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My multimedia selection for a television program is the show “Black-ish”. “Black-ish” is about a black family, led by father and husband Andre Johnson. The show follows their life and some of the struggles they have and face about being black. It relates to our course topics because the show talks about race, identity, and ethnicity.

In the first episode of “Black-ish”, Andre Johnson talks about his work and how divided the levels of management are based on diversity. Specifically, lower level management is a very diverse group of people, while upper level management was not diverse at all – it was all white people. Andre gets promoted to upper level management, but his title is “Senior Vice President – Urban Director”. The word “Urban” in the title upsets Andre because they are giving him the job because he is a black man. His coworkers also tend to treat him differently than they would their white coworkers. One is example is when his coworker Josh told Andre he was working on a project and said, “…..We wanted to know how you think a black guy would say good morning”. Andre responded with, “Probably just like that”. It is frustrating for Andre because he shouldn’t be treated any differently from other coworkers, yet he is because he is black. As Andre struggles to grasp if his promotion was good or not, his wife tells him that he is mad because they promoted him because he is black, and he would be mad if they did not promote him because he is black. This gives Andre a new perspective to think about and he decides to take advantage of being black instead of thinking that it holds him back.

In “Who Invented White People” by Gregory Jay, Gregory Jay says, “Race is a reality in the sense that people experience it as real and base much of their behavior on it. Race, however, is only real because certain social institutions and practices make it real.” I think that this quote ties in directly with what Andre’s wife told him. Andre was only mad about his job promotion because he was thinking that it was about race the whole time. To be fair, it was a little bit about race, as he is the “Urban Director”. But, once he stopped thinking the whole promotion was about race, he thought about how good the promotion was for his career and for his family. Once Andre stopped making race real, he was able to think about all the positives of his promotion that the rest of his family saw.

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The subject of my film is “Crazy Rich Asians”. This film is about an Asian American woman, Rachel, marrying an Asian American man, Nick. They travel to Singapore together to attend Nick’s best friend’s wedding, and Rachel is introduced to Nick’s family. She finds out Nick comes from one of the wealthiest families in Asia, and also that his family does not approve of her because she is too “American-ized” and they want her to throw away her career when Nick takes over the family dynasty. This relates to our course topics because this film shows how a multiracial individual may feel as though they do not fit into certain groups because they are not fully one ethnicity or race.

Race, ethnicity, and cultural diversity are talked about much in “Crazy Rich Asians”. Nick’s family looks down upon Rachel because she is multiracial, she is Asian American. Because she was raised in America, she does not know as much of the culture or language that she would have if she was born in Asia. They do not think Rachel is good enough for Nick and they do not respect her. In Professor Gregory Jay’s article “What is Multiculturalism?”, he states, “The various parts of our cultural identities may not add up to a neat and predictable whole. Multiculturalism, then, insofar as it groups individuals into categories, may overlook the practical reality that no one lives in just one box.” This relates to “Crazy Rich Asians” because Rachel is multicultural, and her identity cannot be grouped into one category. She has a part of her that is connected to her Asian side, and a part of her that is connected to her American side. In an article by Susan Saulny titled “Black? White? Asian? More Young Americans Choose All of the Above”, when talking about being multiracial with students one quotes, “Where will I fit in?”. Rachel did not experience this thought in as much deep thought as she had when she met Nick’s family. They made her out to be an outsider and caused her to rethink where she fit in. Because she is from America, she is looked at as differently and Nick’s family does not want to accept her.

Another reason why Rachel is looked down upon is because of her family’s social and economic status. Rachel grew up with a single mother who did not have much money. She worked hard in America to earn a living and to give Rachel an education. Rachel is an economics professor at a university and is very smart. Nick’s family especially looks down on Rachel’s family because Rachel’s biological father was not her mother’s husband. Rachel’s mother had previously left her husband because he was abusive. She left to save herself and give Rachel a good life. Nick’s family does not see it that way, and think that Rachel and her mother are a disgrace.

This film was very eye-opening because it showed me how multicultural people may struggle to fit in with other people of the same ethnicity, race, or culture.

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The subject of my social media selection is “Candace Owens”. Candace Owens is a political activist and social media personality. She is much involved with the conservative group Turning Point USA. Candace Owens relates to our course topics because she is an African American political activist. She is a very controversial figure because of her arguments and opinions.

Candace Owens represents a different on racial and ethnic identities in the United States. Being a conservative women,  she represents a small minority of black conservatives. Only around 12% of registered black voters are conservative. Candace argues that black Americans have victimized themselves and that many of the problems in the black community can be overcome is they stop fighting with each other. Going along with the topic of victimization, she believes that white privilege is an argument that is used to victimize other races. In the article, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Peggy McIntosh, McIntosh gives a checklist of numerous situations in which people can check to see if they have white privilege. Candace Owens would not agree with Peggy McIntosh. In a public forum Candace says, “….there is no law in place that is stopping a person because of the color of their skin from gaining that economic privilege.”

Referring to popular visual culture, many of the examples we studied in class represent African American culture decades ago. Candace Owens talks much about African American culture today. In the article “Picturing Us: African American Identity in Photography” by Deborah Willis, Willis provides a photograph titled “Trouble Ahead, Trouble Behind”. The photograph shows an African American mother spanking her child across her knee. Deborah Willis argues, “This slide, which glorifies the beating of a young African American male was produced for the amusement of a white audience…”. This photograph was taken in the 1880s, during a time which not as many photographs of black Americans were taken. Because there were few photographs, the fact that this photograph depicts black Americans in a bad manner puts a negative stereotype on black Americans. Relating this material to Candace Owens, in an interview with Glenn Beck, Candace says that “…black culture has disintegrated over time…”. When talking about popular media in today’s society such as music, Candace argues that it has given the black community a bad reputation.