As a kid, I soaked up 

television like a sponge. I 
spent a lot of time watching 
Nickelodeon, 
(“Spongebob” 

is the best show, don’t @ me), 
but don’t worry — I watched 
the educational PBS shows 
too. All media geared toward 
children is very fun and 
friendly, but as I got older 
and transitioned away from 
cartoons, the media started 
to feel more like it wanted to 
be my enemy instead of my 
friend. For the new target 
audience that I joined as I 
got older, the media’s focus 
on 
educational 
television 

was seemingly replaced by a 
hidden curriculum that I then 
learned and internalized.

The hidden curriculum of 

the media teaches you what 
it means to be any race in 
America. It is hidden because 
these racial lessons are not 
explicitly taught; but they are 
eventually perceived when you 
notice that the hero is often 
portrayed by a white man 
(Captain America, Superman, 
Iron Man, Spiderman) but the 
villain is usually darker (Scar 
from “The Lion King,” Ursula 
from “The Little Mermaid,” 
Shan Yu from “Mulan”). Or 
when you notice that the 
news tells us that when white 
people riot in the streets 
after a football game, they’re 
just wild college kids doing 
what college kids do, but 
when Black people riot after 
the shooting of yet another 
unarmed Black person, they 
are called thugs, and savages. 
In television shows, in movies, 
in magazines, white is often 
synonymous with wealth and 
power. It is synonymous with 
being smart, being the main 
character (“Friends,” “How I 
Met Your Mother,” “Hannah 
Montana”), 
being 
nice, 

liking indie and alternative 
music, being good, getting 
good 
grades, 
success 
and 

happiness. It is associated 
with pretty, popular and fun. 
In the media, white people 
are doctors, lawyers, cops, 
teachers, CEOs and heroes. 
But, in the same shows, white 
people can also play the 
villains and drug addicts, they 
play people with mental and 
physical disabilities, liberal 
and conservative mentalities.

On TV, white people are 

often 
shown 
liking 
indie, 

alternative, or rock music, 
but there are also white 
characters who like rap, hip 
hop, and jazz. White people 
are generally portrayed as 
multidimensional, 
dynamic 

people, 
glaringly 
positive 

but also with the potential 
to be negative. This in itself 
is 
a 
privilege 
that 
many 

people may not even notice, 
because it is so ingrained into 

our society. White people 
can walk through life with 
the belief that they can be 
anything that they want to be 
because of these portrayals. 
They can be the doctor or the 
lawyer, they can be interested 
in anything, they can be 
smart. But they can also be 
the villain or the drug addict, 
they can be anything and still 
be praised for it, and gain 
sympathy. There is nothing 
in the media stopping white 
people from being whoever 
or whatever they want to be, 
because the media has told 
them that as long as their skin 
is white, anything goes. If you 
don’t believe me, take a look at 
our current president/reality 
TV star; I wonder how he got 
the job?

For minorities, the media 

portrayal 
is 
often 
a 
bit 

different. 
Minorities 
are 

often presented in one way 
— usually a stereotype — and 
those stereotypes can have 
a big influence on the way 
that they move through this 
world. Being a Black girl, I 
cannot speak for my fellow 
minorities on how the media’s 
representation of them makes 
them feel; however, I do know 
how the media has made me 
feel. The media has not always 
portrayed Black people in a 
positive light. I, like many 
other 
Black 
people, 
have 

learned from the media that 
“white is right”. 

I have learned that my 

brown skin has doomed me to 
be the antithesis of my white 
classmates. If they are smart, I 
am dumb; if they are wealthy, 
I am poor; if they are the 
standard of beauty, and I am 
missing the slender nose, the 
straight blonde hair and the 
blue eyes, what does that make 
me? Why is a movie with a 
white lead fit for all audiences, 
but a movie with a Black lead 
is just a “Black movie”? Why 
do I see so many of my fellow 
Black people portrayed as 
violent gang members, thugs 

and killers on television? Why 
is every interracial couple that 
I see on television a Black man 
and a white girl? Are Black 
girls undesirable? Why is it 
that the physical features that 
naturally occur on people who 
look like me are repulsive, 
but the tan skin, full lips, and 
big butt are praised on Kylie 
Jenner? Why is it okay for 
Connor to listen to Vampire 
Weekend, Blake Shelton and 
Fall Out Boy, but it’s a surprise 
or not “Black enough” when 
Jerrell does it? Why is it that 
Black people are portrayed as 
“loud and ghetto”? Why has 
ghetto become a synonym for 
Black?

