A television show I watched back in the seventies, “The Jefferson’s,” was about a Black Family that moved from the projects to a condominium in the city. The father of the show George Jefferson was an owner of a clothes-cleaning company and his wife stayed home to take care of their only child, Lionel. They a met a couple of bi-racial parents of their sons girlfriend. George Jefferson showed a lot of prejudice toward the couple and their child. By calling them names and treating them as though he was better than anyone else was, because he worked hard to get to the point of being rich. This show had microaggression as part of the weekly script, to the point that George Jefferson would treat his house cleaner badly by calling her lazy and other unforeseen words of discrimination due to her economic status. (Gorski, 2007). He did not only discriminate against race and economic status, he was also a person of ageism, LGBT-ism, religionism, and ableism. (Sue, 2010). This sit-com caused a lot of controversy over the display of such prejudice. However, in the seventies, it was a top rated sit-com and it still comes on cable to this day. As a teenager and watching this show weekly, I began to believe it was true about others in a prejudice manner. To the point of making me believe that, people were like George Jefferson and being a Black American. I thought all black Americans treated other people that were different the same way. Until I experience the world alone and I overcame the fear of Back Americans and the prejudice because not all Black Americans were like George Jefferson.
- In what way(s) did the specific bias, prejudice, and/or oppression in that incident diminish equity?
The bias, prejudice, and oppression represented in the sit-com “The Jefferson’s” by the way the words used would not diminish equity. The treatment of bi-racial families and the unfair treatment given by George Jefferson was a prejudice sit-com. This sit-com encourages the use of prejudice. In order for it to diminish equity, it would have to change the entire script of microaggression actions. That would include changing the character of George Jefferson. Although doing a change to the sit-com it would not have been at the top of the charts. However, it could have changed the thinking of others about people. In addition, to treat people the way you want to be treated. Perhaps if this had occurred in the nineteen seventies we would of diminish equity in the years of two thousand.
- What feelings did this incident bring up for you?
The entire sit-com made me feel less about my own culture of being a Black American. The treatment George Jefferson made against everyone made me feel ashamed. The reason for feeling ashamed is that I lived in England for four years of my pre-teens years that I made lifetime of friends that were white and of other cultures, social classes, and religions. My parents always taught me to treat everyone the same way I want to be treated and that is what I did as a teen. However when we moved back to the United States I found out through watching television, my cousins, and neighbors that white people will hurt you if you do not stand up for yourself. Therefore, in reality of the sit-com “The Jefferson’s” I had to realize that it was wrong to treat people the way the show taught. I just began to feel shame of the behavior of George Jefferson on the show and more of my own culture after understanding Black Americans.
- What and/or who would have to change in order to turn this incident into an opportunity for greater equity?
The scriptwriter, show director, and audience would have to change in order to turn the prejudice of George Jefferson’s character to be of greater equity. The scriptwriter and director must focus on the diversity of the community and respect the feelings of others. In addition, this will change the effects on the community into an opportunity for greater equity. (Margles, S & Margles, R., 2010).
Reference:
Gorski, P. C. (2007). The question of class. Education Digest, 73(2), 30–33. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Academic Search Complete database: http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=27177336&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Margles, S., & Margles, R. M. (2010). Inverting racism's distortions. Our Schools/Our Selves, 19(3), 137–149. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database: http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=51372248&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Sue, D. W. (2010). Microaggressions in everyday life: Race, gender, and sexual orientation. New York, NY: Wiley
No comments:
Post a Comment