Race relations revision

Race relations in the US Politics is probably the most interesting topic as far as my current crop of students are concerned. What better time to consider whether pursuit of the American Dream is a realistic proposition for African Americans than now. The inauguration of the first ever black President suggests that equality is possible, but a couple of the YouTube clips I use when considering the issue of race in America here suggest that race remains the main dividing line issue in the USA.

The first is the Rodney King beating. For the black community, that racial prejudice motivates many white people is encapsulated in the Rodney King case. According to the Washington Post, a clear majority of blacks (90%) and whites (60%) believed the four officers who were acquitted should have been found guilty. But when asked whether the King case ‘shows that blacks cannot get justice in this country’, only 25% of whites agreed against 75% of blacks. Thus when faced with the same evidence, blacks and whites still draw opposed conclusions about the significance of race in American life.

The second shows a clip from the telethon aired in response to Hurrican Katrina, a disaster that struck New Orleans, a city which a large (about two thirds) black population. Political controversy followed because the initially slow response by the federal government was seen by some to be connected to the city’s racial composition.