why it causes animosity between black women. According to- since 1968 there have been two emerging classes from the Black Community, the working and the black middle class. As is stated in the book entitled Race, Class and Gender by Margaret L. Anderson and Patricia Hill Collins “Social class is not just a matter of material difference; it is a pattern of domination in which some groups have more power than the others”. Although this statement is directed to issues of class surrounding all races, this too can be applied to the separation between African American Women.

The Differences of the Black Social Classes

One could take a glance at the studies on the people of the Black middle class and find that they are often times overlooked and grouped together with the black working class, which in many cases, inhibits their mobility or attempt to progress. Overall in America today, as stated in the Article by Mary Patillo- McCoy entitled Black Picket Fences, The black middle class often face the same hardships as the black working class, but within the African American community, there is a major gap that divides the two groups. The black middle class is defined as the men and woman that are living “comfortably”. Although it is hard to know who or what defines the black middle class, most believe that it is made up of families that are in the middle between upper class or the wealthy and the working class or poor. They are exposed to all different aspects of life, which makes their experiences different and they want to identify with the higher class but are mostly grouped with the working class. They are often the class that is overlooked and there are very few studies and scholarly research focusing on them. It is said that they are often grouped with the working class so in some cases inherit the misfortunes that come along with this particular economic condition. On the same not, they are also exposed to the higher more extravagant way of living, straggling the fence between the lower class and upper class. Even if a child grows up in middle class household and as they grow into adulthood, their income is less then middle class, they are still not necessarily considered working class because they still have the language, behavior, and educational background of the middle class which they can always depend on.
The lower class on the other hand has been the center for many studies and research. The news and other forms of media are constantly covering the event that take place in these rural areas. The crime, including the violence and drug trafficking is what and outsider usually understands about these areas because that is what is shown on the television screen and in newspaper articles. “Welfare debates, discussions of crime and safety, urban policy initiatives, and even the cultural uproar over things like rap music are focused on the situation of poor African Americans”(McCoy) However the working class is made up, for the most part, of hard working people that exhibit the model on how to survive in a class based society. They are forced to utilize what is accessible and are often at a disadvantage because they are not offered very much in the areas of education, positive role models, productive activities and jobs. “Class affects what we perceive as and what we have available to us as choices”(Sklar). With that being said, people of the working class are often limited and seen by others as generational. Meaning that there is a cycle of events that go in a working class family, such as a mother that grows up in a rural area learns morals and a way of life that may be different than people in all the other social classes, she than teaches her child these same ideas and beliefs which keep on getting passed down from generation to generation.
One might ask the questions, what does these differences among class systems relate to the topic that class contributes to the tension between African American Women? The view of the black class system creates stereotypes that contribute to the class segregation among black women because their class helps shape their life experiences, therefore defining who they are. Therefore, women are all different because of their class status. One’s views on life, how they adapt to certain situations, how quickly they deal with traumatic event, how they interact with people or not interact with people are all a result of a person’s class and the status of their economic background. A person is defined by their surroundings, if they live in a poor rural area, they are going to know a lot of poor rural people that have the mindset of survival opposed to the middle class where the people have different issues that are important to them. This creates tension among black women because it is hard for them to relate to one another because of their economic status, which is in direct relation to their social space.

