The Blind Side

Improved Essays
Released in 2009, The Blind Side is an American biographical sports drama film. It intricately describes the struggle of a black man who strives to become part of the white society. The main character Michael Oher shows the audience how an African American experiences discrimination and mistreatment from his white community (Hancock). Without doubt, this is a common trend in the real American society. Therefore, the main issue explored in the movie is racism and racial discrimination against the black people and the stereotypes related to it. In multiple occasions, the main character is fundamentally unable to succeed without the help of white people. From the start, although he is talented at any sport which involves a ball, Michael …show more content…
It has been a major issue since the colonial era and the slave trade. During this time, legally or socially sanctioned privileges and rights were given to White Americans that were not granted to Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Hispanic and Latino Americans. The Whites were granted exclusive privileges in matters revolving around education, voting rights, land acquisition, immigration and criminal procedure. This period lasted from the 17th century to the 1960s (Henry and Sears ). Although racial issues in America today do not feature instances of slavery, segregation, the American Indian Wars, Native American reservations, Native American boarding schools, immigration and naturalization law and internment camps as it were in the past; hate crimes and hateful views from Americans are the new forms of racism. Majority of the hate crimes in the United States are inspired by racial and ethnic lines. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, all the racial groups in the United States had similar rates of violent hate crime victimization between the years 2007-2011. However, violent hate crimes against the Hispanic people rose by 300%. In regards to all hate crimes however, African Americans are far more likely to be victims that any other of the racial groups (PBS Newshour). These findings reveal that there is more to be done in regards to combating racism. It is important to note that racism is more prevalent in the United States than any other part of the world because its society comprises of individuals from most diverse ethnic backgrounds and thus conflict is bound to occur amongst these many groups of

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    Imagine going to the grocery store and never returning home. Now, envision yourself being followed and ultimately killed by a neighborhood watchman. Is that how neighborhood residents watch over their community to prevent crime? On a rainy evening of February 26, 2012, a black young male was walking back to his father’s house in Sanford, Florida from a 7-Eleven convenient store with a bag of Skittles and a can of Arizona iced tea. This innocent teenager was reported to the local authorities as a “suspicious young black male” walking around with a grey hoodie by a neighborhood watchman.…

    • 1411 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Racism takes place on the streets as well, where minorities are subject to racial profiling by police. Not only do they have to face violence from criminals, but the police themselves. Minorities are extremely overrepresented in prisons, warehoused with no rights. There is no escape from the racism, which follows minorities in the United States from the start to the end of their lives. History has had a huge contribution to the racism existing today, especially through slavery.…

    • 1579 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Civil Rights Movement Dbq

    • 865 Words
    • 4 Pages

    It’s common practice in the human brain to view people and things that are familiar to them as superior. But that does not justify the condemning of others who are viewed as “lesser” people. Specific groups in America have been targeted because of their differences since the formation of the United States. These groups are called out for their variance from norms and are physically and emotionally attacked for their differences. Groups such as women who make up fifty percent of the population in the United States remain oppressed by structures that were put in place hundreds of years ago.…

    • 865 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The relationship between hate crimes and inequality is that hate crimes are often used as a means of continuing the oppression and suppression of minority groups. Hate crimes assert the imagined “dominance” and “control” of the individual who commits them. Hate crimes are meant to instill fear into minority communities while trying to prevent them from working against systems of inequality. Whether committed as a form of “retaliation” or as a means of An example of a hate crime committed in this context would be the Charleston, South Carolina shootings committed by Dylan Roof.…

    • 150 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Are Hate Crime Laws Effective? Recent legislations have been passed to control the rate of bias motivated crimes in the United States. Such crimes are referred to as hate crimes and include the targeting of a victim based on their race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, gender, disability, etc. Those who take part in hate crimes are to be charged with tougher penalties than those who commit the same crime without bias motivation or, in other words, carry out an act on a victim specifically for something they said or did rather than for a large scale characteristic they possess.…

    • 1650 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    America's current battle with racism is an unfortunate example of when history "repeats itself." The issues regarding racial inequality were confronted in the Civil War, then again during the Reconstruction era. Despite the efforts of both these events, racial conflicts still exist today. The Civil war is taught in schools to be the conflict that ended with the abolishment of slavery. While this marked a turning point in American history, racist belief systems did not disappear.…

    • 521 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Modern Day Hate Crimes

