The Hurricane Essay Example

The Hurricane Essay The film, The Hurricane, directed by Rudy Langlais is a powerful production which explores issues and discourses around race and racism. I will begin with a brief description of the film before I begin my analysis. The movie is based on a true story and is set in America from the 1950s through to the 1980s. Rubin Hurricane Carter, an African American, has spent more than half of his life in prison starting from the age of eleven, for crimes he was wrongfully convicted. White authorities did everything in their power but also corrupted the legal system to place and keep Rubin (Hurricane) Carter in prison simply because of his race. After spending twenty years in State prison for being wrongly convicted of a triple murder, Rubin was set free after a young African American boy and three white American citizens fought to free him. I will explore and analyse three of the dominant discourses about race in the film for the purpose of this essay. However, I believe it is important to first answer the question: What is a discourse? A discourse is a system of statements which constructs an object. To elaborate further, theorist Foucault believes discourses are about what can be said and thought, but also about who can speak, when, and with what authority (Robinson Jones Diaz, 1999, p. 4). Therefore, discourses are intimately linked with the way society is organised as it impacts on peoples identity having implications for they can do and what they should do. Consequently, ones subjectivity and power will be constructed by the discourses that are historically and culturally available to them (Robinson Jones Diaz, 1999, p. 4). The three discourses that I will discuss in this essay is clearly defined by the language and actions portrayed in this film. The first discourse is that black people are second class citizens prone to uncivilized behaviour. Secondly, the socially constructed notion of whiteness signifies power and privilege. The third discourse I will discuss is that all white people are racists. These broad issues have implications for early childhood education and this will also be discussed briefly in this essay. We will write a custom essay sample on The Hurricane specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Hurricane specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Hurricane specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The discourse that all black people are second class citizens and prone to uncivilized behaviour was a truth that originated during the colonisation of America back in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. After the European settlers killed off countless numbers of Native Americans, they imported people from Africa to come and work in America as slaves on plantations. The Europeans viewed them as inferior human beings who are irrational, disorderly, prone to uncivilized behaviour and practically subhuman (Institute of Race Relations, 1982). So what was it that made the Europeans believe that black people were indeed a savage race? It was the notion of Darwinism, philosophised by Charles Darwin in the 1880s that allowed such discourses to be maintained and accepted as truth. Darwin believed that different groups of human beings or races evolved over hundreds and thousands, even millions of years at different rates and times, and so, some groups were more like their ape-like ancestors than others. He held certain that the black race came from gorillas and were the least developed, whereas the white race came from chimpanzees and were the highest, most evolved race (Jim, 2002). Therefore the white race was naturally and biologically seen as being more superior to any other race. This view was assumed to be proven and thus lead to the idea that social relationships are natural. As a result, permanent black inferiority remained the dominant scientific hypothesis. By the 1920s, text books supported the idea that man had evolved from a lower life form developing into varying degrees of accomplishment. Information such as, white people being naturally superior and black people being inferior and more ape-like, was commonly reflected in science books published from 1880 to 1980 (Jim, 2002). The fact that racial prejudice became naturalised, universalised and seen as being a scientific fact, explains why attitudes of racial inferiority have continued to plague western culture. For exa mple, statistics show that the majority of white people in America believe that African Americans are more violent, less intelligent and not as hard working as white people (Jim, 2002). In The Hurricane, discourses of black inferiority was upheld by powerful institutions such as the legal system, as police officers had the right to arrest and punish black people without significant proof of their conviction. For example, when young Rubin Carter was forced into a police station after being wrongfully accused of harming a white man, the police sergeant had said to the officer, Its a nigger with a knife. I dont care how old he is. Take care of him. The judge at the hearing had then said to Rubin, I only wish you were old enough, Id send you to state prison. These examples show that societal power reinforces discourses as it persuades people into taking up the dominant position of the discourse. As explained by Robinson and Jones-Diaz (1999), those people who are located outside the dominant discourse, in this case the black people, will frequently experience inequities, diminished power, and little or no support from the dominant culture for their truths about the worl d. The socially constructed notion of whiteness signifies power and privilege. This discourse began shaping itself since the European colonisation of America. Since it became a truth that the white race naturally had a more exalted destiny than any other race, non-whites became constantly undermined and alienated both as human beings and as members of society. Therefore, being white becomes the invisible norm in society representing an authoritative, delimited and hierarchical mode of thought (Kicheloe ; Steinberg, 1997, p. 4). A binary opposite is then discursively formed between whites and non-whites within the contradictory nature of whiteness being both a dominant culture and a non-culture. This means that discourses of being white are the opposite of the discourses of being a non-white. For example, the discourse that whiteness represents orderliness, rationality, and self-control and non-whiteness represents chaos, irrationality, violence and uncivilized behaviour (Kicheloe ; Stei nberg, 1997, p. 17). This discourse of white privilege is strongly exposed throughout this film by the means of language. It is the use of language that allow dominant discourses to prevail in society since this is the