Class System as Spelman College

In a book written by Katrina Bell named Embracing Sisterhood: Class, Identity and Contemporary Black Women, the author examines the lives of over 80 young black women and interviews them on personal aspects of their lives, all in the attempt to find a common bond between them. In the book the author tries to identify where black womanhood and sisterhood, merge with social class. It shows that Black women are aware of the diversity in which class can cause between them and are complacent in the growing division among them.
Women all over the world and particularly at Spelman College where there is a whole array of Black women from all different socioeconomic backgrounds, prove everyday that class still matters even among people that share the same racial background. At Spelman College, the officials promote sisterhood and what it means to be a strong black woman with and education. They teach their students how to be sisterly and united with their fellow Spelman sisters. So one might wonder why is it that they are yet so divided? At this college, class systems are broken up into upper class, mainly middle class and working class backgrounds. Women click together and form friendships based on what they have in common and how they relate to one another. Though this may not always be the case, many women choose friends that have they are in the same social class as themselves.
In order for Society to rid black America of this issue, we must first understand that we can learn from one another and be more effective in the world as a whole instead of individually. Black Women need to remember that they are all essentially Black women first before they incorporate what they learned from their surroundings or economic background. If Black Women don’t utilize their differences and understand that their concepts of how to be a woman or what womanhood is are different due to class status, they will never understand that sisterhood is beneficial and what effects it has on all black women in making them stronger leaders, teachers and better people.

Bibliography

Bell- Mcdonald, Katrina. Embracing Sisterhood: Class, Identity and Contemporary Black Women. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Inc, 2006.

Fussell, Paul. Class. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1983.

Gates, Henry L. "Bridging the Black Class Divide." America Behind Color Lines (2004). .

Horton, Hayward D., and Beverlyn Allen. "Lost in the Storm: the Sociology of the Black Working Class." American Sociological Review 65.1 (2000). JSTOR.

Jackson, John. “Harlemworld: Doing Race and Class in Contemporary Black America”. University of Chicago Press, 2001.

Langston, Donna. "Class and Inequality." Race, Class and Gender. Ed. Margaret L. Anderson and Patricia Hill Collins. Belmont: Thomson Wadsworth, 2007. 118+.

McCoy Patillo, Mary. Black Picket Fences: Privilege and Peril among the Black Middle Class. Chicago, IL : University of Chicago Press, 1999.

Nealon, Jeffrey, and Susan ` S. Giroux. The Theory Toolbox: Critical Concepts for Humaities, Arts and Social Class. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003. 157-188.

Connotations of the Word "Bitch"

Adrienne's Blog

Adrienne Seagraves
May 9, 2007
Literary Studies
Dr. Ventura

YOU’RE A “BITCH”…DID I HURT YOUR FEELINGS?
The Connotations of the Word “Bitch”

Oxford dictionary defines “bitch” as a woman whom one considers to be malicious or unpleasant. Also, “bitch” is a canine term used to refer to a female dog (Haber 88). It can be used in reference to a difficult or unpleasant thing or situation as well. In today’s society, both men and women use the word “bitch” to refer to one of the same sex, as well as an individual of the opposite sex. When a man refers to a woman as a “bitch” it is generally because the woman displays a sense of power and confidence that may intimidate the male. The male may feel a sense of inferiority to the female at that point which causes him to react and refer to the powerful woman as a “bitch” in order to regain his percieved social status of superiority over the female. But how is a man affected when referred to as a “bitch” by a woman? When women refer to men as bitches, it demotes the power of a man and makes him feel belittled.
Joan Morgan, author of Fly-Girls, Bitches, and Hoes argues that when a woman refers to another woman as a “bitch” it is generally because one woman has something that the other woman desires (153). Women tend to bring out the best in each other and are often in a competition for something, usually a male figure. “At some point we’ve all been the bearers or recipients of the competitive, unsisterly, “bitchy” ways in which we can sometimes act, particularly when vying for male attention (Morgan 156).”
It is suggested that black men who use the term “bitch” possess a lack of self love which in turn is reflected on the way in which they treat their women. Morgan believes that “As black women, we are hurt when we hear brothers calling us bitches and hoes. We feel that the real crime being committed isn’t the name-calling but their failure to love us—to be our brothers in the way that we commit ourselves to being their sistas,” (154). A man who doesn’t truly love himself is incapable of loving us in the healthy way we want and need to be loved. It’s telling us that men who can only see us as bitches and hoes refer to themselves only as niggers ( 156).
In the article “Gender-Linked Derogatory Terms and Their Use by Women and Men”, University of Toronto Professor Deborah James argues that many derogatory terms like “bitch” that are directed towards males are intended to define them as weak in character/like a woman which supports the idea that it is natural or inevitable that women should be weak in character compared to men (403). Many derogatory terms that are directed towards women focus on sexuality, on the extent to which they are sexually attractive. Women are evaluated largely in terms of the extent to which they conform to heterosexual male needs and desires (James 404).
Terms which liken men to women appear to be more derogatory than terms which liken women to men (James 406). Men lose status by being likened to women, while women are raised in status by being likened to men (Haber 250). Thus masculine/lesbian terms are less insulting to women than weak/like a woman/homosexual terms are to men. In a study done at the University of Toronto, sixty-six terms were found to be insults to men. In comparison only eleven terms were found to refer women as masculine/feminine (James 413). Also apart of the study was a comparison of the derogatory words used by men and women. The study found that out of all the words that women used, only 7% (14/204) were used to refer to a man as weak in character/like a woman or homosexual. In that same study it was found that 25% (25/101) of the terms used by men were used to refer to a man as weak in character/like a woman or homosexual (James 416). These findings reveal that men more often times than women to use terms such as “bitch” to downgrade other men and weaken their character. Why is that the case?
