Racism blurs the eyes of many

by Jaclyn Roco
Editor in Chief

It's strange, but I've found myself less talkative then ever before. And since I'm female, (and since every male I know claim that women talk too much), the fact that I find myself actually enjoying my quiet moments is doubly strange.

With the quietness, however, came unusual observations that I know I would never have had if I had sat down yakking away like I usually do. And I don't know if these observations disturb me any more than my reclusive new image does.

I was in a mall in L.A. one day, and I strolled into the Disney store with some family members when an odd scene played out in front of me.

"No, honey," an elderly father said to his young child.

"This isn't Cinderella; this one is," he said, pointing to what was clearly the brunette image of Snow White.

He picked up Snow White and all but shoved it into her reluctant hands. The little girl looked very disturbed, shaking her brown curls, and again silently pointing to the correct blond tresses of Cinderella.

"No Daddy," she wailed. "I want Cinderella. She's prettier."

"But honey, this isn't Cinderella," he said.

The whole scene took about half an hour more of arguing, until the father stoutly declared that he would not buy her a doll unless she took the black-haired one.

Ah! Revelation hit me at last. So the father really did know the difference between Cinderella and Snow White, but he was insisting that his daughter get a doll that represented her, not an image thought to be more attractive.

Now that I think of it, I was standing by the two arguing family members for quite a while, and I hope I wasn't the cause of the father's uncomfortable glances toward my direction. Why should he have been uncomfortable anyway? If he had a reason to argue with his own daughter, then I'm sure that he was correct in doing so.

But the little girl's father was probably as disturbed as I was at a child's preference of what or who looks more beautiful, although he may have thought he was doing the right thing by forcing her to choose something that looked more like her.

So how do you explain the importance of race to a young child?

I guess you can always make her pick Cinderella if you have blond hair and Snow White if you have dark hair. But more to the point, why does race have to matter so much in today's society?

Another observation I made was during dinner at a restaurant. It was one of those moments when everyone stops talking at the same time except for some unfortunate soul who manages to carry her voice to everyone.

I guess she and her companions had been talking about television shows because the show "Friends" was mentioned.

"I know me and my Mom never watch that show cuz there's never any black people in it," the young woman said.

Conversation resumed again, but I was stuck in thought as I pondered the truth of what had been said. Why are there no African Americans in the show, and why should it matter that a person can't watch it if there is no one of their own race represented?

For myself, I know that it is sometimes frustrating to be Asian and have no significant numbers represented anywhere. Besides Disney's "Mulan," whose own story didn't have much truth to it (Chinese don't wear Japanese style kimonos), and perhaps various martial arts specialists (like Jackie Chan) who only recently became big in Hollywood, there isn't any particular thing on television I feel comfortable with just because it shows Asian people.

Does that mean I'm not true to my race or to my image? I think not. After all I'm in America, right. And the best thing is, I don't need television to learn anything anymore.

Just a few minutes of shutting up and observing other people will do a lot of good for my education; this way I can learn just why other people are so scared of opening up to different cultures.

Perhaps an old Asian lesson I learned can be used to answer thisMaybe it's because their mouths have been talking for so long, that their eyes can no longer see what they are missing.

Jaclyn Roco, a senior journalism major, is editor in chief of the Campus Times. She can be reached by e-mail at rocojax@yahoo.com.