Q.1) White privilege can be defined as the societal privileges accorded to the white men beyond what is commonly experienced with the other people of different races (non-whites) in the same political or socio-economic circumstances. The implications of the white privilege have been experienced in all sectors as many non-whites have obstacles to make it economically or in education. Lyles noted that she attended a low quality school that was poorly equipped and most teachers spoke racial undertones. Almustafa, on the other hand, faced stereotypes as his guidance and counseling teacher always thought that he could not achieve much. In class, he faced racist teachers and always thought he was in the wrong place. The white kids were the nerds and were accorded special treatment. The non-whites face stereotypes that become an impediment to their achievement in society (Terkel, 2005).
Comedian Louis C.K in the video sometimes it takes a White Dude to Get Real about Racism, raise the question of white privilege and how it has impacted the American community. Louis C.K notes of how great it is to be a white and how disadvantageous it is to be of the different race. He notes that both whites and non-whites experienced suffering and slavery at some point but to the non-whites it is much more recent. Louis C.K takes note that the non-whites should complain more and raise their voice but culture has a way of lowering certain voices and raising others. Non-whites may complain but their voices might be suppressed by the dominant voices (Terkel, 2005). Given the evenness regarding slavery, Louis C.K notes that sometimes the whites have to get real and talk about racism so as to tackle the issue. The first way to reconcile the white privilege is to acknowledge that it is a problem in the country. Through acknowledgement, people are able to accept that they are equal despite their different races. Acknowledgement would highlight the subtle white privilege problem and chat ways of solving it. The second way would be to engage people of all races to tackle the problem. Thinkers and scholars alike from the other races need to be heard and their views taken seriously. The non-whites need to be given a voice and state their issues and solutions to the problem. Sidelining them in the reconciliation process would not solve anything (Terkel, 2005).
Q.2.) Creativity has so much power that it can be used to cushion the blow of someone’s woes, pain and tragedies. Charlise Lyles states that her she used her imagination to cure her suffering, pain and melancholy, even though it was temporarily. She states that “what a delicious healer my imagination could be.”(Lyles). By imagining how she had brought one of the ice-cream men back to life and later on getting married to him, Miss Lyles was able to forget the trying times she was into, the pain, the suffering and all the socio-political issues that were taking place. Creativity can be a healer of the mind (Schultz, 2011). Charlise Lyles states that she did not know that she had so much power to create realities and break them later on using her imaginations. Throughout the book, Charlise Lyles notes how she often switched into imaginations during classes that were boring to her. It should be noted that she was at first categorized as a ‘retardo’ and was placed in the lower sections of the class. The upper sections (1, 2 and 3) were reserved for the top performing students. Through imagination, Lyles was able to forget about her classification as a dumb student and an under-achiever, and was able to imagine situation that helped her out of the ‘academic dungeons’ (Schultz, 2011).
Almustafa, on the other hand, hated class because of the racism and the stereotyping that took place because of his skin color. School was also far away and so he hated going to school, but always told her grandmother that he was alright. Towards the end, he states that he “did not go to school but went to a park and wrote poetry.” This is the place where he thought about issues such as where AIDS came from, why black boys were dying and the drug issue among others. Creativity, hence, can be used to unearth mysteries and solve issues in the society such as crime and drug abuse. This can be done through the coming up with solutions and educating the masses. Art education can positively impact on society as it would churn out people who are able to identify issues in their societies and come up with solutions to these problems. Lyles was able to note that maybe the boys in the hallway sexually harassed her because of her dressing or the fact that she tempted them. Dress codes play an important part in cases of sexual harassment and hence appropriate dress codes would limit such cases. Almustafa noted that arts could be able to discuss issues that are unspoken of in class such as drugs and AIDS (Schultz, 2011).
References
Terkel, S. (2005). Race: How blacks and whites think and feel about the American obsession. New York, NY: New Press.
Schultz, B. D. (2011). Listening to and learning from students: Possibilities for teaching, learning, and curriculum. Charlotte, N.C: Information Age Pub.
