American Denial

FULL VERSION

"There were many things in the American Denial film that caught my attention. The three things that stood out the most were, the man who surveyed POC (people of color), the bias test and the doll test.

The guy who surveyed POC made a statement saying "if you want to understand the people  you have to get close to the people". This statement in the film really spoke to me. Where I'm from, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (a highly segregated city, one of the highest) there are a lot of social justice issues. I've worked very closely with a youth organization to fight these issues. I feel like if people would get closer to the problems in which they have, instead of avoiding them they'd have a better understanding of it. The fact that the guy was willing to get out there and get the answers himself was awesome. 

The second most interesting thing was the bias test. I think it was a brilliant idea to put together a test that traces your bias'. It's not necessarily saying your races (which only includes the superior race, white people) the test is inclusive in the sense that it allows everyone to be involved. Taking the test made me aware of my lifestyle. It allowed me the opportunity to see the importance of being more inclusive. 

The last thing that stood out to me was the doll test. I've seen it quite a few times. Every time I see it, it strikes a different emotion. This time around it was a lot more sadness than anger. In the past it would make me angry because I felt like it was a helpless situation and there's nothing you can do about how a household allows societies ignorance to raise their child. Now that I'm watching it again I felt sadness because I really want to help change the mindset of the young people in my community. Many have low self esteem at such a young age and it really needs to change. They don't even have the opportunity to see themselves as beautiful before the grow and expect others to. It's heartbreaking to watch."


~ Imani Ray