Devil in a Blue Dress - Term Paper Example

assignment is due The movie Devil in a Blue Dress has racially divisive times as a faint background. The story is woven into a historical fabric. What makes the movie special is its pungent depiction of racism. In the movie we find the Washington's character constantly victimized by racism. Washington is worried as he moves along a white neighborhood after dark. The movie reveals some of the contemporary social implications, particularly the practice of racial segregation. The relations of blacks and whites, the inequality prevailed in the society is presented in the movie. Corruption over Blacks, segregation, the Black image of the American Dream and the alienation suffered by blacks are portrayed in the movie. The story of the missing white woman who was last found at a black-only club presents the dark faces of race and racism. The movie presents the race-oriented life of the 1940s; racism and segregation were the accepted way of life during that period. In the movie we find that the skin color is not just a background issue, it is rather the core theme of the lives of the people of those times. Race was the first thing people notices. Racial discriminations could destroy marriages, break careers and end lives. The movie brings before the viewers the black life in Los Angeles. The disadvantaged life of the blacks is watched from the perspective of the 1940s and 1960s. This picture can be very much paralleled to the lives of the blacks in the 1990s. The movie is relevant even in the present world. Segregation is not uncommon in the United States in the modern world also. Prejudice and stereotyping is common in almost all societies. Multicultural societies are under the curse of prejudice and discrimination. Considering the United States as an example we can find that prejudice is the most crucial feature of the society. It is nothing but prejudice that has caused discrimination, oppression and tensions among various racial and ethnic classes in the United States. Prejudice results in racial profiling, alienation, housing segregation, dangerous ethnic jokes and various other problems. Prejudice demolishes all types of fellowships. No relationship would abide in the presence of prejudice. Prejudice reflects segregation, and it has completely blocked the progress of the nation. This strange racial prejudice has resulted into an isolated, ill developed and racially segregated society that has encouraged racial mistrust, senseless conflicts and other discriminations that prevents the society from obtaining true racial equality. Prejudice hinders cooperation and mutual respect and destroys relationships. Prejudice dissolves the good relationship between people of different race, ethnicity and nationality. Racial prejudice and segregation has resulted in systemic inequalities that stand as a barrier to the development (of the whole society) and personal improvement of individuals. Prejudice has contributed for the widening of the socio-economic gap between superior group (whites) and the minorities (blacks). The racism found in the movie Devil in a Blue Dress is prevalent in the modern society of the United States. There are various practices that humiliate and trouble the negatively privileged blacks and women in America, for example racial profiling. Thousands of complaints from the victims of various ethnic groups have proved that racial profiling is a real happening. Victims of racial profiling are not only common people but also famous and rich people, celebrities, sports stars and people from all walks of life. There were cases when respected members of the society, like judges, lawyers, state legislators, and even representatives claimed that they were victims of racial profiling. This discriminatory stopping and checking by the police is disturbing thousands of pedestrians, innocent drivers, and shoppers and other helpless people across the nation. ‘War on Drugs’ as well as ‘War on Terror’ have given the police an excuse to suspect and check people whom they doubt as a terrorist or drug courier. This has resulted in several racial profiling issues. People will get humiliated and will lose their valuable time when they are unnecessarily stopped and checked by the police. Police has got a general belief that non-white people are mostly drug users and sellers. But studies (reports regarding police stops and checking) have revealed that people who are considered to be racially inferior are less likely to be having drugs or weapons with them compared to whites. Law enforcement agents are people who are having the policing authority for private or public purposes. Security guards at main offices or private institutions, police officers, and officers like airport security agents are having policing right which they misuse to create yet another racial discrimination issue. There were cases when airline pilots demanded people to disembark from the flights, as they suspected passengers because of their ethnicity. Nearly 10 million Asians (4 percent of the population) have already been victims of racial profiling according to reports. Indians in America also had testified their complaints about stops and searches of local police. They complained about the vehicle check, (demanding license and registrations) and other checks done by police without any reasonable suspicion. Blacks as well as Latino pedestrians are stopped, questioned and checked without any reason. Non-white youths traveling in bikes are simply stopped and questioned for doing nothing wrong. There were incidents in which police dogs attacked non white civil rights protesters. Highway patrol canine units unnecessarily stop the vehicles claiming that they carry drugs. There exists a practice of threatening people of color by releasing dogs. Dogs are trained to attack and maul and are sent to attack people. Several hundreds of blacks and Latinos were attacked in different incidents. Women from inferior race suffer great insults in American society. Women are still negatively privileged even though the Legal Status of Women has progressed substantially. Certain communities do not allow women to maintain property in their name after getting married. In certain regions and ethnic groups, women are supposed to virtually surrender all the properties under her name to their husband’s name even though law permits women to sue her husband and also to maintain property in their names separate from their husbands (in United States). In spite of all this, discrimination continues in various fields. Women still suffer wrong and unjust discriminations because of the racial, ethnic and religious segregations that exist in United States. Women belonging to non-white race are discriminated and insulted in colleges, job places and schools. Race, ethnicity and religious segregations limit the impact of all favorable reforms for women in American society. Even though laws and privileges uphold women to a good extent, all recruitments, admissions and all other actions are still found to be highly biased. Race, religion and ethnicity still matters in all important dealing happening in the society. For example, women belonging to non-white race are found to be suffering from racial profiling problems in United States. Non-white women are unnecessarily suspected because of the inferior nature of her race, nationality, ethnicity or religion. Police officers often stop, check, and examine their vehicles without any reason or proof about the misbehavior or criminality of the person. An Olympic medalist, women basketball player had a painful experience of waiting in a restaurant