In general female-referential and male referential derogatory terms reflect a construction of gender by which males are evaluated primarily in terms of the extent to which they can function as competent masters of every situation, which has a lot to do with gaining and maintaining status in the eyes of other males. Females, on the other hand are evaluated primarily in terms of how well they conform to heterosexual male needs, and desires (James 415). This is the reason why males don’t react in the same manner when called a bitch by a female than by a male.
Many men still live with the mentality that women are beneath them. When a man is called a “bitch” by a woman, he is not affected in the same manner as he is when a male calls him a “bitch”. In traditional societies, women are still considered not to measure up completely to a man. Some men feel that they don’t have to worry about being challenged by a woman because she is not their equal. Females also do not have the same intent as males when referring to males as a “bitch”. Often times, women intend to reduce the masculinity of men when calling them a “bitch”. Men do not feel as hurt because women aren’t men so how could they know about what it takes to be a man?
On the other hand, when a man is called a “bitch” by another man, his masculinity is being challenged by what he would consider an individual who is of the same of higher social status than he. In turn, men often compete against other by testing each others masculinity. Anytime a man questions another man’s manhood, it is often considered disrespectful. The level of disrespect that it reaches is limitless. Because many men take pride in being a man, they are prone to ensure at any given moment what kind of man they truly are. As a result, men often get into confrontations with other men over their manhood. Men are less likely to go that extra mile to prove their manhood to a woman as opposed to a man. Women cannot affect men the way other men can.
The fact that women are still fighting to be considered equals to their male counterparts is intolerable. As women we must advance beyond the chauvinistic ideals that have stifled us back for centuries and gain the respect and equality that is rightfully ours.












Works Cited


Haber, Tom Burns. “Canine Terms Applied to Human Beings and Human Events: Part I”. American Speech. 40.2 May 1965: 83-101 JSTOR. Robert E. Woodruff Lib., Atlanta, GA. 20 April 2007

Haber, Tom Burns. “Canine Terms Applied to Human Beings and Human Events: Part II”. American Speech. 40.4 Dec 1965: 243-271 JSTOR. Robert E. Woodruff Lib., Atlanta, GA. 20 April 2007 http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0003-%091283%28196512%2940%3A4%3C243%3ACTATHB%3E2.0.CO%3B2-N

James, Deborah. “Gender-Linked Derogatory Terms and Their Use by Women and Men”. American Speech. 73.4 Winter 1998: 399-420 JSTOR. Robert E. Woodruff Lib., Atlanta, GA. 20 April 2007 http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0003-%091283%28199824%2973%3A4%3C399%3AGDTATU%3E2.0.CO%3B2-K

Morgan, Joan. “Fly-Girls, Bitches, and Hoes: Notes of a Hip-Hop Feminist”. Social Text. 45 Winter 1995: 151-157 JSTOR. Robert E. Woodruff Lib., Atlanta, GA. 20 April 2007

