The White Racial Frame

“A person does not choose what color skin they have but they do choose how to act.”

It is sad knowing that we live in a world where everyone is not equal. Where someone will be treated differently based on the color of their skin. It makes me angry sitting here and writing this knowing in order for this way of thought to change, a great overhaul of our society would be needed. If we look at it though, this way of thinking didn’t just appear. It has been ingrained in our society for over the past three centuries when Africans were taken from their home and forced to be slaves.  It just so happened that the people with the power taking the Africans happened to be “white”.

                In our society today, people are quick to say that racism is no longer a problem and we all live happily together. But once we look just an inch past the surface we can see a multitude of issues boiling underneath. We live in a society shaped by the white racial frame. Joe Feagin says that the white racial frame is basically the idea of whites looking negatively upon blacks. Feagin says “the frame and associated discriminatory actions are consciously or unconsciously expressed in the routine operation of racist institutions of this society”. Whites have negative views of blacks and hold negative stereotypes of them. But whites have positive views of other whites and hold positive stereotypes of them. These thoughts are shaped by the white racial frame that has been ingrained in our culture since the time of slavery. Feagin says the white racial frame began at an early point in colonial history because of the “highly structured reality of white-on-black oppression that generated the first incarnation of this color-coded framing of society- composite that has been maintained, albeit with some reworking, to the present day.” Racism still exists in our society. It may not be as overt as it once was but covert racism still exists. Because of the white racial frame, there is still a negative view on people who do not fit the white mold. Racism is embedded in the minds of whites. Feagin talks of a study that was done where whites were shown pictures of white and black people and “90% of whites who have taken the test implicitly associate the faces of black Americans with negative words and traits such as evil character or failure.”

                It is sad to say that race is still an issue in our society; how it’s illegal to enforce segregation but we still do it to ourselves. Blacks are afraid to interact with whites for fear they will be prosecuted for something they did not do. Questlove  talks about his interaction with white people. He is a 6’4” black man that weighs 300 lbs. but he is famous and lives in a “nice building”. He talks about how when he walks in people look at him as if he does not belong. He also points out that he thinks it’s a crazy way to live in which you have to think of other people’s safety and comfort first before your own. People don’t see him as a nice man when they first see him, they see him as a large black man that could cause them harm.

                We need to stop looking at the color of people’s skin and look at what’s on the inside in their hearts. This will take a long time to fix but it is an accomplishable task. I remember a story my mom told me of a friend that I had in the first grade. He was black but that’s not how I saw him, I saw him as my best friend. I can’t remember how it was brought up in a conversation between us but my mom told me I did not realize he was black. According to my mom I said something like “he’s black?” This story has stuck with me to this day. Now that I am older I am not naive to the fact that the white racial frame dos exist but I do everything in my power to fight it. In my personal opinion it is not right to judge someone based on the color of their skin. A person does not choose what color skin they have but they do choose how to act.

                We all know about the Michael Brown case and the riots in Ferguson. I think that the black community has a right to be upset but they should not turn to violence. Race is only still an issue because we keep coming back to it and using it as an excuse. People say that the cop only shot the kid cause he was black or other people say that all black people are bad because a few make bad choices. In a video by Prince Ea he talks about the Michael Brown case. He says he was not surprised to see the headline; that every few months it’s the same story over and over. He makes a great point in saying that real justice is coming together to change policies. We all have to look inside and change our hearts.

Martin Luther King Jr. said it the best when he said:

  “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that ALL men are created equal.’”

We are still waiting for this day….