Analysis 2: Accidental Racist

Philip Wangs skit, Accidental Racism, uses satire, well-crafted script and
innuendo to drive the point that everyone is racist to some extent; even if it is
subconsciously. The skit also displays how lightly racism can be performed. The skit
starts with 3 multinational people, a Kentuckian, a perceived Asian and an African
American lady. The 3 distinct people symbolize the multicultural workplace as well
as how perverse the issue of racism is. The multicultural representation of the
people help make the argument that everyone is a little racist since out of these
three people, two are ethnic minorities, and even they are racist. The skit starts with
Madison (the African American women) introducing herself as the new kid. She
then continues to ask about Kens (the Asian) past, specifically where he comes
from. This question obviously hurts Ken and is evidenced by the discrete facial
expressions that he passes at Madison. This whole situation uses satire, as this
particular question is not hurtful, yet is sarcastically used to display how easy
racism can be performed. Madison says one especially crafted line that captures the
preformed ideas about Ken that she has, so you are Chinese. This remark is made
after Ken says he is an American, yet, Madison, in her cultural ignorance, declares
him Chinese. When Ken corrects this mistake by simply saying American, Madison
corrects him back saying, American Chinese. This act, where Madison is correcting
Ken about his own race serves to prove that Madison ignorantly cannot call or
identify Ken as an American as she believes he is Asian. Throughout this scene, Ken
constantly leaves innuendos such as facial expressions that serve to show that Ken
is not comfortable with the way Madison is identifying him. On one particular
occasion, when Madison describes the Midwest as not being the most culturally
diverse place, Ken reacts with a facial expression that says obviously. The

hyperbolized expression also conveys the idea that Ken believes ALL Midwesterners
are this way. Thus it shows Ken is being racist, even when he is being portrayed as
the victim. This further shows how widespread and simple racism can be. The
second part of this skit starts when Madison leaves to get coffee. Casey, the white
man who is shown in the background listening to the conversation is called upon by
Ken. Ken is surprised and remarks at the rude nature of the girl. Casey, on the other
hand, displays a look of surprise and even questions if Madison was really being
racist. This shows the underhanded nature of racism, where not everyone can see it
as Casey is unaware and even denies Madisons racism. A small talk ensues
between Casey and Ken, and now Ken is shown being racist as he imitates a
Southern accent that he assumes Corey should have; since Corey is from Kentucky.
Along with this, Ken asks if Corey knows one of his friends who is also from Kentucky
as well as asking Corey why Corey has not ever been to the Kentucky derby if he
has lived in turkey his whole life. These racist remarks bring few reprisals from
Corey and Corey is not even shown to be particularly mad about the racism. This
helps show how racism is an individual thing. Placing these 2 scenes next to each
other was also critical as it helped create a juxtaposition that highlighted the
disparity between being on the giving and receiving end of racism. When Madison
finally rearrives, she makes a passing comment about Ken being born in the US
since he had no accent. This sends Ken into a raging mode where he rages about
how Madison is being racist. He continues to list various racist remarks or
perceptions one would have about a race in general (like where they visit, if they
know someone else of that race who has no real correlation to them, what they eat
and what accent they have). This is also juxtaposition as these were the same exact
things that Ken was saying to Corey. This juxtaposition again highlights the

difference between being a victim and dealer of racism. It also further bolds how
racism can happen by anyone, even the victim. At the end of the video, after the
credits, Philip Wang (the actor portraying Ken) speaks about how this video was
inspired by a personal event that had happened recently in his life. This creates
pathos in Philips argument and gives him credibility as we realize he actually has
seen racism firsthand. This thus makes the video a more official look into racism.
In conclusion, Philip Wangs short skit, Accidental Racism, uses juxtaposition, satire
and well-crafted plot and script to show that racism is performed by everyone, even
the victims and that racism can be very hyperbolized and sometimes accidental.
Analysis 3: Racism in our Schools

The pictures above, taken by Fabiana Figueiredo as part of her blog Racism
in Schools, picture emotionally heart wrenching pictures of black students that
serve to show the public the cruel racism blacks face in school as well as the result
of the actions. The photographs all have to do with bullying, which is another big
problem in the American school system, but these pictures particularly show
bullying in terms of racism. The pictures are arranged in chronological order so as to
create a cause and effect relationship; where each picture leads to the next. This
creates a more emotional situation as we are shown the stages of racial bullying,
but more importantly, the cause and effect order make the audience realize that
since one leads to two, and two leads to tree; one leads to three. This fallacy is
accurate but serves the important purpose of showing a root and end problem
relationship which convinces the audience that being bullied leads to people
changing their identities in order to conform to the non-oppressed standard. The
first picture shows a white boy pushing a black one into a locker, violently. The
picture uses a low aperture to focus the photographs attention at the black boy. This
allows the photographer to focus attention on the black boy and his screaming,
oppressed face which drives the notion of cruel racism by whites to the blacks. The
eerie tone created by the pushing and pulling boys is further dramatized by the use
of pale, hot colors. These hot colors create a passion and literal heat that helps the
audience connect to the picture with. The pale colors also make the situation more
eerie and saddening which allows for the cause of cruel racism in the schools to
become more prominent. This mood set by the photographer is set into the
audiences mind when they see the next picture where they show a sad black boy.
The positioning of the two photographs leads the audience to believe that the cruel
bullying is the cause of this black boys sadness, but in reality, this photo is taken by

Samuel D. Morris and was taken to drive the point of domestic violence; not racism
in schools. Yet, the positioning of this picture creates the logical fallacy that picture
two is an aftermath of picture one. The audience interprets it as the boys feelings
after having been bullied in school. The picture is made sad by the black boys
positioning, covering his face with shame and looking down with sadness. To further
create this mood, the boy is placed in the closed position which is a non-inviting,
self-fenced posture that signifies distrust of other people and the want to be alone.
Thus, the author has subconsciously planted the idea that racist bullying in school
leads to emotional consequences in blacks and creates deep crevices of distrust and
abandonment in racially-oppressed children. Lastly, the third picture is placed right
under the bolded, roughly translated title The Sad Solution. The picture shows a
weary black woman putting on her white mask as she spots someone coming. The
womans eyes looking to the side are used to demonstrate the fear that she faces
and how she constantly has to watch out for when to act like a white person. With
the mood of distrust and abandonment already created in the last two pictures,
empathizing with this one comes naturally. The viewer is already emotionally
convinced of the argument of racism in schools being cruel as they realize that
racism leads to black people having to act like someone they are not. The sadness
in the girls face confirms the epic toll racism in school takes on her and the other
pictures continue to deliver a somber mood and message; racist bullying is evil and
it leads to black people having to conform to their white bullies. In conclusion, the
Fabiana Figueiredo makes the argument that racist bullying is a horrible feat and
that it takes a huge toll on the young black children of today; to convey this
message the photographs use blocking, aperture, color scaling and posture.
Works Cited

Figueiredo, Fabiana. "Racism in Our Schools." Web log post. Ideiasdejilo.

Blogspot, 30 May 2012. Web. 11 Jan. 2015.
Wang, Phillip. "Accidental Racism." YouTube. YouTube & Wong Fu, 10 Mar.
2014. Web. 11 Jan. 2015. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN1QTugrQQQ>.