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In this class we had watched the Ken Burns’ documentary, The Central Park Five, in which 5 black teenage boys were wrongfully tried and convicted of the violent rape and assault of a white woman in Central Park when the only thing they were truly guilty of was being black in America. Throughout their trials and convictions the boys were harassed and demonized by every media outlet in the nation. They were coerced and manipulated by the police force and detectives to confess to untrue narratives and were turned on each other. While this had occurred over 30 years ago, this is still a common occurrence in today’s media and social mindset. This divide and unjust treatment of young black men compared to white men is still evident in today’s society. 

In the video above, I have attached a news broadcast from far-right reporter Tucker Carlson, an outspoken critic and attacker of the Black Lives Matter Movement and the civil rights efforts of the black community. In light of George Floyd’s murder by police officer Derek Chauvin, Carlson took the advantage to publicly report and discredit the BLM protests that took place all over the country as nothing more than rioters, thugs, and looters; completely dishonoring the original meaning behind these protests. Following a shooting and subsequent murder of two protestors and the injury of another, by Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17 year old Illinois resident, Tucker Carlson broadcasted his show as usually, but now blamed the protestors who were shot for getting shot in the first place. He began this segment, by showing a montage of rioters lighting fireworks, cars and dumpsters on fire and citizens charging gates. He then goes on to paint the picture of how one man died after attempting to randomly assault a 17 year old running from the “mob” (now known to be a completely untrue narrative); this 17 year old would be Kyle Rittenhouse. Why Rittenhouse was at the center of the protests was unknown, but multiple eye witnesses stated they had seen Rittenhouse integrating protestors, pointing his unlicensed AR-15 at random passersbys. This of course was not how Carlson would paint the events that unfolded that night. There would be no way that he could speak ill will of the underage pro-cop, self proclaimed militia, far right teen wielding an unlicensed assault rifle through the crowded streets. Instead Carlson defended his actions stating, “How shocked are we that 17-year-olds with rifles decided they had to maintain order when no one else would?” Carlson essentially praised the killings as a feat of bravery and responsibility by the 17 year old, taking a stand when no one else would, instead of reporting the truth that two innocent people were killed that night by Rittenhouse who took it upon himself to be the judge, jury and executioner of three lives.

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In the beginning of the semester we watched a short documentary called “Unnatural causes: Is inequality making us sick? Episode 1: In sickness and in wealth” by Brian Bolling. This documentary explores the disproportionate care and increased prevalence of disease in poor and minority communities. As seen in the video in areas of high poverty with increased minority residents, the residents are exponentially more likely to develop life threatening diseases like hypertension, hyperlipidemia and type II diabetes. Access to a healthy diet and proclivity to stay away from risky behaviors such as drug use, alcohol use, etc. are also interconnected with increased annual income, education, and overall access to healthcare. One research point I found incredibly interesting was that in a study of identical twins with equal health statuses into adulthood in which they end up with different incomes (one higher than the other), the identical twin with the lower income is proven to have more negative health outcomes and co-morbidities than that of the other wealthier twin. 

This information is incredibly important and relevant as minorities and poorer communities in the United States are experiencing negative impacts and health outcomes from the coronavirus and exceedingly disproportionate rate. In an article titled “The Disproportionate Impact of COVID-19 on Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the United States” it is stated that of all the COVID-19 cases in the United States 21.8% were African American and 33.8% were LatinX. These numbers come at an inordinate rate as both communities only account for about 15% of the population respectively. The article also states that African Americans were almost twice as likely to die from the corona virus and that the areas hit the hardest were poor urban communities with mostly minority residents. 

As a nursing student and current health care worker, working in the hospital settings both suburban and urban and can attest to this. Even before COVID, it was clear that minority and poorer communities suffer from dramatically increased rates of mortality and morbidity. 

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The documentary “Angry, White and American'' follows British journalist, Gary Younge through the Mideastern coast of the United States from Maine to Mississippi interviewing white American citizens on their thoughts, perceptions and notions of race and how race is perceived in America. I was made familiar with this documentary through a short clippet that I had seen on Tik Tok (as posted above). In this clip interviewer Gary Younge speaks with alt-right, white supremacist Richard Spencer on the topic of slavery and white colonialism of African countries. During the conversation Spencer repeatedly attempts to endorse the ideal that black Americans benefit from white supremacy and slavery as they are “better off” being taking from the native lands and forced into American as compared to citizens of African countries. 

Throughout the interview Spencer pushes that whites are superior in every way to black people and without them black people would amount to nothing. Though only filmed 4 years ago, this interview and documentary in general remind of the ideals of eugenics, scientific racism and much of what Lee D. Baker talks about in his journal Columbia University's Franz Boas: He Led the Undoing of Scientific Racism. Western culture and colonialist ideals have attempted to perpetuate the idea of white supremacy even before the birth of our nation. Baker talks about how white Americans used scientific racism  “coupled with colonists' popular thinking about racial hierarchies” to prove that all minorities especially the black community were physically and mentally inferior to thus make them socially inferior. White Americans looked for a reason to rationalize institutional racism and colonialism just how Richard Spencer and the alt-right neo-nazis shown in this documentary are attempting to rationalize their own racist ideals and colonialist beliefs. 

This way of thinking is dangerous and scary and to see such illogical, racist and hateful ideologies being spread in our modern society is quite frankly appalling.

