A Reflection of the "Platanos y Collard Greens"

On Thursday evening, I went to see Platanos y Collard Greens, a play put on by numerous clubs and organizations at Lehigh University. Going into the play, I was not sure what to expect out of it. After a quick google search on the play, I thought it would be similar to West Side Story, which I saw on Broadway a few years ago. However, the play turned out to be more of a comedy than it was a dramatic romance. All jokes aside, this production brought to light many weighty issues about race that still presently exist in our society.

In short, the play Platanos y Collard Greens was about a forbidden relationship between two college students, a Latina named Angelita and an African American named Freeman. Angelita’s mother supposedly wants the best for her daughter, which means she cannot be with a black man, including Freeman. Moreover, her mother would go to great lengths to break up Angelita and Freeman. She even fakes a heart attack in order to make her daughter feel worse about going against her wishes.

Platanos y Collard Greens presented a powerful message about the stereotypes and racism that are still present in the Latino and African American community. It is ironic that these two races, even with cultures that both originated from African roots and have both suffered from great injustices of society in the past, have persistent hostile attitudes against one another. For instance, even though the Dominican Republic and Haiti share the same island, their societies are far from being on friendly terms.

An interesting point that the play brought up was the fact that colorism greatly affects Latino and Black communities today. Colorism is discrimination based on an individual’s skin color. It was said in the play that saying to someone “hey light skin” was a compliment and “hey dark skin” was a nasty insult. It is mind-boggling to me that people of the same race would classify each other based on the slight differences in skin tone. The play also mentioned a U.S. president who had many slaves and was known to have raped and impregnate several of his female slaves. When his slaves gave birth to his children, he separated them based on the hue of their skin and designated them to different “jobs” based on which group they were in.

Platanos y Collard Greens highlighted several serious issues about the presence of racism and stereotypes in the Black and Latino population. However, in light of all these problematic attitudes in society, the play was able to discuss these issues in a comedic and light-hearted tone. You could tell that the audience was very amused and greatly affected by the emotions that the play brought about. The actors also did a wonderful job in their performances. The characters in Platanos y Collard Greens really took on the role of expressing the challenges and obstacles that persist in Latino and African American culture by illustrating how they greatly influence relationships between family, friends, and lovers. 

Reinforced Ethnic Stereotyping In The Media

Ethnic stereotypes have existed in society since the very beginning of civilization. Ethnic Notions is an award winning documentary that shows how deeply rooted these prejudice stereotypes truly is and their effects on how minorities are perceived. The development of these social constructs are linked to how the media has portrayed African Americans. 

In art, movies, and cartoons, blacks were characterized with greatly exaggerated features. They had big plump lips, oversized white eyes, and big messy hair. This outlandish and dramatization of the African American population has had a tremendous effect on people’s perceptions. Barbara Christian of University of California at Berkeley commented, “it’s not just that it’s in the figurines and the coffee pots, but it’s that we are seen that way, perceived that way, even in terms of public policy, and that our lives are lived under that shadow and sometimes we then even come to believe it ourselves.” Christian makes a very important point in saying that these reinforced images act as a sort of barrier or obstacle for African Americans. These depictions further reinforce the idea that “black is ugly.”

Blacks are constantly battling this stereotype or expectation that is forced upon them. It is no wonder that slavery and segregation had lasted so long in American history. For so many years, blacks were denied the opportunity to make the most out of their lives.

In the documentary, Larry Levine says, “When you look at them often enough, black people start to look like that even though they don’t.” This further supports the idea that media portrayals of the black race influences how other people view and behave around them. For instance, many films depicted slavery as good and that slaves enjoyed their so-called “job” to serve their white masters. Moreover, black children were presented as sub-human and even animalistic in nature.

These depictions in art, advertisements, and moving pictures showed that people were still uncomfortable with the black population and used artistic renderings to rationalize their feelings and attitudes. In fact, it also seemed that the general public enjoyed seeing this complete distortion of the black population. As a result, many businesses took advantage of the public’s affection of these images. Black face was also a form of entertainment in which white people would paint their faces and act as blacks. These performances were indeed very popular in the early 20th century and people found the idea very witty and laughable.

These images were not only targeted towards adults, but to children as well. Many children’s books and cartoons have captured the attentions of the young by presenting these exaggerated stereotypes as not only socially acceptable but as humorous and valid as well. Embedded below is a a video that presents several examples of racism portrayed in children's cartoons. In my opinion, I think it is completely wrong and unacceptable that the media targets such impressionable young minds. Reinforcing these ideas in the minds of children will only make them more hostile and closed-minded towards black individuals as they grow older.

Making Peace With Violence

Violence is not a rare occurrence in society. It also can come in vastly different shapes and forms. It can be very subtle like an insulting comment towards someone or highly detrimental like in the case of the recent mass shootings. Compared to largely devastating violent events, subtle things are often over looked and ignored. This action can be potentially dangerous. Domestic violence, unhealthy body image, cyber bullying, and self harm are only a few types of violence that often go under the radar.

In this day and age, society is concerned about their appearances more than ever before. People become consumed by their efforts to improve their image and often feel insecure and inadequate in the eyes of others. Consequently, people have become more violent towards themselves in their stride towards their ultimate goal of a “perfect body”. This mentality towards body image is undoubtedly unhealthy. People who struggle with their body image are often troubled by their violent mentality towards themselves. As a result, this violence plays a large role in shaping their perception of the world and of the others around them. However, it seems that society has almost intentionally forced these unrealistic and unattainable images onto others. In terms of advisements and marketing for products and services, there is almost always a model that personifies the ideal person. Nonetheless, there have been efforts to combat this trend. In 2006, Dove released their Evolution of Beauty campaign (video embedded below) to bring awareness to the fact that corporations have the ability to manipulate their advertisements. In doing so, people receive an unrealistic portrayal of body image from the media.

