The Color of Fear: A Review

As an oblivious recipient of white privilege, the ideals expressed in the movie The Color of Fear come as quite a shock. Like the vast majority of white Americans, it seems, I had no idea the extent to which racism still exists in modern society. The reason for this is quite simple: I have not had to experience racism on a personal basis-ever. Because of this, it seems I have been oblivious to the problems experienced by African Americans, and others who have been discriminated against based on race and/or ethnicity. I'm sure not all white Americans are oblivious to the existence of racism and continue to believe that our nation is governed by egalitarianism and meritocracy. Unfortunately, though, this is probably true for the vast majority of Americans-especially white Americans. We tend to believe that racism has been eradicated, and if there be a circumstance where this may not be true, it is overlooked and not spoken of.

The two white men in the film seem to serve as evidence to the fact that racism is not openly spoken of as often as it should be in our society. In order to make any progress with modern racism, we must alert those unaware to the fact that it still exists. Once people are aware of the injustices that take place every single day, we can then attempt to take some progressive action. Unfortunately, it is quite possible that this first step may never be reached. In this documentary, it took hours to get through to David that the existence of racism is still prevalent in our society. He was unable to believe this simple fact, for the same reason I was unaware of the existence of racism: the vast majority of white Americans do not experience discrimination in any form. If it took an intelligent man like David that long to understand the injustices that still occur in our society, it will take the rest of the population much longer to understand. The other major obstacle, though, is that the majority of white Americans don't care about racism, since it doesn't affect them. After all, why would anyone want to stop a system that benefits him or her in many ways?

The answer, of course, is that we, the human race, are brothers and sisters, and we should look out for one another. Unfortunately, not everyone holds this belief in the first place, or they just don't care enough to even think about it. American society is driven by competitive individualism, so anyone seeking success in this society will trample others in his or her path in any way possible. For this reason, I do not think eradication-or even significant progress-of racism in this lifetime is possible. Until we exit the individualism phase of our history and enter a more collectivist, socialist phase, no progress can be made. Egalitarianism cannot truly exist until these issues of racism and prejudice have been acknowledged and dealt with. Due to our history-the Cold War, mass propaganda against anything having to do with socialism or collectivism-it will be very difficult for Americans-and more specifically, White Americans-to really understand modern racism.

Only when we are able to get over our past and deny individualism will we be able to seek out more socialist and collectivist ideals. And only then can we hope to completely distinguish modern racism as it exists in American society. Non-whites, if they can be categorized as such, have been outraged too long for the injustices committed against them, and have gone largely unheard by the rest of the nation. Brothers and sisters, it is time for us to hear. It is time for a new movement in America, as predicted by the intellectual Karl Marx: a socialist movement. As a nation, we must first accept the fact that racism exists. Then, we must start the transition from individualism to socialism. Only then can true egalitarianism be achieved, and racism eliminated once and for all.