Pre Blog Hook & West 11/14

After reading West's essay, I think back to the ideas of traditional and modern racism which I learned about in my State of Black America class last spring. 

When you are comparing the black and white race, it is absolutely accurate to argue that the state of black America has progressed tremendously from the days of slavery and Jim Crow laws. From a legal standpoint, black people appear to be on an equal playing field. This progression in history compares traditional racism and modern racism within society. The era of traditional racism encompassed blatant racial divides, which were established by state laws and accepted and embraced in much of society. Modern racism today falls under the societies failure to help or care about racial inequalities. Today, there is a refusal to recognize the existence of white privilege. The shift from traditional racism to modern racism is how white people perceive the racial issues at stake not necessarily their opinion on black people. 

West points out that, "most of us remain in the narrow framework of the dominant liberal and conservative view of race in American, which with its worn-out vocabulary leaves us intellectually debilitated, morally disempowered, and personally depressed" (627). Even in a "progressive" era, we still have not developed a language of empathy and compassion which leaves all Americans on an equal playing field. As Hooks articulates, "Within current debates about race and difference, mass culture is the contemporary location that both publicly declares and perpetuates the idea that there is pleasure to be found in the acknowledgement and enjoyment of racial difference" (308). This notion of difference is something that our media and culture strive and accept in all aspects of mainstream culture.