Sociology

This years Oscar for best actress was awarded to Sandra Bullock for a sterling performance in the movie Blind Side (2009). Blind side, a true story that revolves around the theme of race, highlights the subtle undercurrents of racism that still exist in modern American society. The film is about a young black man (Michael Oher) who has been hopping from one foster family to another until he finally ends up at the home of Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohys (Sandra Bullock) with their two children Collins and Sean Jr.

Michael and Sean Jr. soon become great friends, and one evening when Seans mother notices him out in the rain, she pities him and welcomes him home. Eventually, through repeated visits, Michael ends up being part of the Tuohys family. The Tuohys family, having noticed his knack for athletic sports, succeeds in helping him become a top rookie football player and even joining the Baltimore ravens. Michaels rise to the top however is no easy ride.

He epitomizes what is a rather prevalent phenomenon among minorities in America notably Africans and Hispanics-poverty. Michaels neighborhood is a clear reflection of inner city ghetto life that is laden with gang violence, illiteracy, and drug taking as the clip shows. Upon his confrontation with his white foster mother, Michael goes back to his ghetto home where he is attacked by a group of three young black men attempting to rob him. Owing to his huge muscular build he manages to shake them off easily.

Jobless youth in the American ghettos turn to robbery as away of earning a living. When Michael meets some of his friends upon arrival, they taunt him for living with a white family and the sexual undertones they make regarding his association with white women namely his foster mother and sister are but an allusion. Black people were for a long time regarded by white people as being overly sexual. As a result they were sexually exploited by white people whose position in the social strata superior both socially and materially. This can be seen in movies such as Super Fly (1972), Welcome Home Brother Charles (1975) etc. Herbert Samuels in his research Race, sex and myths images of African American men and women underlines that such a flawed generalization arises from works of historians such as Jacobus.  Herbert further quotes Havelock Ellis, one of the foremost originators of the field of sexology as having stated in 1913 that

I am informed that the sexual power of Negroes cause of the favor with which they are seen by some white women of sturdy sexual passions in America and by many prostitutes. At one time there was a unique residence in New York City to which white women routed for these buck lovers.
David Roedigger (1994) in his study abolition of whiteness states that by virtue of being white, white people are the conscious or unconscious beneficiaries of certain privileges in society. Whether it is admission to Ivy League Universities, or upgrading of a particular neighborhood, being considered for a particular job application one has applied, the white person demonstrably has an upper hand over a person of color. He further posits that whiteness or its abolition is the fundamental question that ought to be addressed.

He traces the origin of the word Caucasian and how people evolved from being classified by their religion, culture and language to being defined by their skin color. Black neighborhoods such as the one Michael originates from are thus less likely to undergo upgrading than white neighborhoods. Due to such associated fears of black people, Leigh Annes friends go to the extent of even warning her that her kids are likely to suffer social balkanization as resultant effect of their close association with a black man from the ghetto.

On the social consequences of growing up in poor neighborhoods (Lynn,et al, 1990), it was found that kids from affluent neighborhoods performed better than their counterparts in poor neighborhoods. In the movie, Michael struggles with his schoolwork and his low GPA puts him at risk of not playing college football. His foster mother thus hires a tutor to help him catch up which sees him improving academically. Moreover, girls who grow up in such poor areas are more likely to engage in premarital sex than those in richer neighborhoods. This coupled with the fact that a large proportion of them they almost invariably end up as teenage mothers. (Krivo, 1996).

Social scientists underpin the importance of neighborhoods in influencing behavior of children. They state that every society has norms and it is these norms that children try to conform to. If the norms exhibited include teenage pregnancies then almost certainly a significant number of girls in that society will end up pregnant. Other scientists however dispute this theory since it does not allow room for individual differences (Franz, 1952 Arber, Sara, et al, 1991). Instead they favor the theory of collective socialization which states that parents who are more often the role models have a direct bearing on the outcome of the childrens behavior. This theory is referred to as collective socialization.

The neighborhood however exerts some pressure on childrens choice of friends as seen for instance in a study that examined black families who moved to Chicago suburbs. (Lynn, et al, 1990).  These studies are vital since they help to explain why inner city ghettos are rife with crime. Robbery, illiteracy, school dropouts, teenage pregnancies and last but not least a thriving drug abuse culture. It is against such a backdrop that people discussing the ills of American minorities should bear in mind. Such social inequality in  America pitting the haves and the have nots is indeed an issue that if left unattended to may further polarize ethnic minorities with the dominant white majority that represents two thirds of the American populace (Bteille,1972).

It is therefore no doubt that authors such as Chika Onyeani (2000) author of Capitalist Nigger The Road to Success A Spider Web Doctrine appear somewhat unbalanced in their assessments of black people. They make sweeping generalizations that do not take into consideration prevailing circumstances facing the black people. Jared Taylor ( 2004) a self proclaimed racialist and editor of the magazine American Renaissance, makes similar statistically biased observations when he concludes that African Americans are much more dangerous than whites as evidenced by increased crime rates on their part. This however, fails to take into consideration  other crimes that white people are equally guilty of participating in  such as white collar crimes in  form of bank frauds,  corporate pollution etc(Roedigger 2004 Neckerman,2004).

Students will really profit from watching this film since is a sobering reflection of what happens in their own cities. They will have a deeper appreciation for people from ethnic minorities especially those who are from an impoverished background and be liberated from misinformed ethnic stereotypes floating around and even in the media. This clip is refreshingly different from the usual Hollywood diet forced down our throats. Murray Pomerance states that by the turn of the 21st Century, a vast majority of films churned out came couched in violence, destruction, immorality, threat or torture (Pomerance, 2003 Arnesen, 1981 Aaronowitz). Blind side is clearly none of that. Albeit belonging to the category of feel good movies, it goes beyond emotion and challenges us all on the need to lend a helping hand to the disadvantaged in society.