manner in which knowledge or truth is passed on from one person to another. Conversations held between black and white people in the film reveal to us the discourse of white supremacy. For instance, when Rubin Carter arrived at the scene of the crime in his car accompanied by another black man, a white police officer (who had not witnessed the crime), said to Rubin, Were looking for two negros in a car, to which Rubin shrewdly replied, Any two will do? This example shows us that white people or white authorities unconsciously assume that only black people are capable of such uncivilised acts. As supported by Kicheloe and Steinberg (1997), In order for whiteness to place itself in the privilege seat of rationality and superiority, it would have to construct pervasive portraits of non-whites (p. 4) This method therefore, was an approach whereby whiteness could sustain and maintain its position of power and privilege over other races. Hence, the ideology white meritocracy justified itself in the midst of inequality. The previous two discourses examined, answers the third discourse that all white people are racists. Americas history of racial discrimination within the construction of its social order explains to me why many people of colour today believe that all white people are racists. This however, this is merely a discourse seeing as it stereotypes all white people into a single category. Another explanation of why this discourse exists today is expressed by Hitchcock (1999), who considers that society itself is racist, giving all white people racial privileges and hence making them racists whether they like it or not. This belief, however, ignores the fact that many white people today are in fact trying to challenge white supremacy. For example, Challenging White Supremacy Workshops are conducted in America for white social justice activists who want to work for racial justice and challenge white privilege in all their social justice work (Ponder, 1997). Hence, this discourse that all white people are racists is in fact being challenged in American society today. In the film, Rubin (Hurricane) Carter takes on the belief that all white people are racists. After spending almost twenty years in state prison, Rubin expresses a feeling of shock and hate when his African American friend introduces him to three white folks who want to help Rubin get out of prison. Rubin says to his African American friend, I dont want to talk to them, just go. However, the three white folks, determined to release Rubin, challenge white supremacy after being threatened by white authorities to stay away from Rubin and leave town. The white woman strongly defies this threat by telling the authorities that she was not going to leave the town until she sees Rubin get set free. The white citizens in the film, for that reason, are directly challenging white supremacy and racial injustice. Hence, the discourse that all white people are racists have been challenged, and the truth that Rubin held in relation to this discourse had been deconstructed and reconstructed, leading him to a new and a more equitable way of looking at the world (Robinson Jones Diaz, 1999). The issues discussed in this essay have strong implications for educators both in schools and in early childhood environments. Schools are directly involved in the development of ideologies in their students, including racial ideologies. Therefore, schools must be populated with teachers who bring diverse worldviews and experiences that expose, challenge and deconstruct racism rather than tacitly accepting it (Sleeter, 1999, p.12). This method of education will serve the interests of diverse population and not just present the racial and social class structure. The position of privilege that many white teachers inhibit and take for granted, which they have constructed over their lifetimes is what most of them use to understand the topic of race, and therefore what they may pass on to their students. Educators of colour on the other hand, are less likely to marginalize minority intellectual discourses (Sleeter, 1999, p. 13). As educators of colour are in a less dominant position on th e so called illusory hierarchy of society, which automatically places whiteness at the top of the scale, they will more likely bring life experiences and viewpoints that critique white supremacy than the white teachers. Being an early childhood educator, I realise that it is important to implicate a variety of strategies within child care centres that embrace cultural diversity. This includes valuing and representing different languages, religions and customs in all areas of the curriculum (Henderson, 1998). For example, in the dramatic play area, clothes and equipment could be set up that represent different cultures, such as, woks, chopsticks, white dolls and coloured dolls, books written in different languages, as well as traditional outfits from a variety of different cultures. Music and songs may also be sung in languages such as Greek, Aboriginal, Italian, Spanish, or whatever languages are represented in the centre. This will also encourage bilingual children to use their home language within the centre. Employing bilingual staff is also useful, as they can communicate their language to other children who speak the same language, thus encouraging them to continue using their home language. Fo od from a variety of different cultures may also be served to children so that they become aware of the wide range of foods available in the world. These are just some examples early childhood educators may use in their centres. The purpose of implementing such strategies is to help close the gap between the cultures of the community and within early childhood settings. This cultural adaptation will inturn ease the transition of minority children into the dominant culture. In conclusion, it can be said that race and racism is a complex issue that has been historically and culturally constructed over a long period of time. Racial attitudes still prevail in American society today because it has been so heavily engraved in the construction of their history. Now that we know that no race is superior to another, the word race should be abandoned completely because it is now meaningless. Scientists have found that differences that set us apart are cultural, not racial (Jim, 2002). That is why the word race has been place in inverted commas throughout this essay. The idea of white identity in dominance must also be abandoned so that everyone can be more accepting of cultural diversity flourishing in society and acknowledge the hybridity of people today. These issues have a strong impact upon educators, as they must implement appropriate strategies to help students feel comfortable and proud of their own culture when entering into a dominant culture.