Seeing this blowing up on Twitter, I was appalled. This picture demonstrates a high school boy standing outside with a what is called a “promposal sign.”Many times, individuals will come up with creative ways to ask their date to prom, but this boy took it way too far. Slavery was no joking matter as it effected the lives of many individuals, so to think this boy humorously passed it off as one is terrible. He most likely did this to obtain attention on social media. It is like he did not know what has occurred in the past, and as if he does not know that racism still goes on today. Him contributing to racism makes me feel like the school should not let him go to prom as he clearly is not educated and probably thought this was a funny poster. Things like this need to stop because even retweeting a picture of this sort contributes to the racist ways are society still continues to be.
Very interesting Alyssa.
I’m inspired by the blog and I’d like to say a few words about it.
It definitely is an education problem but it also is a lack of empathy problem on the part of the boy. Prior to taking the History of Black America and in fact, coming to America, I did not understand how much of a problem slavery/racism actually was. I mean, you see stuff on social media and the news but it’s nothing compared to actually being present and seeing/hearing/experiencing things first hand.
I am an African and specifically a Nigerian. Our part of the story is colonization. Every October 1st, we march in our schools, raise our country’s flag high and celebrate our freedom. So, we have closure and we have “a happy ending”. We no longer have the British on our soil and are free to do as we please in our country-our original birthplace.
Over the past few months, I have found myself pondering on the experiences of an African-American my age and it is a difficult place to be. I have found that empathizing with African-Americans and generally people of colour, goes a long way in avoiding racism and racial discrimination.
If the boy had carefully reasoned out (assuming he did) this plan and summoned up the courage to execute it, then I wonder about the level of empathy of white American youth.