Latino Hollywood

Latina/o Hollywood: Celebrities Helping or Hurting the Stereotypes

American culture and society has taught its citizens the true meaning of stereotyping. From the racist and lude remarks on television to the discriminatory acts minorities face daily; they are all playing into some stereotype. Minority groups such as Latin Americans deal with biased racial criticism on a daily basis. Yet as a people, many would say that Hispanics have come a long way from where they started. Countless television and movie roles as well as mainstream music expansion has helped in the growth of the Latina/o celebrity. Although these strides have sparked a Hollywood diversity trend, some celebrities are merely feeding into the stereotypes versus combating them. Celebrities like Jennifer Lopez and George Lopez have been combating the stereotypes for years and making leaps for the Hispanic community; while other figure heads like Carlos Mencia and Vida Guerra merely play into these pre-established roles.
People are just people, they are born, and they live and then die. Women and men are the same no matter the race or social class, all women and men have the same bodily parts. ‘Maybe it’s just a universal, timeless fear of people who are different that creates the prejudice and animosity that is directed toward minority cultures” (Ruggieri 57). So the idea of being different has nothing to do with people but rather culture and race. People are people, no one race should have the power or authority to stereotype and criticize another. Yet it happens, on a daily basis, but the puzzling part is when people from the same race/culture stereotype each other.
Female stereotypes tend to spread across ethnicity and remain constant regardless of race or cultural background. Jennifer Lopez is one of those pioneering celebrities furthering the positive outlook on Hispanic women. According to Forbes magazine Lopez is the richest Hispanic in America; she is also ranked # 13 on Time Magazine’s list of most influential Hispanics in America. Well immersed in her Puerto-Rican roots, Jennifer Lopez is the highest-paid Latin actress and she did not have to compromise herself to get to the top. Although after filming Selena, she was chastised in Hollywood for the shape of her butt; she still maintained her dignity and composure. Jennifer Lopez has had a major influence on Latin American culture; she has overcome racial adversity and strives to educate others.
The idea of exoticism and beauty work together in generally defining many women that are of Latin American descent. Although this may sound like a positive insight on a race/culture, think less about whom and more about why. This stereotype is in large part due to the bodily features of Latin-American women. Vida Guerra is a prime example of defining the Hispanic woman by her ass and titties. The cover girl for FHM magazine in December 2002, Vida has become a major success by baring her self for all of America to see. A native of Havana, Cuba Vida has been in the forefront of many rap/hip-hop videos since her debut. On many occasions Vida is pictured wearing only a thong or g-string. Although she is leaving her mark in the entertainment industry her representations are not something for little girls to mimic or aspire to be.
Many Latin American teenagers seek to find their own cultural identity through celebrities in the media. “The tension between the “two Americas” is further manifested in the need to recognize the boundaries of the identity of the other – whether that other be a Latin American national or a U.S. citizen – in the process of shaping one’s own identity in the U.S. context” (Oboler 27). Since there are dominant stereotypes about Latin Americans that pass over into the media, it is almost impossible to achieve non-biased self identity. With the growing speed of racial typecast, prejudice between ethnic groups is more prevalent than ever. Some television shows stereotype Hispanics as gang members, cheap laborers, or immigrants.
Carlos Mencia is one of the most controversial talked about comedians of 2006; he is sometimes referred to as the Latino Dave Chapelle. However, with a deeper examination one may realize that he is an advocator for racial stereotypes in Latina/o communities and a key contributor to these biased views. Mencia is a comedian from Los Angeles and he is of Honduran decent. He has his own television show on Comedy Central called “Mind of Mencia”. On this show he address issues in the Latin American community and makes parodies about certain stereotypes. Mencia’s online site documents some of his racial remarks “Welcome to ‘Are You Smarter than a Wetback?’ The show where Wetbacks don’t pick lettuce, they pick answers” (carlosmencia.com). Not only is the use of this term offensive it adds to the already dominant notion that all Mexicans are immigrants, even the ones born in the US.
The expansion of minorities on television can be truly uplifting for an entire race but only with the right representation. George Lopez is labeled as the 12th most influential Hispanic in America (Time Magazine), and his comedic style does not mimic any type of Latino stereotypes. He stars on “The George Lopez Show” and in a recent study by the Harris Poll; Lopez is ranked #9 among favorite television personalities. His show, often referred to as the Latino Cosby Show, is universal and the characters do not play into US defined social Latino-American family stereotypes. George Lopez prides himself on being Hispanic and is deep rooted in uplifting the image of the Latina/o.
The quest for self-identity in a world of racist stereotypes and discriminatory portrayals of a culture is like traveling in a circle. The path is the same all the way around and the cycle never ends. There will always be separation between Latin-Americans and Americans, the problem lies in the separation within Hispanics. US society is dividing minority groups when they should be banning together to stop racial stereotyping. Maybe once the minority races stop stereotyping one another then maybe the circle will turn into a road, a road of freedom against prejudice.

