Racism in Society

In Stuart Hall’s lecture entitled “Race as Floating Signifier,” Hall discusses why race matters so much to people today, and how race works in one’s head, and the logic behind it. Hall notes that the meaning of race is constantly changing all of the time, hence the “floating signifier” aspect of the video. In the video Hall makes many valid points about race and how it has become almost a form of “human classification,” but one point that he focuses on in depth is his “politics without guarantee” theory.

One major point that Hall made with this theory is that society does not know how to conduct politics without guarantees, and that we have yet to find an ethically responsible way to conduct politics around race without the guarantee of biology. What comes out of this are so many stereotypes of people of color, such as their loud ways, their better ability in certain sports over whites, their abrasive natures, and so on. What Hall tries to convey in his lecture is how people of color have been fighting for themselves against these kinds of stereotypes throughout history, and that people need to take biology less seriously, and such stereotypes as blacks being less intelligent than whites that are not true, and need to be proven even more so, rather than being pushed aside, and instead finally be put to rest for good.

In the following video that I found, the boy discusses how one should “act black” in response to a question that somebody wrote to him and asked. The point that he tries to make in the video in my opinion is that there is no real way to “act black,” and that all of the stereotypes that exist around black people do not define them as people, just like stereotypes of white people or any other race of people do not define them or make them act in certain ways either. The thoughts that I leave you with are why do you think these stereotypes started in the first place, and what would it take for our society to completely abolish them for good and come together as one or is that impossible? And the second video is for your own enjoyment, because I believe that the lyrics really speak true to our society today, and how judgmental it has become, and how we really need to come together as one and stop the stereotypes and hate. Enjoy!

Stuart Hall Cultural Studies

I think the realist, linguistic, and Discursive position all play a role in Race. There are genetic differences in people, differences occur through our different languages and cultures, and through the systems of thought and language we use to make sensee of our differences. I don't think we can say that one position is more right than the others. Maybe its just how my system of thought and my language come into play, just like Hall said. I don't know if that is correct to call what I am and how i view race. I guess Hall is correct that we have different systems of thought that we use to make use of the differences, but then again everyone has a different system of thought. I'm not to sure what to make of his thoughts. I mean it makes sense, but what exactly does his ideas do for the world to see everything the same.



I picked the part of Do the right hting that Sut Jhally used in the movie we had to watch. Like him i think it shows exactly what these three positions mean and how the men in this clip use them. All of hte guys use descriptors that either talk about genetic differences, cultural differences and thought differences.