for an hour to get a seat, when the whites who came after her were given seats. African-Americans have to face unwanted questioning, harassment, and false arrest from various places. People of inferior ethnic groups are falsely doubted and accused for undocumented labor violations in immigration and naturalization services. They are recognized by their color, slang, dress and by their foreign sounding names. Several complaints about the police harassment at polling booths (harassing voters) have come up from the African-American people. So in my opinion, the racial, ethnic and religious segregations will totally nullify the advantages of all the reforms and laws that are supposed to uplift women from the discriminated situation. Women never became completely relieved from discrimination and still are ill treated in colleges, schools and work places. Women belonging to certain racial groups and ethnic minorities are highly disadvantaged because of this segregation in institutions. For example, certain institutions want their female staff to wear skirts. Women belonging to certain religions, who are supposed to wear dresses that cover their full body, will find discrimination in such organizations. Standardized testing promotes segregation since these sorts of assessments are influenced by social and cultural history of the participants as a result of which minority racial groups score less. Segregation-discouraging legislations did not help women to a good extent and women belonging to lower class and ethnicity are still under grave discrimination. Several of the legislations were found to be multifaceted and vaguely defined and women were least benefited out of it. Racial discriminations are found to be maximum to the women belonging to inferior races. Even though it is true that more and more women are occupying high paid jobs, the number of women working as managers, officials, and other high administrators are still less compared to men. Even recent estimates reveal that women are paid less that that of men even though there came up several legislations that demanded equal wage policy. Thus women are still under the shadow of discrimination based on race, ethnicity, class and religion even though several measures have improved their previous ill privileged condition. Race, class and gender classifications prevail in schools, colleges, workplaces and all other sectors of the society. Blacks especially African Americans suffer extreme discrimination in the society. Discrimination prevailed in schools, job places, government offices and in all institutions. Black people’s children were not given admission in white people’s schools and were not allowed to share anything with them. Society became a playground of discrimination. Blacks were not given any freedom and were forbidden from entering white majority areas. Institutional racism, the reluctance of white institutions to serve people of color, is very much prevalent in United States.  Institutions were historically set up to serve only white communities. These institutions function on the basis of race. They operate on the policy of segregation. Institutional racism is the concept that one race is superior to other. Organizations and institutions (both government and private) do racial discrimination, marginalizing the inferior faction. Institutions exclusively for inferior race were technically illegal in America till 1863. These institutions offer their service only for superior faction and ill-treat people of color. Institutional discrimination is found in almost all sectors in different forms. Discrimination prevails in schools, job places, government offices and in all institutions. Educational institutions give preference to superior people in the case of admissions. In certain universities and colleges in United States, ethnicity and racial status also matters for the selection of students. Applicants belonging to inferior race are given least preference in providing jobs also. People belonging to superior race are getting high preference in all governmental and non-governmental dealings. Inferior faction will be denied justice during court matters also. Law enforcement officers would not show much interest on the complaints given by inferior race people. Housing segregation is another type of discrimination that prevails in US. Black-white segregation persists in its highest form in the nation. People with dark skin (Negro) are considered untouchables and are treated badly by their black counterparts. Blacks are found to be driven to the worse neighborhoods compared to white people of similar economic and social standing. Blacks are deprived of good residential places and live in backward areas having big crime rates. Blacks are not able to find good residential location as a result of strong social forces that bring about discrimination and favoritism in real estate and mortgage lending practices also. Cities are geographically divided according to these racial bounds. Individuals of inferior race are negatively privileged and suffer distinctions and insults wherever they go. Examples of individual racism comprise an employer not willing to hire a person of an inferior race, an institution not willing to give admission to a person who is of a weak ethnicity, a hospital unwilling to provide necessary service to an individual of lower class. In certain work places whites rule over people of color and abuse them whenever they get a chance. Black employees have to suffer insult and ill-treatment from their white superiors. They are denied promotion and are not given any respect. They are given tough duties and are unnecessarily fired from the service. Researchers (at University of Chicago) found out that there is extensive discrimination in the workplace towards applicants whose names sound ‘black’. Segregation affects our race in several ways. Economically, poverty gets concentrated in the poor neighborhoods (where minorities reside) thereby limiting the fiscal capacity of the minority municipalities and resulting in poor resources and infrastructures in minority neighborhoods. This has ultimately end up in low standard schools, low quality libraries, poor public spaces, and has resulted in the unavailability of essential services like fire services, law enforcement services, improved transportation options and so forth. The practice or attitude of showing discrimination towards an individual belonging to an inferior race or minority faction is very common in the United States. It is highly prevalent in work places and educational institutions. These attitudes are quite unhealthy and unjust and are extremely intolerant. Individuals are discriminated on the basis of race, ethnicity, color and various other factors and are not allowed to exercise their constitutional rights even. The society of the 1940s illustrated in Devil in a Blue Dress is no different from the modern society. References Harris, David. “Flying While Arab: Lessons from the Racial Profiling Controversy.” Civil Rights Journal 6.1 (2002): 8-12. Harris, David. “The Reality of Racial Disparity in Criminal Justice: The Significance of Data Collection.” Law and Contemporary Problems 66.3 (2003): 71. Audre Lorde, Age, Race, Class and Sex: Women Redefining difference Healey, J. F. Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class: The Sociology of Group Conflict and Change. Thousand Oaks CA: Pine Forge Press, 2005. Henry Louis Gates, The Blackness of Blackness: A critique on the Sign and the Signifying Monkey Ian F. Haney Lopez. The social Construction of Race Judith Butler, Performance Acts and Gender Constitution. Read More