Why is it a surprise that I go 

to the University of Michigan 
but no one is shocked that 
Sarah goes here? Why is it 
that George Zimmerman shot 
and killed Trayvon Martin 
for walking while Black? How 
was Darren Wilson able to 
shoot Michael Brown without 
being found guilty? Why do 
they hate Barack Obama but 
adore Donald Trump? Why 
is it that I have to go out in 
the streets and scream to the 
world that my life matters, 
but white people have never 
needed to do that — unless of 
course, you’re one of the Nazis 
that unnecessarily gathered in 
Charlottesville? You get the 
picture.

The media’s portrayal of 

Black people has led me to 
all of these questions. It has 
led me to question my own 
identity as a Black person. 
If Black people are these 
negative things, how could 
I ever be anything great? If 
Black people aren’t smart, 
only speak one way, only like 
rap music and are inherently 
violent, does that mean I’m 
not Black enough? The media’s 
perception of Black people 
needs to change; only then 
can we create a more positive 
environment for Black people 
to grow up in. Black people 
should not have to feel like 
they are not as good as white 
people, they should not have 
to feel like they need to fit 
the media’s stereotypes to be 
considered Black, and they 
should not have to be slain in 
the streets because the media 
causes people to associate 
blackness with violence.

 Only in recent years 

have I learned that I am Black 
enough. The media tells us 
that there is only one way to 
be Black, and that that one 
way is never as good as all the 
ways that white people are, 
but I’d call that fake news. 
Black people can be anything 
that they want to be, there is 
no one definition of Black. 
Anything that I am is as Black 
as my beautiful skin that is 
dripping in melanin. I am 
not the Black person that the 
media created; I am the real 
thing.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan in Color 
Thursday, September 28, 2017— 3A

Know your place in history

The First Amendment: 
An Exclusive Right to 
White Americans? 

The media and me

JASON ROWLAND
Managing MiC Editor

MICHAEL HEYWARD

MiC Columnist

AAREL CALHOUN

MiC Columnist

Imagine this: It’s a Sunday 

afternoon and you’re on your 
way home for the evening. To 
your annoyance, the route you 
normally take has more traffic 
than 
normal. 
Initially, 
the 

bumper-to-bumper backup is 
inching along, but it quickly 
grinds to a complete halt. After 
a while, you turn on the radio 
to find out what’s causing the 
holdup. Surprisingly, you learn 
it’s not due to an accident or 
overturned truck; it’s due to a 
protest organized against racism 
and discrimination. How would 
you respond?

Now, 
how 
would 
your 

response change if this were on 
March 7, 1965, and the road you 
were stuck on was Route 80, just 
outside of Selma, Ala.? The day 
is “Bloody Sunday,” and activist 
John Lewis is marching with 
about 600 protesters from Selma 
to Montgomery. Regardless of 
how you claim to feel about the 
civil rights movement, chances 
are that your current reaction 
to anti-racism demonstrations 
(from 
Black 
Lives 
Matter 

protests to NFL players taking 
a knee during the national 
anthem) would be identical to 
how you would have reacted 
during the civil rights movement 
50 years ago.

Don’t believe me? According 

to a Gallup poll conducted in 
October of 1964, almost three-
fourths of Americans believed 
civil 
rights 
demonstrators 

should stop protesting, despite 
many of their demands being 
unfulfilled. Additionally, a New 
York Times poll conducted 

during the same year found 
that 
a 
majority 
of 
white 

New Yorkers felt civil rights 
protesters had gone too far, 
with common complaints about 
“negroes receiving ‘everything 
on a silver platter’” and the 
growth of perceived “reverse 
discrimination” against whites. 
These sentiments are still cited 
by Americans who denounce 
efforts 
to 
create 
a 
more 

inclusive country, from critics 
of kneeling to people against 
affirmative action. Ironically, 
while these people probably 
would have been against the 
civil rights movement had they 
been alive at the time, they are 
the first to wistfully compare 
today’s 
demonstrations 
to 

demonstrations of the past, as 
if their attitudes would be any 
different.

In addition to those who 

are 
seemingly 
against 
any 

form of protest, there are even 
more people who support the 
cause of racial equality but 
do little to support it. In fact, 
they’re often more critical of 
the methods demonstrators use 
to achieve equality than about 
the issues being protested in the 
first place. Usually, you can spot 
this happening when someone 
wishes 
protesters 
used 
less 

obstructive means. While they 
may explicitly say something 
along the lines of “I get where 
they’re coming from, I just wish 
they didn’t protest like that,” 
what 
they’re 
really 
saying 

is “I acknowledge an issue 
exists, but I’m not willing to do 
anything to solve it because it 
doesn’t affect me.” As a result, 
demonstrators are forced to 
use “obstructive” methods — 
blocking roads, holding sit-ins 

and interrupting the status 
quo — to ensure people actually 
listen 
to 
them. 
Otherwise, 

their message would likely be 
ignored by the apathetic masses 
who prioritize their day-to-
day convenience above the 
issues affecting marginalized 
communities.