Guess Who Is Not Coming to Dinner?

Iyana's Blog


Iyana Davis
Prof. Ventura
Intro to Critical Studies in English
Final Essay:

Guess Who is Not Coming to Dinner?

Guess who is not coming to dinner? The black man! Educated black women are left to look for companionship outside of the race. Inter-racial dating has become a topic of much discussion in recent months here in the Atlanta University Center. With thousands of black women in the AUC striving to get an education where will they be able to find dates and/or husbands? They may be left to look outside of the race to date, select mates and ultimately find husbands.
Black women who possess degrees are less likely to marry a black man that is less educated. Amongst the people graduating from college, black men make up the smallest percentage. Black women are unable to find educated black mates after completion of college and masters programs. As found in the U.S. News and World Report from 2006, the percentage of females graduating from Clark Atlanta University is 72% as compared to the 28% of males. In the same study it was found that at Spelman College the graduation rate is 72% as compared to the 58% at Morehouse College.
Young un-married black women in college do better in Historically Black College environments according to Differences in Graduation Rates between Black and White College Students: Effects of Entry into Parent Hood and Historically Black Colleges, a journal entry about the progress of blacks and whites both male and female. The independent effect of attending a historically Black college was significantly positive for Black women but not statistically significant for Black men (Sublikin). Attending a HBCU gives an added level of support to motivated black women, while the lack of motivation found in Black men leads to the high drop-out rate and low graduation rate of black males. As a result black women are not dating black men while in college and are looking outside of the race.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, there are 56,831 African American students and 154,924 white students in the state of Georgia in 2005. With more than twice the number of white students than black students, inter-racial dating no longer seems like a bad idea. Black women are challenging traditional taboos against interracial dating and stepping outside of the norm.
Several factors contribute to black women dating men of different racial/ethnic groups. Due to the high incarceration rate of black males in the U.S., black men are seldom educated, if not in prison. U.S. Department of Justice statistics from 2001 indicate that 179,500 black men ages 18-24 are in prison and jail. Therefore, in the 18-24 age group, the college/imprisoned ratio for black males is 2.6 to one. For their white male counterparts, the ratio is 28 to one. In 2000 there were 3,522,392 white men ages 18-24 enrolled in college, which represents 32.8% of that age group, while 125,700 were in prison in 2001.
According to the National Urban League, Young Black males between the ages of 15 and 34 years are nine times more likely to be killed by firearms. Of single parent Black households in 2005, only 12 percent were led by men. A recent study outlining devastating statistics on the plight of African American men has moved the president of the Urban League to call Black male underachievement "the most serious economic and civil rights challenge we face today."
Research done by scholars at Howard University just a few years ago, shows that Black woomen want “nothing less than a mate of similar educational level” (Porter 163). Black women not only want a man with integrity that is willing to commit to a long term relationship, they also want a man that is educated. This allows for a better job and more money coming into the household. Availability is not the only issue for black women when finding black men, there are also issues of status, social acceptance, and the unspoken truth that black men are loosing educational and economic ground. Black men’s educational and economic background is not the only factor that is contributing to black women dating interracially.
Since the rise of AIDS black men and women are among the highest percentage of those affected. Black males between the ages of 15 and 34 are nearly eight times as likely to suffer from A.I.D.S. than males in other racial ethnic groups. A study of HIV diagnosis rates from 2001-2004 for gay and bisexual men found that rates were higher among black men than among white men. Black men who have sex with men were significantly less likely to be alive 3 years after AIDS diagnosis (80.6 percent) than were Hispanic (85.2 percent) or white (84.5 percent) according to Health News Today. In the article “Racial/Ethnic Disparities Persist In HIV's Impact On Homosexual Men - HIV Continues To Hit Black And Hispanic Men Harder Than Their White Counterparts,” it is stated that “the poorer outcomes for minority men might be tied to later diagnosis of lack of adequate access to treatment.”
If black men have no access to treatment, little to no education, or are incarcerated black women look outside the race to find the companionship they desire. “With so many educated Black women planning to forego marriage and others opting to marry outside their racial/ethnic group…greater emphasis should be placed on educational opportunities for Black men” (Porter 169). Incarceration may cost a state $20,000 to $30,000 per year, per inmate, but it also has a longer-term price. "By removing these young men from the society during their most productive years, you have basically crippled and stifled not only them, but also done a major disservice to black families," says Frank Matthews, publisher of Black Issues in Higher Education. The lack of educational opportunities for black men is stifling the family structure amongst blacks. There is a continuous cycle of underachieving black males and this continuing trend is getting worse as the years go on.
Most of us have seen the movies Guess Who and Something new. It appears that the dating of a black woman and white man is even gaining popularity in the entertainment world. As a reflection of what is going on in the real world, will all black women soon be dating white men? The factors that lead to interracial dating are on the rise and as a black woman when I graduate, may have to find companionship outside of the race. The black man will be found in fewer and fewer households and colleges and more and more jail cells, hospital beds and graveyards. Guess who is not coming to dinner? The Black Man!




