The Resonance of Racial Discrimination - Movie Review Example

Sawyer led a social experiment to identify how much the color of one’s skin impacts everyday life which included the use of two male test subjects who were identical in every way—except the color of their skin, which allowed for the experiment to identify that were any racial inequalities to occur, it would be very clear to observers. 

To begin with, it was almost immediately that John (the white subject) gets instant attention from the salespeople that he comes into contact with while Glen (the black subject) is completely ignored even though he oftentimes appeared much more interested in buying merchandise than John. And more disturbing, one of the salesmen that completely ignored Glen but approached John instantly and eagerly, was black himself. In another scenario, a salesman begins to tail Glen rather than offer assistance to sell products to an interested consumer.

At one point in the discussion, Glen expressed “an emotional price,” becoming discouraged by his interactions being so distinctly different from those of John. It was shocking to see evidence that black Americans pay almost twice what the average white American pays for automobiles, and even the treatment for how both men were offered the merchandise implicated a clear amount of discrimination. In another portion of the experiment, a building manager commented to John that the neighborhood was nice enough, “but they’re moving in,” and alluded to the fact that it wouldn’t be long before blacks became prominent in this part of the community.

In Prime Time fashion, Diane Sawyer took it upon herself to directly question people who had been caught on camera displaying blatant racism towards the black test subject, Glen. The answers given were essentially worthless as everyone denied any such discrimination. If this interview were to be applied to life today, one could be discouraged that racial interactions are so common that many people either will not even know that they are being racist, or they will deny any such actions because they don’t believe they are in the wrong. Perhaps, this could be useful for people who feel they are being discriminated against to use to identify situations where they were not given a fair chance. However, it cannot stop there. People who express discrimination towards others need to become more self-aware of their actions and understand that they are only hindering the growth of another human being by demonstrating inequality.

Overall, racial discrimination is still a large problem in society today. It hinders both economic and social growth by allowing racist views to disrupt the forward motion of life. Now, one thing of note is that this social experiment took place in 1991. One could only hope that if such an experiment were to be conducted today, people would offer less discrimination and would treat people equally, irrespective of the color of their skin. It’s sickening that race is still even a topic of discussion in today’s world because truly, every man and woman (black, white, mixed, or otherwise) are part of the human race and should be treated based upon their actions and not the color of their skin.

Ultimately, a different view on humanity needs to be adopted in which everyone is equal and deserves the same opportunities and chances as any other. This view needs to begin early, in the classroom, with teachers who understand the value that every human being brings to the future of the world and can impress upon their students that racial inequality must become a thing of the past if the human race desires to move forward. Read More