As I was searching the web today, trying to find an interesting African American artist, to research, I kept running into political stuff. Stuff about the up coming election. Then I ran across the video "Misconceptions of Obama Fuel Republican Campaign". And boy did a flood of emotions, ideas, and thoughts come to mind.
It is amazing how a simple box with moving images projecting from it can incite a flood of fears and misconceptions. Will we ever come together as one country? Will America ever be just one America, not Black, White, Native, Hispanic, Asia, Muslim, German, Gay, Straight.... Americans. JUST ONE AMERICA!!!!!
Before the Kennedy/Nixon Presidential Debate, there was no way to tell the appearance of the candidates, except by the photos in newspapers. Often times in economic depressed areas of the country, people didn't even have access to newspapers. This left them to visualize on their own what the candidates appearances were. It was a given they were both Anglo-American.
I ask what this Presidential election would look like if there were no media available to send images around the world. Would there be as much "hoopla"? Or would it be the same? Would we be more interested in the message or the man.
As a visual culture, Americans tends to look at color and race rather than issues. Why does it matter if the person's skin color is not of the minority (Not a typo) ). We have a tendency to assume the color of skin is the defining factor for integrity, intelligence, and birthright. Not So!!
The video "Misconceptions of Obama Fuels Republican Campaign" is a stellar example of the need for Americans to take a good look at where we are going as the most powerful nation in the world. When we can't get past the differences in skin color.
This is a scary concept since the majority of the people who live in this country are people of color (non-Anglo). There is no pure race in this country any more. We are all immigrants. Only the Indigenous People (Native Americans) and their ancestors have the right to claim this as home.
I guess you are wondering how this relates to Film and Photo. Well for years, the media in this country has depicted
non-Anglos in a negative light. Creating false visuals of cultures through stereotypes and scare tactics. So I ask, who's scared now?
For the first time in America's history, we sit on the verge of having a President of our country who is not of the traditional Anglo fashion. (remember the one drop policy). This is an exciting time for many in this country, but scary for others. Why scary? Well as you will seen in this video, there is fear, that the past sins of many of this country's Anglo population will come back to haunt them. And it is also scary that when people get scared they often times become irrational. This is what I see in this video. A group of scared, irrational people.
"Misconceptions of Obama Fuel Republican Campaign"
Where We're Going
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
interesting post. i never thought about what elections were like before media proliferation...especially all the new media the obama campaign has used to reach young voters.
ReplyDeletethe misconceptions video you posted was truly disturbing. it's almost unbelievable to me that people today still have those views.
It's rather interesting to read this following the outcome of the election. It's sad that although these types of sentiments existed before Barack was elected, they still exist following the election. For instance, this article depicts increasing racial tensions following the election. ::smh::
ReplyDelete