Martin 
Luther 
King 
Jr. 

famously 
wrote 
about 
this 

in his 1963 “Letter from a 
Birmingham 
Jail.” 
In 
the 

essay, King argued moderates 
who sit idly by and allow 
oppression to happen (despite 
being ostensibly against racism 
and discrimination), are more 
dangerous 
than 
Klansmen. 

Those “more devoted to ‘order’ 
than to justice; who (prefer) 
a negative peace which is the 
absence of tension to a positive 
peace which is the presence of 
justice; who constantly say, ‘I 
agree with you in the goal you 
seek, but I cannot agree with 
your methods of direct action’” 
present the greatest danger to 
those seeking equality. This is 
just as true today as it was half 
a century ago.

All of this begs an important 

question: How will you be 
remembered 
by 
history? 

While it was acceptable to 
be 
against 
the 
civil rights 

movement in the 1960s, pictures 
of 
counterprotesters 
standing 

outside of integrated schools 
draw disgust today. Anybody 
who currently thinks the civil 
rights activists were out of line is 
rightfully seen as bigoted — and I 
firmly believe 50 years from now, 
critics of today’s campaigns for 
racial equality will be seen in the 
same light. Now is your chance to 
stand on the right side of history, 
even if you have to stand alone.

Over two centuries ago, the 

United States’ Founding Fathers 
convened in Philadelphia to 
lay out a framework for the 
budding nation. The result 
was the construction of our 
Constitution — the brainchild 
of many men, all with different 
philosophies and visions for the 
future of the nation. However, 
they shared a reservation for 
unrestrained 
dominion 
like 

that of the British monarch that 
once reigned over them. The 
Declaration of Independence 
asserted “that all men are 
created equal, that they are 
endowed by their Creator with 
certain 
unalienable 
rights,” 

and 
the 
Anti-Federalists, 

those wary of executive power, 
insisted that a Bill of Rights 
be added to the Constitution 
following 
its 
ratification 

that 
ensured 
the 
certain 

liberties of the people would 
not be infringed upon by the 
government.

In contemporary political 

discourse, 
there 
exists 
a 

debate regarding one of the 
most sacred rights enshrined 
in the Constitution. The First 
Amendment states, “Congress 
shall make no law… abridging 
the 
freedom 
of 
speech.” 

Although these words have 
protected the rights of white 
men since its inception, the 
Bill of Rights has not always 
protected those of minorities. 
Enslaved Americans were not 
viewed as human beings with 
God-given autonomy like their 
White 
counterparts. 
They 

were considered property, and 
the law, whether it be in spirit 
or in practice, affirmed their 
objectification. Only within the 
past century has the Supreme 
Court (arguably) fully avouched 
the equal rights of minorities.

Still, the right of Black 

people 
to 
express 
disdain 

for a government they see as 
repressive 
is 
under 
attack. 

Ex-49ers 
quarterback 
Colin 

Kaepernick’s national anthem 
protest has incensed masses 
of white Americans. “I am 

not going to stand up to show 
pride in a flag for a country 
that oppresses black people and 
people of color,” Kaepernick 
declared. “To me, this is bigger 
than football and it would be 
selfish on my part to look the 
other way. There are bodies in 
the street and people getting 
paid leave and getting away 
with 
murder.” 
The 
United 

States clearly has an issue 
with the unjust murder of 
Black people by the police, and 
Kaepernick is using his voice 

and his Constitutional right to 
do so, to shed light on it. But 
apparently Black people that 
take a stand on Black issues do 
not have the same rights.

Our 
president, 
in 
an 

unhinged tirade this past week, 
asked his crowd of adoring 
fans if they would, “love to 
see one of these NFL owners, 
when 
somebody 
disrespects 

our flag… say, ‘Get that son 
of a bitch off the field right 
now ... He’s fired. He’s fired!’” 
Coincidentally, Kaepernick is 
unemployed despite, in many 
people’s opinion, possessing 

the necessary skills to remain 
competitive 
in 
the 
league. 

Though some dispute this and 
argue that he is not the player he 
once was, many are questioning 
whether he would be on the 
field now had he not stuck 
to his protest. One of those 
people is ESPN host Jemele 
Hill, who also came under fire 
from the White House for her 
words. In a series of tweets, 
Hill professed that, “Donald 
Trump is a white supremacist 
who has largely surrounded 
himself 
w/ 
other 
white 

supremacists.” 
In 
response, 

White House Press Secretary 
Sarah Huckabee Sanders went 
out and suggested that ESPN 
should fire Hill. The president 
also took to Twitter to demand 
an apology. Conservatives all 
over the country have vowed to 
protest ESPN for its decision to 
keep Hill.

