I am a white American. Born in 1993 in Lincoln, Nebraska,
I have dealt with and seen little to no cultural discrimination. Victor Young
is an African American born in 1950 in Southern Mississippi. He came to the
University of Nebraska on a football scholarship in 1969, where he met his wife
Connie. Connie Wilson is a white American from a small town in Nebraska. None
of Victor or Connie’s family showed up for their wedding. They were kicked out
of their hotel room on their honeymoon. They are still married 35 years later,
with no contact with their families. I am currently in a relationship with
their biracial son Landon. Most of us know about the civil rights movement and
the dark periods of American history. What people may not think about is that
things have changed, and people are creating families with different raced
parents. With children, like Landon, what is their history? Do they have to
choose a side of the hatred in the 1960’s and 70’s? Or can they look at it from
a positive perspective, and say their history is the building blocks of gaining
peace between the two. Coming together to make our political, intellectual and
social histories merge, creating a more positive national history for all. Biracial
culture is becoming more and more significant that I feel it is important to
take a closer look.
Because this idea of a mixed culture is a relatively new
one for our Country, many strides to end prejudice against this culture are
happen right now. Even in early June of this year, this culture sparked
controversy in the media… over a Cheerio’s Commercial. The TV advertisement
shows of a young biracial girl asking her white mother if it was true that the
cereal is heart healthy. When her mother approves, it then cuts to her black
father waking up from a nap with his chest covered in Cheerio’s. The commercial
went viral on YouTube and within days the views and comments skyrocketed. Some
with appreciate, but many with hate. Anything from references to Nazis,
"troglodytes" and "racial genocide” (Nudd, 2013). There is still
a lot of hatred towards different cultures these days however we must
acknowledge that this was a positive stride for the hidden history of biracial
people in the media. In a statement with Cheerio’s vice president of marketing,
Camille Gibson, said that they were trying to portray an American families, and
there are a lot of them that are also multicultural (Today, NBC News). General Mills did not pull
the ad.
The media affects our day-to-day
lives, even more than we might think, especially in America. Many of the
YouTube comments also included people reacting in positive ways. Comments along
the lines of people being grateful for advertisements depicting different
family forms, not being so cookie-cutter with a happy white family, making
people more comfortable in their skin, or opening their eyes to new cultures. This
not only makes light of biracial cultural-group history, or the history of each
cultural group within a nation, but also creates room for positivity in our
national history, or the knowledge based on the nation’s past events that
influence our development (Martin & Nakayama, 2013).
(6th ed.) New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
Nudd, Tim. (2013). Cheerios
Spot Gets Cheers and Jeers. AdWeek, Retrieved September 26, 2013,
Today. NBC
News. (2013, June 3). New Cheerios Ad
Sparks Racist Comments
[Video
file]. Retrieved from
Your opening story is really great. I was invested in your topic almost right off the bat once you explained your own involvement with the biracial culture.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate that you cited the Cheerios commercial. I remember first seeing it and thinking "Oh, that's cute." And then, when I heard about the horrible things people were saying, I was utterly astounded. This milestone was supposed to mark that American families are more diverse than ever, and instead it showed that there are still a lot of people out there with closed minds.
I really enjoyed this topic and the approach you took dealing with media. I can truly relate to this topic, one of my best friends is African American and started dating a white american woman 2 years ago. She is in a sorority and he was telling me about all the weird looks he would get when he walked into her house holding her hand. He is a very nice guy that is very self-confident and I have never seen this side of him before. It took awhile, but once people saw that it was true compassion they though the relationship was great. I think we are making true strides in the acceptance of biracial couples.
ReplyDeleteNice work Emily:) I really enjoyed your story about your involvement in biracial families. It was interesting to hear about the struggles that Landon's parents went through only 40-50 years ago. Times have changed, but its crazy how many people are still racist today. I can't imagine viewing someones culture as "sub par" to my own. I hope someday those people have an experience that changes their views.
ReplyDeleteYour blog reminds me of the Loving v. Virginia court case that struck down laws prohibiting interracial marriage. Even though those laws were struck down during the civil rights movement, it is a shame that people are still treated unfairly. Thank you for sharing that story. I appreciate how you connected it to the example of the Cheerios commercial. Moving forward, continue to work on developing your implications paragraph. Directly engage the prompt questions in that final paragraph.
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