In response to: Now that you have viewed all of the content for Module 1, how much do you believe our history informs people's beliefs and behavior today? What information in this module stood out to you or impacted you the most?
After watching this module I'm left with the feeling that the US history of oppression is inescapable. It has created a system that functions perfectly to reinforce white supremacy. And until working through this module, that system was largely invisible to me as a beneficiary of that system.
Things that stood out to me the most:
There was part of the bias video right at the end that I had to rewind and listen to a few times to make sure I understood - disparities in poverty and health, and generational trauma for people of color, serve to further reinforce and entrench our biases against people of color, when in fact they are a result of white supremacy and institutional racism. Wow. How do we break the cycle?
I felt a little stab of shock while watching the Jim Crow museum video that all of the racial caricature items in the museum were still being produced today. The fact that this is still an acceptable business, to profit off of racist imagery, and the fact that there is still a market for these items, is maddening and enraging. I also wasn't aware of the existence of all of the racist and caricature images relating to Obama. It just goes to show what a rock I've been living under as a white woman (sheltered by my privilege) that I didn't know that these images and ideas were alive and well during Obama's presidency. Regardless of your political opinion, I hope that looking at those images made it clear that no white president has ever been treated the way that a Black president was.