The Color of Faer

After watching the film The Color of Fear I became more readily aware of just how much racial discrimination has effected individuals on a personal level. The setting of the film was located in a small room with encircling chairs; taking on the feel of a "small group" atmosphere. Occupying the chairs was a mixture of races, consisting of a few Mexican Americans, a couple Caucasian Americans, two Chinese Americans, African Americans, and one Japanese American. The basis of their conjoined meeting was to address and discuss their ideas of racial discrimination and share to the rest of the group, a method for getting rid of this worldwide problem.

In many ways, I can see how this film directly relates to what we are talking about in class because it all has to do with the social status limitations put on different races. Unaware of how impacting the movie was going to be, I found myself beginning to ponder many questions. I was shocked greatly by how emotional the men in the film were as they got further and further into discussions of race. In one instance, Victor who was one of the African Americans in the circle, erupted with emotions and anger as he listened to one of the Caucasians, David, try to explain to him that "Color Discrimination" was solely the problem of those who are colored. Immediately, Victor responded with a burst of all sorts of emotions as he shouts out to the group in a way of protesting his pain he can no longer control and says "Whites will never know what its like for the colored, until they step into their shoes". By this, he means that their is no why someone who is White can tell him what discrimination is like unless they take the place of himself amongst the rest of the colored. This scene especially moved me as I could feel Victors emotion as he fought for recognition even in this very moment. Commonly talked about throughout the film was the idea of "what it means to be American?". From hearing the perspective of all the different ethnic groups present in the discussion, Both the Caucasians felt that everyone in the circle could be considered American and was completely oblivious to the idea that they were the only ones who felt this way. African Americans, Japanese, Chinese and Mexicans all felt they couldn't relate to such a title and they only saw that those who were white could possess it. Because of this, the idea of being American was untrue. Their was always a common goal for those of colored skin to try to become White as best they could in order to earn acceptance and be successful. This idea was what caused many racial tensions between diverse ethnic groups, and it was developed by White Americans throughout the course of history.

One of the men later in the film described the racial stereotyping he faced day by day as all people referred to him as "the intelligent one" or "look-alike" because he was Chinese. I saw this as an example relating back to our readings in Takaki of how Asian American immigrants in the mainland's of the U.S. had faced many intense forms of racial stereotyping. Hearing the man speak of his distress and occurrences in which he personally was a target for stereotyping made me look back through my past to see if I could remember ever having been subject to stereotyping. Growing up as an Asian American, I experienced many circumstances like he was addressing, however it was usually less severe and more in the forms of jokes. But still, I cant help but having a part of me feel offended by those jokes. I realize now how big of a problem Racial Discrimination really is, even when the intentions are not meant to be harmful. This film was meant to be a stepping block for eliminating racial barriers and discriminatory behaviors, and I feel for me, was a form of awareness that has changed the way I look at life that much more.