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With the sudden emergence and spread of the deadly COVID-19 virus a little over a year ago there has been an immense increase in xenophobia and asian targeted hate crimes in the United States. This ideology and fear mongering resulting in xenophobic actions and violence towards the Asian community was contrived from the words and actions of the former President of the United States, Donald Trump. Trump almost immediately turned to deflecting and responsibility for the effects of the corona virus on the U.S. and its citizens by blaming the entirety of the virus on the Chinese government and the Chinese in general, even going so far as to rebrand COVID as the “China/Chinese virus”. This is not the first time Trump had blamed the Chinese for his own failings. At a rally in Michigan in 2016 that the Chinese and other foreign countries were stealing American jobs stating, “Our jobs are being stolen like candy from a baby… They take our money. They take our jobs. They build their plants. They build their factories. We end up with unemployment and drugs.” Trump used this Asian directed hate to blame and incriminate the Asian community for the short-fallings of our nation. This is also seen in the journal article we discussed this year, The Changs Next Door to the Diazes in which Los Angeles realtors directly discriminated against Mexican and Asian communities when David Tong, a Chinese American citizen was racial profiled and harassed by white individuals saying “You  Jap … Why  don’t  you  go  back  to  where  you’re  from?”. It didn’t matter that Tong wasn’t Japanese or that he had been a 3rd generation Chinese American citizen; because he was Asian this man (and many other white Americans) blamed Tong and all Asians, no matter their ethic identity, for the events of Pearl Harbor. 

In a New York Times article,“Spit On, Yelled At, Attacked: Chinese-Americans Fear for Their Safety” authors Sabrina Tavernise and Richard A. Oppel Jr. write on the lived experiences of Asian Americans, specifically Chinese Americans and the hate and racial violence they have experienced as a result of Trump scapegoating the Asian community for the effects of the coronavirus. Chinese American, Yuanyuan Zhu was just one of the stories of recent violence against Asians as she was nearly run over by a car full of hateful racists for simply walking down the street. Violence against Asians is not a new occurrence in the United States as seen by the documentation “Who Killed Vincent Chin” in which Chinese engineer, Vincent Chin was attacked and murdered after an altercation with racist motives. The attackers even used Asian hatred in America to their advantage as they used the increasing racial animosity towards the Japanese community in the United States attributed to the Japanese automotive industry that had increased production and sales in the United States to attain shorter sentencing. Chins murderer even argued that the Japanese were “stealing jobs” from American citizens. These racist statements like we see with Vincent Chin and said by the former president show how racist hateful words can incite violence in minority communities.

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As a person from a suburban middle class upbringing now living in North Philadelphia campus housing it is important to understand the effects of gentrification that disproportionately affect poor and minority neighborhoods and individuals. For decades, and especially within recent years with the increased influx of students to Temple University, realtors have taken advantage of the need for “off campus housing” and have not not only “bought out” the long time residents of the community of their houses, but have also dramatically increased rent, often times forcing them out. In the documentary we watched this semester, “My Brooklyn: Demystifying Gentrification.” you can see the same effects of gentrification on poorer communities living in desirable, or soon to be desirable neighborhoods. Downtown Brooklyn was once home to a bustling community and hub for small, often minority owned businesses and affordable housing. When New York legislatures and housing companies proposed newly renovated apartment complexes and office spaces the rent soon skyrocketed and was made unaffordable to the original inhabitants of the area. As we saw in the documentary, Downtown Brooklyn and what was Fulton Mall are no more as the space is now almost unrecognizable to what it once was years before and those who used to live in the area have long been pushed out and replaced with wealthier residents. 

In past years, Temple University has not only capitalized on the gentrification of the community housing just outside of campus, but they have also proposed the construction of a new stadium. In the blog post “Gentrification in North Philadelphia with Temple University’s New Stadium'' author Domenyka Sarauz speaks about the news of the possible construction and the outrage it struck within the neighboring community. The low-income neighborhoods that would surround the stadium would not only have to endure the sounds, smells, and sights of construction for the coming months and even years it would take to finish contruction, but they would surely fall victim to the increase of rent that was experienced by the similar low-income communities surrounding the construction of Mercedes-Benz stadium for the Atlanta Falcons. The effects after construction could also further negatively impact the community as football games and sporting events would bring drinking, littering, and disorderly conduct to the community from college kids on game day. Considering the already tumultuous relationship between Temple University and the surrounding North Philadelphia community I would hope that they would take more consideration into the effects this could have on the community it will be most directly impacting.

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One of the documentaries that interested me most during this semester was “More Than a Word” by John and Ken Little. This documentary follows the struggles and efforts of Native American citizens in their fight to be recognized and respected in the media and American culture. One of the major issues faced by Indigenous peoples is the use of the derogatory slur “Redskin” that continues to be used and exploited in modern day media, including sports teams. The “More Than a Word” documentary shows the painful and hateful history of the slur and how naming a national football team, The Washington Redskins, after this word is utterly racist. However, the same derogatory word is used for a different football team on a more local level. The Neshaminy “Redskins” of Neshaminy Pennsylvania have held the name and mascot for over half a century much to the outrage of the Indigenous community.  

Like the indigenous activists shown in the documentary many people of the Neshaminy community looked towards the The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission to attempt to have the name and image of a Native American chief removed as the mascot of the school. In an almost unanimous decision, the council voted to keep the mascot and name, despite the commissioner themselves coming to an agreement that the word “Redskin” is a racial slur. A member of the Neshaminy District School Board Directors and non-indigenous person, Stephen Pirritano commented on the vote saying, “We do not use caricatures. We do not have a live mascot. Redskin and the imagery that goes with it simply supports our school team.”, though the picture above clearly shows a white student in a traditional Native American headdress and the mascot for the school itself is a Native American chief. Like those fighting on a national level for the removal of offensive and racist imagery and words in sports and media, local activists are fighting for the equality and respect that is due towards the Native American community.