I try not to delude myself into thinking that diversity can fix the representation of POCs/GSMs/women/and combination of the like.

Like, Glee champions itself on diversity but it’s still pretty racist and sexist and pretty poopy on a lot of things. A show just can’t be diverse, it’s gotta be grounded in the reality of that diversity and the ramifications of how diversity would play a part in that world.

I think what people are often overlooking in the discussions on the Trayvon Martin case when it comes to race. The question of whether or not George Zimmerman shot Martin because of his race is only one of the multifaceted aspects of the shooting.

The fact that Martin’s race affected Zimmerman’s actions can be debated and will be in court. But the larger issue is that this is another case in which a black person was killed by a non-black person and the police give amnesty to the non-black shooter when they rarely ever give a black perpetrator the same benefit of the doubt if he invokes self-defense, particularly when the victim is white. A good chunk of the actions of law enforcement operates on racism, and the Trayvon Martin case is just the final straw in the perpetuation of such institutional racism.

There are obviously a lot of intersecting factors such as gun control law, which is focal point for a lot of these discussions, but the core of this case in terms of race is not whether or not Zimmerman is racist, it’s how law enforcement and the law itself can enforce racism over and over again and continue its reputation as racist institutions.

So if you’re arguing that the Trayvon Martin case is not about race because George Zimmerman couldn’t have been racist due to X, Y, and Z reason, don’t waste your breath. You’re missing the point. The racism in this case is not just simply found in Zimmerman’s intentions; it’s found in how the police gave Zimmerman the benefit of the doubt when they would most certainly not do so if the roles were reversed, it’s in how the “Stand Your Ground” law can be invoked Zimmerman more than people who looked like Trayvon, how some media outlets tried to paint a picture of Martin as a thug to discredit his innocence, it’s in cyclical debates on TV and radio and even internet forums on how Zimmerman is not racist and therefore race must not be a part of this case at all. Race issues all over this case even without Zimmerman; they’re everywhere.

Inspired by hungergamestweets

Submitted by Erden

Do you feel any talks are successful?

Alright first of all, as someone who loves sci-fi, aliens, and epic battles in which different factions come together to destroy a larger enemy, I liked this film. It’s very formulaic and the pacing and characterization is a little off, but it totally works for me (plus the music is great!).

That being said, it is also very formulaic to the White Savior Film trope. Let me break it down to you *spoilers but not really because you’ve seen this film before when it was called Dune, The Last Samurai, Dances With Wolves, Avatar, etc.:

John Carter obviously goes into the WSF sub-category of the “epic” WSF, as he, as you might guess, gets transported to Mars accidentally, comes upon different kinds of aliens, all of which are somehow embroiled in war times, proves his worth to them, falls in love with an alien princess, passes the ultimate test of one alien tribe and becomes their leader, leads them into battle, wins the war, marries the princess, and becomes the good ruler of Mars.

That is epic White Savior film 101, folks.

The one nuance to John Carter is the fact that because he is from Earth, his bone structure and muscles are affected differently by the gravity on Mars. So, unlike in most epic WSF, John Carter actually does have some abilities that indeed make him inherently different that are attributed to his being from Earth rather than him just being more skilled than the aliens.

However, everything else fits absolutely perfectly in the White Savior narrative. He sees how poor and desperate the aliens are and decides that he has a higher cause to uphold by saving Mars, and leads the oppressed aliens into battle when they obviously couldn’t help themselves.

Basically, it’s a great-looking film, but we’ve seen it before countless other times, perpetuating the same narratives and ideas, as metaphors about the White Man’s Burden, and colonial ideals of outsiders always needing to save those in desperate need.

In class today we were talking about all of these cases of race-infused violence in the south during the Civil Rights Movement, and Emmett Till came up. And of course we talked about how brutal his murder was - he was beaten, shot in the head, drowned, one of his eyes was gouged out. There was a quiet in the room as we all took in the sheer amount of superfluous physical violence put upon him and everyone from the black kids to the brown kids to the white kids could feel it.

So of course this white guy has to say that those murderers must have been “psychopaths” and “crazy,” because obviously only mentally deficient people would be so cruel as to beat a black kid to death over allegedly flirting with a white woman. And then a few of the other white people in the room were like, “Yeah, they must have been crazy, like serial killers are,” and suddenly an invisible white angel had appeared in the room to bask the white people in a beautiful white glow of non-white-guilt as they sighed a sigh of relief and the painful things that happened to Emmett Till or Medgar Evans or James Chaney suddenly became less painful because the white guys who did it must have just been crazy. God-forbid they were actually perfectly sane and were just hellbent on exerting the racial hierarchy and upholding a racist status quo.

Yo, for real, calling people who engage in violent acts of white supremacy or any kind of oppressive dominance are not akin to people who would be classified as “crazy.” People are drawn to think things like that because it allows any white person to separate themselves from their role in white supremacy and just make racism into something that is only perpetuated by individuals and not toxic and oppressive culture.

I haven’t seen the original John Waters movie in a while, but I know the 2007 musical version.

Think about it.

All these black folks have only Negro Day on the Corny Collins Show to have fun on TV.

And yet it’s only until Nice White Girl Tracy befriends black people and tell them that they should have a protest that they actually do (because she knows what it’s like to be “different”).

And through her goodness and white lady powers and intervention, she sneaks the fun black kids on the show and white audiences suddenly realize that yeah, TV should totes be integrated.

And man, I really like Hairspray so it would be kind of disappointing, but hey, could it be an add-on?