Obama's View on Culture

A subgroup is a defined as a membership group that is part of a culture and has a set of values and patterns of behavior (Jandt, 2010, pg. 27). For instance, college students may be considered a subgroup.  When subgroups are racially influenced, it can lead to discrimination and resentment toward other races.  In the President Obama speech, the then senator argued that the reasons behind the animosity in our nation cannot be ignored, or they will continue to divide our country.

      I do believe that there is a cloud of anger over both black and white races due to the history of slavery. I recently had a debate with my friend over this very topic. Being an African American myself, I feel that we as a race can really behave prejudice toward the white race, which actually fuels the fire our ancestors have worked so hard to put out. Although some black individuals have valid arguments when it comes to racial inequality, the use of hostility or anger is only counterproductive to what is trying to be accomplished- the end of racism.

      When President Obama quotes William Faulkner, "The past isn't dead and buried; in fact, it isn't even past." (Obama, 2008, 16:20 mins), I felt it meant that there are people in today’s society who feel the past is still their reality.  Many black communities are experiencing the repercussions of the injustices their ancestors suffered like lack of wealth, education, and economic opportunities. With the progress I have learned and witnessed in our society, there is a possibility that one day we will become trans-racial. With interracial coupling on the rise, it would be nearly impossible to slow the mixing of races anyhow, so to me the issue of race will slowly deteriorate as our future generations increasingly become biracial.

      In order for this societal change to occur we will first have to recognize that race, religion, sex, and other differentiating factors, are the characteristics that make us unique- but the one thing we have in common is that we are all human.  And if we cannot look at one another as humans first, then we will never be able to respect the uniqueness that lies beneath.

References:

Jandt, F.E. (2010). An introduction to intercultural communication: Identities in a global community(6^th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Obama, B.H. (2008, March 18). Obama's speech on race (Video). Retrieved from

      http://vodpod.com/watch/588528-obamas-speech-on-race