What If There Was No Racism?

     My dance to John Lennon's Imagine, is to portray that the world could be a better place with no racism. In the world that John Lennon describes in this song, everyone is equal, and there is no racism or hate because everybody is the same. Hopefully this dance encourages people to stand up for what is right, and stand up against racism. I hope that this dance proves to people that it is possible to have a world where all of the people are "living life in peace". As sang by John Lennon, "I hope someday you'll join us. And the world will be as one".

     Here is my interpretive dance to Imagine, to show that the world would be a better place without racism : 

Racism in Television Shows

Racism has been, and still is present in many television shows both in the past, and right now. Some of the most racist television shows are the ones that you would least  expect to be racist. For instance, did you ever think that the most loved cartoon series,  Looney Tunes was racist? In fact Warner Brother's Looney Tunes is the third most racist show on television. Our favourite cartoon characters are portraying to children that Africans, and Natives are nothing more than dim-witted, foot dragging savages, and even occasional cannibals. It also bashes Jewish people, Italians, Mexicans, and Germans.

Looney Tunes is a cartoon television show produced by Warner Brothers, and targets an audience of children. The show is produced purely for entertainment and pleasure, but includes some very racial stereotypes that may come across as offensive to many viewers. Although most people probably just accept that it is a cartoon, and do not questions the message in it too intensively.

Racism at the Beach

     This sign can be seen at a segregated beach in South Africa, in the city of Durban.  It is extremely racist and it is not right to say that only people of the white race can swim there. It is all the same water that flows all around the world, and the same water than millions of people swim in, including many people who are not part of the white race. It is just pure discrimination against coloured people,that is just plain wrong.
    
     This sign is owned by the City of Durban, and is used as a barrier to keep people who are not of the white race out of this area of the beach. Many people would perceive this sign as extremely, rude, racist and inappropriate in today's society. This sign is only one example of public racism that still exists today. hopefully more people will be encouraged to stand up for what is right, and fight against racism.
    

Racist Employers

Did you ever think that you would get a job because you have a more white-sounding name? It is sad, but unfortunately, it is true. A recent study by the University of Chicago shows that people with white-sounding names will more often get contacted for a job than people with black-sounding names that have exact same résumés that were created as part of their study.
To read the complete story, click this link: http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=124232&page=1

ABC News is a news company owned by The Walt Disney Company. This news article was broadcasted to make people aware of how bad the racism really is in today's society. It was meant to bring people's attention to how bad racism can be, and hopefully to encourage people to stand-up against racism. Majority of the people who read this article would be surprised and probably disgusted by how outrageous racism has got to be. Hopefully, after reading this article people will be aware of how bad racism has got to be, and will do something about it, instead of just letting it happen.

Racism in Comics

     Racism is even present in every one's favourite comic series, Archie. On the cover of this Archie comic, the African-American has been shown as someone who normally would not get served at a public eating establishment. They are making a joke about the African-American by having Mr. Weatherbee ask, "Archie, do you serve crabs?" and then having Archie reply, "Sure, Mr. Weatherbee! We'll serve anybody!" and motioning towards the African-American customer. This is extremely racist and it is saying that people of colour are less significant than crabs.

     Archie Comics is owned by Archie Comic Publications Inc. who produce this comic so that people can relate to the "normal" character, Archie. I do believe that most people just accept Archie, and probably do relate to him. I think people just enjoy reading Archie Comics for entertainment, and don't really analyse or look to far into them. However, if one were too look closely into the messages portrayed in these comics, especially this particular one, they would find in very racist, offensive, and inappropriate.  

Racism in Disney Movies

     Every child's favourite Disney movies seem like such  nice, family-friendly films that are genuine heart-warmers, but did you ever stop to notice all of the racism. One of the most racist movies of any Disney movies, is The Jungle Book. All of the characters have perfect, white people, British accents, except the monkeys who have accents of African-American people. In this movie the monkeys are shown as gibberish-speaking, and always wanting to be "real people". The racism is very strong and evident in this movie, although it may not be evident to all of the viewers.

      Another very racist Disney movie is The Little Mermaid. In this movie, Sebastian is crab with a Jamaican accent that teaches Ariel that living "under the sea" is better because you don't have to get a job there. He sings this to her in everyone's favourite song Under the Sea. Racism can also be seen in this movie during the same song by the way that the fish with the "black accents" are illustrated. 
Here is how one of the "black" fish are illustrated:

Click the link for the Under the Sea video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgA2xo0HYrE






Both of these Disney movies, along with many other ones can be seen as extremely racist and offensive. Walt Disney created these movies simply for entertainment and pleasure for an audience of children. Most children just accept these movies the way they are, and do not question anything about them. However, when an older audience views these timeless classics you can not help but notice the incredible amount of offensive racism in them. These movies were not created to teach racism to children, but in some cases that is exactly what is happening. Fortunately, most children just view them for enjoyment and to not learn anything from them.

Racism in Children's Books

     Racism can be found pretty much everywhere, even in books that were created for children. In Mickey Mouse and the Boy Thursday, the African-American Native is constantly portrayed throughout this book as trying to eat something, throw a spear at it, or worshipping it. It is extremely racist, and is really not appropriate for any book, especially a children's book. It is teaching children that African-American Natives are not real people. It is showing that they are just crazed human beings that are always running around trying to eat something, throw a spear at it, or worship it. It is a very racist and hurtful book, that doesn't teach anything positive to children.

     This book was published by the Whitman Publishing Company and was created by Walt Disney as a book for children to read. It was written simply for entertainment, and just for reading pleasure. It was target at a young audience and, it was created as a book for children to read. However, this book comes across as extremely racist and very inappropriate for anyone to read, especially for children to read.