“Both her father (Sam Neill) and mother (Alice Krige) are
white, but Sandra Laing (Sophie Okonedo) is born with dark skin -- a complex
problem in the era of South African apartheid that soon drives a wedge into the
family in this poignant drama based on a true story. Though her parents fight
to have the government classify her as white, Sandra grows up in a divided
world, and experiences her parents can't understand make her question her
identity.”
During Tuesday’s class when discussing the Phibbs court case
from Omi and Winant’s essay, I instantly recalled a movie I’d watched over
Christmas break with a similar story. Skin depicts the story of a African girl
born to white parents, however, possess physical characteristics of someone
belonging to the “black” race. In the beginning, I was unsure as to why her
dark complexion mattered so much. Then I realized that there was a major debate
as to whether she should be considered “black” or “white”, an important distinction
necessary to make in a society so influenced heavily racial categorization. One’s
life could be the difference between night and day just by what race you are
said to be on your birth certificate. Another aspect about this dilemma is the
internal conflict a person experiences. If I was born to white parents, inherently
I would think I was white. However, if under these same conditions I appeared
to be black and therefore society also deemed me black, I would have a major internal
battle with who I was. Quite frankly, I’m not even sure what I would categorize
myself. This is still a reality for some
people of mixed race to this day. Though
there are not as many social perks for being either white or black anymore, I
often hear about an inner battle some people of mixed race experience. I have
some cousins that are bi-racial and they have expressed that until they became
comfortable with who they were, they constantly felt the need to try to please
both races they belonged to or criticized if they identified with one race more
than they did another.
How do you feel about these racial internal conflicts?
This movie sounds very interesting. Not only does Sandra have to deal with an internal conflict of what her identity is to her and how she handles situations, she has to face external judgments. Race plays a large role in society whether we like it or not. Having to reconcile the conflict of being white but appearing black adds another dimension of difficulty. I'd be interested to see how her parents handled the situations they and their daughter faced. Especially in a time that so heavily concentrated on racial divisions, the identity crisis Sandra went through was probably further exacerbated. The fact that we discuss internal racial conflicts in the ways that we do also supports the structure that is still in place. We wedge so much difference between different racial groups sometimes that it is difficult to approach merging of the groups.
ReplyDeleteHonesty, simply based on my own understanding of the ways in which racial divisions permeate our society and influence people's daily experiences, I cannot imagine what it would be like to be unsure as to how to identity myself within the socially constructed racial dichotomy in which we live. As a white, I still have a hard time understanding what something such as the experience of double consciousness would feel like. Thus, trying to conceptualize the disconnect between my own appearance and that of my family on top of the lack of control I would have in the face of societies objectifying gaze (in response to witnessing this "contradiction") is quite difficult. As human beings, understanding or at least having some sense of self identity is extremely important - without a stable concept of self we can feel lost, uncertain, anxious, depressed, alienated, etc.
ReplyDeleteThe most intriguing aspect of this dilemma for me, however, is that this is all based on the simple fact of appearance/skin tone. Technically, we are all interracial beings. But, because our skin tones and basic physiology seems to match that of our parents, we never have to experience this type of internal conflict! But, as we mentioned in one our of very first classes, there are actually more variations within races than there are between them! This conflict is only possible because of the way in which we have socially constructed race through differences in skin tone in particular to symbolize a dichotomy in human relations/experiences.
This is an interesting topic that I have never really taken the time to think about before. As an African-American, I am always thinking about how I am seen in society, but I never stop to think about people who are bi-racial and have to deal with a totally different set of problems. I can't imagine what it would be like to constantly struggle with identifying with more than one race. Say I was mixed with black and white, but I was raised in an African-American household. I feel like those environmental factors would influence the way I see myself, but then I would still have to face the many opinions of others and what they see. One of my closest friends is bi-racial. Her mother is white, and her dad is black. She has a younger brother who is also mixed, but her older siblings are not. They're white. What is interesting to me is that she has always identified more with African Americans. It makes me wonder how she has dealt with essentially two racial identities.
ReplyDeleteThis internal conflict sounds basically just like what DuBois struggled with and talked about. The fact that one can be black but educated and whatnot called DuBois to call this "double consciousness." Just recently for Black History Month BSA put on a program called Soul Food and Sitcoms were there was soul food and we watched A Different World and Girlfriends. In the episodes we watched this struggle between being street and being educated was portrayed. During the discussion it was brought up and someone said that there should be no internal conflict, one should just be confident in who you truly are. If you are a well rounded person and you can be the same around all of your friend and family then you know who you are are therefore you do not struggle with double consciousness. You are just you and that is the way it should be.
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