Another form of violence that is frequently neglected is domestic violence. Domestic abuse often goes undetected based on societal norms and expectations of domestic relationships. Some people assume or believe that it was justified for men to abuse their partners. However, this kind of violence is unacceptable and should not be ignored. The victims of domestic abuse are often too afraid to seek help or do not believe that anything is wrong. As a result, victims suffer through numerous emotional consequences from the violence that is displaced on them.

Cyber bullying is an example of a type of violence that has only recently become relevant in society due to the modern era of technology. Although cyber-bullying is limited to constraints of the Internet, countless people are still affected by mental abuse that can be caused online. Often people underestimate how great of an effect this type of abuse can have on others. This is yet another example of how violence can be disregarded and overlooked.

Violence plays a large role in how others interact in society. In turn, violence, such as an unhealthy mentality towards body image, domestic abuse, and cyber bullying, works to shape an individual's identity in a maladaptive manner. These types of violence are often ignored and disregarded by society. Change must follow through to prevent others from this abuse and violence should be challenged appropriately. 

Passing or Being Passive?

Racial identity is very much a black and white world. The reality is that society wants to believe that every individual has one identity and only one. People like to think that everyone fits in categories of race. However, it gets more complicated when people from multiracial backgrounds come into play. Looking back in history, multiracial people feel compelled to accept their "tainted" identity. In the video below, Elizabeth Alexander explains the idea of the one drop law in which "one drop of black blood makes a person black." A prime example of this in play is Barack Obama who is from black and white backgrounds but is considered an entirely black individual in society. The action of assuming one racial identity is a very common occurrence in the past and persists today.

This attitude of choosing one side seems outlandish but it has existed for a very long time. In the novel Passing by Nella Larsen, Irene Redfield and Claire Kendry were good friends who are both of mixed white and black backgrounds. Irene identified herself as a black individual but Claire lived her life passing as a white woman. Irene prided herself in her acceptance of her black race but in actuality, she was not entirely faithful to her black backgrounds. When the opportunity called for it, Irene passed herself as a white individual out of fear and anxiety that she would be victimized because of her other race. Larsen writes, “It wasn’t that she was ashamed of being a Negro, or even having declared it. It was the idea of getting ejected from any place” (Larson 19). On many occasions, people assumed that Irene was entirely white and she never bothered to correct them. It is clear that Irene uses her dual background to her advantage by constantly adjusting herself to the environment that she is in. 

On the other hand, Claire Kendry passed herself as a white person because she feels that being subjected to a black racial distinction limited her to a life that she would not be satisfied with. Having married a wealthy white man and given birth to a child with a fair complexion, Claire starts to feel regretful and apprehensive of the decision she had made to pass. It was revealed that Claire was terrified throughout the pregnancy of her child that her baby would appear more black than white. If that were to happen, her secret was out and she would be done for. Having gone through nine months of anxiety, she claims that she does not want any more children. In the end, Claire is torn between the superficial and wealthy life that she has and the life in which she could fully express her identity without the fear of being outed. The psychologist J.D. Teicher once said, "Although the burden of the Negro child is recognized as a heavy one, that of the Negro-white child is seen to be even heavier" (Source).

MLK Week Event Reflection

This past week Lehigh University celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. and his contribution to the civil rights movement by holding a discussion about King's impact decades after his time. Professors from different disciplines, such as policial science, business, and religious studies, lead the discussion on the King's tremendous influence on society. They spoke about how King's impact was not just limited to the boundaries of the United States. His words spoke to people from all around the globe.

King was commended for fighting for a diverse environment. The board of professors mentioned that people often thrive in diverse environments and that diverse perspectives bring about change and knowledge. Looking at this from a business perspective, diversity in the workplace and in organizations is unavoidable. In many industries, career progression varies between people with different backgrounds. The challenge for people is to use diversity to make a difference in their field of work. It was also mentioned during the discussion that there is still injustice in the criminal justice system. People from minority backgrounds are given more severe punishments compared to those from white backgrounds. This shows that there is still work to be done for completely racial equality.

The discussion then moved onto how individuals can take action to promote change in society like King did in his time. The effectiveness of online petitions was brought into question. Undoubtably, these petitions bring about awareness easily and quickly like the highly publicized Kony 2012 campaign. However, it is clear that change can only happen through collective action. The civil rights movement and the occupy movements would not have maintained its momentum for change if people did not come together. Good organization is important when it comes to bringing about a movement. People should look to King's approach to start a successful movement of their own.

Changing the Perspective of the Mentally Ill

Society often isolates mentally ill people and labels them simply as the mentally insane. The truth is that most of these mental patients are not like Adam Lanza, the man who was responsible for the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School, or like James Holmes, the man who murdered twelve innocent lives in the a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado.

Change needs to begin with the media. The media publicizes these tragedies by questioning the mental capacity of the perpetrators. They put off these people as crazy simply because they believe that sane people are incapable of committing such a horrendous crime. They say that change needs to be made to keep these crazy people off the streets and separated from society. The people who commit these terrible crimes are the exception when it comes to the aggression of mental patients. The Adam Lanza and James Holmes of the world give mental patients bad reputations. By no means do they define the population of mental patients.

People often reject mental patients from any opportunities of living a normal or close to normal life. Society needs to realize that the mentally ill are real people. They have real dreams and emotions. They are just like any other human being in society. They should be given the attention they need to make the most out of their lives.

I have a dream that people will finally see that mental patients are not crazy but are people who are willing to be contributing members of society.

I have a dream that the mentally ill will be given a chance. They will be given the opportunity to live a life that every human being deserves to have.