Stuart Hall brings up a great point in his interview from the film Race: The Floating Signifier. He expresses his concern for the way in which race functions as a sort of “guarantee” in people's minds. In essence he is saying that common justifications used to describe a particular point of view, belief, action, etc. are generally not based on logical reasons but rather on what stereotypes are understood in that society. Because certain cultural traditions and political views, etc. are common among certain ethnicities, many people tend to understand these ideals and traditions as guarantees. Stuart certainly believes that this is not true and that people's beliefs cannot be directly associated with a genetic biological disposition. This means that the history of culture has everything to do with the ways in which people live their lives. It is the struggle or hardships of the past, that can be attributed to molding cultural ideals and not genetics. Black culture in America is an example of this and represents the growth and development of cultural ideals and the ways in which they are shaped by history. Being put in a certain position, over a long period of time, where certain conditions are to be faced, is the greatest determining factor in black culture and the struggle to overcome these challenges. It seems as though Hall is saying that biology has much less to do with the communication and social structure of society and politics than the histories of those people that are involved. It is important to understand how communication is affected by the structure of race in society. According to the video clip taken from Dateline, posted below, much of what people feel or understand about racial and cultural differences is subconscious and is not all that apparent at first look. It seems as though the stereotypes which society tends to accept, can over time, condition people to believe something that is simply not true. The Dateline video shows several professionals from different areas of expertise, being tested on their subconscious racial beliefs. While the results don't seem too surprising, it is certainly apparent that prejudice and racial stereotyping have much to do with the ways in which people are accepted in society. Although some people question the validity of the test, the findings could have serious affects on the ways in which cross cultural communication works, which in turn can affect major issues in the US and elsewhere. This idea is not only limited to black and white communication but all cross cultural communication. Do you think it is possible to communicate, cross culturally, without any bias and prejudice?
You only really need to watch about 4 minutes of this video to grasp the main idea.
In the article, Communication as Raced, these ideas are also presented in an argument that claims that the study of communication itself is raced. Because the study of communication focused almost exclusively on those who were in power, much of what people understand about studying communication could be from a biased perspective. There are many different aspects of cross cultural communication to consider when discussing this topic. The important question, is whether these issues will ever be truly resolved.
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I think that I agree with Hall when he stated in the video that as "a better fight against the violence and hatred being caused by racism- we must understand how racism is cultivated in our imaginations so we can better combat it on the streets." I believe that these issues can be truly resolved, as long as everyone can stay open minded and continue to seek equality within their studies, and be aware of the racist practices, even in the field of communications in the past.
ReplyDeleteI think that in a lot of ways, it is impossible to communicate cross-culturally without any type of bias or prejudice. From watching the video, it is apparent that so much of societies racial viewpoints are engrained within their subconscious minds, and whether this be from birth or developed over one’s lifetime, it makes Hall’s viewpoint clear that blacks have truly struggled in trying to change the stereotypes that surround their race, and the negative views that mark their name. I think that in a lot of ways Hall’s views on race being a floating idea is very true, and that George’s point of blacks facing certain conditions and their struggles over a long period of time only proves that these issues have existed for some time now, and as a society, we must do something to change this or else we face the inevitable idea that we can never be one peaceful society, stereotype-free.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that it is possible to communicate, cross-culturally, without some sort of bias or prejudice. No matter how a person feels about another person's culture, the thoughts and opinions of those that they grew up with will stick in the back of their mind's. For example, if a person grew up in a household where family members thought negatively towards another culture and would openly express their opinions, then those viewpoints will always be with the individual.
ReplyDeleteI don't see how anyone could say that cross-cultural communication is unbiased, how could it be possible? We are born in our own placement of society- whether we want to be or not- we are. Through personal discourse, we develop our own ideologies through cultural understandings. What we know, how we behave, how we think and feel, is all based upon our own creations of meaning; and it’s the mythologies, the false beliefs and values that ultimately keep us from knowing the truth. We are all culturally biased, whether we recognize it or we don’t, we are the products of what is now, and only the storytellers of what was then.
ReplyDeleteSilent Racism, should I call it? I can't lie to say that Korean people themselves make the majority of their business off of African Americans and have silent racism,discrimination, and stereotypes. Deep inside, racism and discrimination has become silent but still exists regarding the connection with African Americans and violence. People easily connect and assume an unknown suspect of a crime to be African American who people tend to categorize "bad" like in the video. But we can see that it's been such a sensitive topic to talk about out loud but still goes on in our society and in a way, it's become a culturally naturalized to build racial stereotypes. I'm not saying it's right but it's reality. We've been believing in stereotypes and think of them deep inside as what's right, silently, to the point that it's become natural and we sometimes don't even notice we're doing so.
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