Over the weekend I watched "save the last dance" for the first time in years and I noticed somethings that I've never thought about, when watching/thinking about this film. The entire movie deals with the racial complex that Chicago is known for: a white girl moves in with her father after her mother is killed in a car accident. Her father lives in one of the poorer areas of the city and the girl (Sara) attends a public school where the majority of her classmates are Black. The movie is all about Sara trying to find her place in life.

Because of the dynamic of her school Sara is constantly finding herself in situations dealing with race. I personally think that the film does a really good job making things realistic when it comes to the environment and the behavior of the characters.

Although the environment is racially motivated from beginning to end, there is one really interesting scene, towards the beginning: the cafeteria. As predicted, most of the tables are full of Black people, but there is one table in the middle that is full of White people. It is the "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?" reverse. But it makes sense, the few White kids at the school are obviously going to sit together because they understand each other and connect in a way that the other kids can't because the other kids are Black.

I also like the way the film deals with the ideas about Black people. There is a verity of different types of people; the druggies, the violent (gun owning) kids, the college aspiring kids, and many things in between. The film has both the stereotyped Black person and the non-stereotyped. However, I feel as though the actions of the different characters is secondary to the underlying, real issue; how the students react to the messages they are feed about themselves. You find out toward the end that the one Black character (Malick) whom has been in and out of jail for violent acts thinks that he can be nothing more than he is now. He doesn't think that he can go to college and make a god life for himself. At one point, right before he goes to a shot out, he says that he is trying to protected the one thing his has, his dignity. He uses his gun to get respect.

I could go on and on, but there are a lot of characters. To me, I feel sad for Malick. He doesn't feel good about himself, and now that I've taken this course I know why; we are to assume (from the film) that he has been feed the message that Black people aren't as good as White people and the Blacks people who are successful are a rarity. I wish I could get everyone who thinks this a god talking to a say that this is not a fact, it is a lie. That they can be who ever, even though there are people in the world you try to convince you otherwise. Not the most original and much easier said then done, but the truth.

I'm really glad that I watched this movie at the end of the semester because there is a lot more that I can appresiate that I wouldn't have been able to at the beginning.

So, I just had my moment to confront a person who said a racist comment and I did and didn't take it. The person who said this is a junior in high school and is at the iwu for a college visit. She said "I'm scared that the Black people will pull out a gun and shot," or something to that effect. Her mom was with us and I got the feeling that everyone, including the mother, was surprised that the girl said what she did. I struggled a lot to figure out how to responded. I knew what I wanted to say, but we were all having a really good time walking around town and if I started an argument I would have been blamed, maybe even "attacked" for ruining the afternoon of fun. I knew I should say something, but I was still hesitant. I ended up saying, "you have a lot to learn, that's all I'll say." I don't know if I'm happy with what I said or not, but I re-realized how difficult it is to know what to do.

I knew that if I said something more that I would have ruined the fun that the group was having, but I also don't think that is an excuse. Timing is a huge issue when it comes to situations like this. My big thing was that this girl wasn't a friend that I've known for a while, she was a prospective student. I was trying to present a nice and positive image. I know I would have reacted differently if she was a friend and I think I would have reacted differently if she was a student here. I hope I would react differently if she was a college student here.

I believe that one of the best things that people can do to decrease racism is talk, but I don't think that talking casually is enough. Some times the right environment has to be created. Like with every other subject, there are appropriate and inappropriate times to talk about racism, even when talking about why something someone said was racist.