This is the president that 

doubled down on his support 
for the white supremacists and 
neo-Nazis that wreaked havoc 
at a Klan rally in Charlottesville, 
Va., this summer that led to the 
death of an innocent counter-
protester. In defiance of his 
own 
advisers’ 
advice, 
the 

condemnation of racism from 
leaders of his own party and 
decades-old political norms, 
he suggested that there were, 
“some very fine people on both 
sides.” Far-right commentators 
also 
rushed 
condemn 
the 

violence, but insinuated that 
white supremacists, too, have 
First Amendment rights to 
speech and assembly.

Are you sensing a pattern?
It 
wouldn’t 
matter 
that 

Hill, Kaepernick or any of the 
many other Black dissenters 
villainized in today’s society 
are chastised, if those that 
spout hatred and racism were 
chastised too, specifically from 
the President of the United 
States. However, this isn’t the 
case. The Constitution grants 
freedom of speech as a right for 
all, and the days of Black rights 
being second-class rights are 
over. Agree with our positions 
or not, Black people still have 
the right to have them — and 
take a stand, or a knee.

To me, this is 
bigger than 
football and 
it would be 
selfish on my 
part to look 

the other 
way. There 
are bodies 
in the street 
and people 
getting paid 

leave and 

getting away 
with murder. 

2017: Wake up, Michigan

SILAN FADLALLAH

MiC Contributor

The year is 1619. Colonists 

in 
Jamestown 
referred 
to 

African slaves as n*****s.

The year is 2017. A white 

male 
refers 
to 
a 
Black 

University 
of 
Michigan 

student as a n*****.

On 
Sunday, 
the 
door 

decorations of three Black 
students 
in 
a 
residential 

hall were vandalized with 
the 
N-word 
and 
other 

derogatory 
racial 
slurs. 

The 
administration 
did 

nothing but send out a vague 
letter 
acknowledging 
what 

happened and stating that 
racism is not tolerated at 
the 
University. 
Supposedly 

a 
police 
investigation 
is 

being conducted, but almost 
one 
week 
later 
we 
still 

have nothing. No response. 
No 
concrete 
information. 

Nothing. The University has 
done nothing but attempt 
to calm us down and assure 
us 
that 
they 
are 
“doing 

everything possible” to find 
out who vandalized the signs 
in 
West 
Quad 
Residence 

Hall. Actions speak louder 
than words, University of 
Michigan. We want action. We 
want names. We want change.

In 
response 
to 
the 

University’s lack of response, 
students held a protest in 
the 
Michigan 
Union 
on 

Thursday, starting at 7:30 
p.m. Students rallied in the 
Rogel Ballroom along with 
CSG members and members of 
the administration, Schlissel 
included. 
Black 
students 

shared their demands and 
concerns 
with 
Schlissel 

but, ultimately, nothing was 
resolved. 
Schlissel 
had 
to 

leave for familial reasons that 
seemed unclear.

Students 
then 
gathered 

outside of the Union and 
marched to Schlissel’s house. 
White allies were used to 
block 
off 
the 
crosswalks 

so 
protesters 
could 
pass 

through. A white male, who 
clearly felt that his driving 
through State Street was more 
important than the safety of 
our students, got out of his 
car and started shouting at 
the protesters. A Black male 
argued back at him to which 
the white male retorted and 

called the student a n*****. 
A fight broke out and the 
police so kindly and too gently 
escorted the white male away 
from the scene.

The year is 2017.
When 
will 
our 
society 

understand that present time 
is not 1619? That racism was 
and will never be OK? That 
the University of Michigan 
should refrain from accepting 
students 
that 
possess 
the 

audacity and ignorance that 
allow them to make another 
student feel unsafe in their 
own home? Racism is not just 
a Black people problem, nor 
is it strictly a POC problem — 
racism is everyone’s problem. 
The privileges granted to an 
individual as a result of their 
identity should not mean that 
they are permitted to turn 
a blind eye to the countless 
issues that plague our society. 
Our student body can only 
do so much. It is time for the 
University 
administration 

to step up and give us the 
justice we deserve. What the 
University’s values deserve. 
Stop 
the 
hate. 
End 
the 

violence. Wake up, University 
of Michigan.

If they are smart, 

I am dumb; if 

they are wealthy, 
I am poor; if they 
are the standard 
of beauty, and I 
am missing the 
slender nose, the 
straight blone hair 
and the blue eyes, 
what does it make 

me?