    • 117 Words
    • 1 Pages

    One of the biggest issues in America and throughout the world are hate crimes. It is very important that we, American citizens, eliminate hate crimes once and for all just because of the simple fact that if we do not the world would never know peace. On the other hand, there are races that feel that they are more dominate than others only because of their ethnicity. I argue that modern day hate groups are slowly setting America back because of the current Ku Klux Klan members claiming white supremacy, ISIS groups using the internet to appeal to younger people in the United States, and the New Black Panther Party believing blacks should have their own nation.…

    • 117 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Rankine employs the Serena Williams narrative as a prime example of how this discriminatory viewpoint held by the ‘sharp white background’ of society led to her unfair portrayal and treatment. Specifically, Williams’ audience would rather picture her “working the land” than excelling in a world reserved for white people (Rankine 26). This reference evokes vivid images of black, slave laborers toiling on the fields of plantations. Consequently, Rankine suggests that the ‘sharp white background’ would prefer black citizens to maintain their historically low positions in the social hierarchy. Rankine implies that, because of this unspoken discrimination, people of color are put under a microscope in society’s ‘sharp white background,’ where they are the subject of condemnation and controversy in situations where a white person would not be.…

    • 1512 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Racial Inequality Analysis

    • 1288 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Racial inequality is currently one of the biggest social problems that plagues the United States and has been for most of our nation’s history. Some inequalities of the past have been phased out, segregation, racist laws, and various forms of discrimination, for example, but many inequalities either still persist or appear to be making a resurgence. Racial inequalities of today do not share many of the same extremes of the days of old, but rather we see limited job opportunities, limited educational opportunities, police killings of minorities, and the increasing hatred of those who voice their opinion on the matter. In order to better understand the impact that race has on many of life’s aspects, I will attempt to analyze how racial inequalities…

    • 1288 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Ferguson Fiasco

    • 1586 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Ferguson Fiasco Power and Race The Ferguson Fiasco is a study into the misuse of power and authority. Officer Darren Wilson confronted two young African Americans, Dorian Johnson and Michael Brown, who were walking in the middle of the street. The officer speaks through the window of his SUV ordering the two young men to move from the middle of the street to the sidewalk according to Dorian Johnson. The official testimony given by Dorian Johnson is Officer Wilson saying “get the F___ on the sidewalk.”…

    • 1586 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The movie The Blind Side is a touching film about the real life events that happened to an upcoming player in football. The film features a young African-American man named Michael Oher who is taken in by a white family named the Tuohys. The family helps Michael to overcome his difficulties and to become a successful football player. This movie includes many situations that have psychological principles appearing in them. Some of the main principles that stand out are prejudice towards Michael, motivation from Michael, and altruism from the Tuohys.…

    • 1715 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “The Blind Side” is a film depiction of the life of NFL left tackle, Michael Oher and his miraculous transition from being a homeless teen to becoming an NFL first round draft. The film follows the development of Michael as he is taken off the street by the Tuohy’s and with their support became involved with football. I chose this film because it portrays the social and behavioural development of a teen without a stable upbringing and how it affects his relationship and encounters with others. The movie does not only show the development aspect of one stage of adolescence but follows Michael’s character from childhood to his adult years. As well, the movie forms basis of comparison between Michael and the Tuohy children.…

    • 1485 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Racism has been around for many years and it is an issue that has never been fully resolved, although some may believe that it has. It is not uncommon to see crimes being mentioned everywhere but thanks to the media, we have seen the many incidents occurring recently involving white cops and black men, hence we have come to realize how racist we really are as a society and how big of an issue racism actually is even now. In the textbook Classical and Contemporary Sociological Theory, we are introduced to some of the first sociologists and their theories. Two sociologists that are relevant to present issues about racism would be Emile Durkheim and W.E.B. Du Bois.…

    • 1790 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Police brutality and court systems and structural violence This world is arranged by tiers according to race, culture, gender, sexuality, and many more individualities. If you are perceived to be on the “better” or more preferred side of these characteristics, you are treated tremendously different than those of the lower hierarchy. This is the structural violence. When one group of people is treated better than another group of people because of their characteristics.…

    • 1428 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Blind Side is an inspirational movie and it is based on a true story of the main character, Michael Oher. Michael Oher is not one of the ordinary, normal black person. He has been given a name known as “Big Mike” for his physical appearance. Michael has had a rough childhood past that left him traumatic image glued into his mind. He has been physically taken away by his drug abuser mother when he was a child and ever since then, Michael has been living in and out of foster homes staying at different families in Memphis, Tennessee.…

    • 1012 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays