Color Of Fear

Since I am a white female with limited cultural experiences I am basing my facts from the movie, discussions in class, handouts and other previously learned outside sources. I will be writing Paper #1 on topic #1.

Let's start with the definition of racism. Racism refers to the belief that race is the primary determinant of human capacities, that a certain race is inherently superior or inferior to others, and/or that individuals should be treated differently based on their ascribed race.

There are two main issues in the movie the "The Color of Fear" that I will discuss. These two issues include grouping people of color on the basis of the way one looks, and the attitudes of different races towards one another. Including also the idea that the white "do-gooder" feels that subconsciously racism is being taken care of, when in all reality it isn't. The eight men in The Color of Fear candidly discussed racism not only as "whites oppressing blacks," but also the less addressed sides of racial trouble in America. A white man earnestly stating that he had never oppressed anyone in his entire life, and a Hispanic man talking about being afraid of driving in front of pickup trucks with gun racks, shows how there needs to be more progress towards ending these feelings in America. Stereotypes were openly declared, from Asians as "the model minority" to blacks as "lazy, violent, and dangerous."

So the first issue is mainly a white culture problem; white people like to categorize those who do not look white and put the non whites into groups based on the color of their skin. Whites like to group together that which they do not understand. Man has been taught to not want to understand other cultures, this was apparent in the movie. Even the men of other races didn't understand each others background, or where they were coming from. It is important that if one wants to understand a race that they have to have an openness towards that culture.

Depending on where someone lives also plays a large part on why they group by color. In the movie there were two Whites, two Asians, and two Blacks. They were all mostly from the west, and only portrayed the racism that is felt in that area. All over the United States racism differs, but grouping still emerges. It is natural for groups of people that feel close to one another to stick together. This is shown by how areas of cities will be predominately black, Asian, Hmong, Mexican or White. The colored men in the movie had difficulties with grouping. They mainly felt that whites needed to group outsiders that didn't look white. One of the Asian men stated that he felt only white was American. He had troubles with how the white man would start to let in other cultures, but then in turn expected other races to give up their cultures to become American. The colored man does not want to give his identity to become apart of the white group, he feels that to end racism we should not have to all be the same.

Another issue in the movie was attitudes. All races have attitudes towards people that are not like their own, whether they