Works Cited
Porter, Margaret. Do the Future Plans of Black Women Include Black Mates? The
Journal of Negro Education. 64.2 pp. 162-170. Spring 1995

Let Freedom Ring

Lauren's Blog

Let Freedom Ring

by: L.R. Chunn

Freedom of Expression is arguably the most significant American Right, but can the bell ring too loudly? Currently, the Freedom of Speech is ringing with foul rhetoric, racial slurs, and derogatory slander, which all aid in creating destructive racial opinions, societal divisions, and subordinated cultural groups. With the First Amendment promising to make no laws that abridge Freedom of Speech, the very concept of censorship should seem unconstitutional, unnatural, and even unpatriotic. However, the anti-patriotism does not stem from censorship’s attempt to silence speech; instead it may be actualized in the Freedom of Speech itself. Limitless expression is considerably more stifling than repressed expression.
“[The First Amendment] is supported by the value of freedom and liberty, as well as by the additional reasons special to the freedom to express opinions, disseminate information, and publish and perform artistic creations,” (Post 43). Contrarily, one can be pro-censorship while still valuing individual opinions and liberty. Censorship should not be implemented frivolously to silence dissenters. It should be utilized to target pervasive cultural issues such as mainstream racial relations with a focus on words that are oppressively demeaning. A crusade against the insidious vocabulary of racially degrading words is necessary for promoting social change in race relations. Despite being a representation of the people, the application of censorship employed by the government is much in its own interests, not those of its citizens. “The
content of the speech that the state wants to curb is usually public. It relates to criticism of the government, to the dissemination of ideas deemed pernicious or blasphemous, or to the corruption of public morals,” (Post 43). Given the government’s ability to employ censorship to avoid “the corruption of public morals”, it would seem innate to regard words like “nigger”, “cracker”, and similar disparaging language as candidates for censorship considering they strain public racial relations and are ethically shameful.
This is the aspect of Freedom of Speech that makes it oppressive, and unpatriotic. Often, “The ‘free speech’ of men is that which ‘silences’ and thus subordinates women,” (Post 319). This assessment of the man to woman dichotomy is also comparable to white and black racial relations. In terms of the word “nigger” and other derogatory expressions that blacks self-identify with daily, the racial strain stems from the observance that occurs from voyeurs of outside races. The way that blacks relate to each other affects how outside communities perceive the black race, as well as how they relate to the black race. Blacks use derogatory and despicable language in reference to each other flippantly, and it is this freedom that warrants whites’ usage of the same terms. The argument of word connotation changing with skin color is insidious; speech remains speech irregardless of who is speaking.
“Speech may, together with other social forces, reinforce and perpetuate long term and persisting patterns of oppression and discrimination against the weak,” (Post 44). It is this cycle that must be stifled because these words are only creating further division in society’s racial interrelations. Censorship has the power to help end this division by limiting the prevalence of the derogatory words that are contributing to racial belittlement. Hence, it is the freedom of speech that becomes the oppressive force, because the suppressive ideology of censorship would be the true freedom. Censorship would relieve the racial slander that the First Amendment allows, which is a stride towards minimizing the racial divide.
It would be unreasonable to propose the recantation of such a fundamental Right as the Freedom of Expression. Fortunately, there are alternative ways to approach the racially derogatory speech that is ailing this country and hindering racial relations. “In our society the protection of free speech of course has its limits,” (Childs 4). This expresses that there are limitations on what the law protects under Freedom of Speech. Of which, “[some speech] falls into an ‘unprotected category,’ such as libel and slander, obscenity, or “fighting words,” (Cohen, E 126). The existence of a clause that categorizes obscenity as unprotected and outside the perimeters of Freedom of Speech is a significant decree. Although what classifies as obscene is not defined within the clause, the clauses existence creates the prospect for reconsideration of what can be categorized as obscenity by law.
Speech is a dominating instrument; not only is it a constitutional right, but it carries social responsibilities. Since speech has the potential to affect those outside of oneself, it is not an unjustifiable idea that it should be moderately regulated. “If those who are offended by a certain speech feel an obligation to stay because they think that they will suffer more by leaving and avoiding it, then there are grounds for placing restrictions on speech,” (Cohen-Almagor 11). This idea justifies censorship if the words
rendered suffice adequate harm to another that can not be resolved through dismissal; in this regard verbal attack is much like physical assault. The assault on the black race and on racial relations can not be resolved through a mere dismissal; censorship must reform how blacks relate as people and how people relate to blacks.
Those who appeal the regulation of speech cite the First Amendment, often emphasizing the word “freedom”. This “freedom of expression”, however, is not truly a freedom at all. Rather, it is discrete oppression disguised as an amendment. “If freedom inheres in the capacity to choose a course of action, then it is simultaneously realized and negated in the very act of choosing. Commitment to a particular action forecloses the freedom that enabled the commitment. In this regard, it is not merely paradoxical in its workings, but self-canceling and finally unachievable,” (Post 313). This coincides with the idea Freedom of Expression is fundamentally flawed. Freedom is ringing boisterously, and it must be redirected before the ringing becomes deafening.



Bibliography


Childs, Elizabeth, Suspended License: Censorship and the Visual Arts. Seattle:
University of Washington Press, 1997.

Cohen-Almagor, Raphael, Speech, Media, and Ethics: The Limits of Free Expression. New York: Palgrave, 2001.

Cohen, Elliot, and Deni Elliot. Journalism Ethics: Contemporary Ethical Issues. Denver: ABC-CLIO, 1997.

Post, Robert, Censorship and Silencing: Practices of Cultural Regulation. Los Angeles: The Getty Research Institute for the History of Art and Humanities, 1998.