I watched two episodes of W. Kamau Bell's series of The United Shades Of America. I watched an episode exploring Chicago Gangs and an episode about Immigrants and Refugees. In the Chicago Gangs episode, Bell explained how Chicago is a segregated state, south Chicago (housing many gangs) is extremely different then north Chicago. Bell touches on the common theme that the lack of education in the lower income areas correlates with the violence of kids which results in many of the south Chicago problems. The high gang rate in Chicago is increasing the number of deaths. Bell talks to members of different gangs, and it seems that people in these lower income areas join gangs because they provide individuals with a sense of community and love, which they wouldn't get otherwise in the real world. Living in these neighborhoods many don't have a strong family bond and are left to fight on their own, they don't get to experience love, so gangs provide them with bonds and friendship that helps them move on. When talking with members of some gangs, many people say that social media makes the gang violence much worse. This is called cyber banging, and it does not help with the violence. Black Lives Matter also is explored and Bell gets many opinions of people living in south Chicago on the topic. They explain that they are not anti-cops, they like cops that do their job correctly. The want to stay safe just like everyone else, but they do not want cops who jump to conclusions and act out in violence towards people just because of their skin color. Next in the Immigrants and Refugee episode, Bell explores the idea of many people traveling to America to work hard and live a better more promising life. He explains that more people are supportive pf immigrants after Trumps election, in 1994, 63% of Americans though immigrants were a burden to society. In 2015, 51% of Americans thought immigrants strengthened America. Bell continues to explain that 50% of start up businesses in America were founded by immigrants. Many popular businesses like Tesla or instagram. In both episodes Bell explores many important topics people should not look past.
Bell engages the viewers into the topics by using humor. His constant use of comic relief helps engage the readers and make them more intrigued. Bell does an extraordinary job of using humor, he is on a very fine line in relation to what jokes he can make. But he knows when to hold them back and what to say in the right time and place. He makes it easier for the audience to continue watching rather then get upset at what people truly think/say over these controversial topics. Also, to keep the audience interested Bell does a good job of incorporating normal everyday people. He constantly gets feedback from people on the streets of all ages, genders, races, and incomes. People that the audience can relate to. The idea to incorporate opinions from all over. He incorporates polar opposite views from all different people and confronts every idea, not by getting angry but by laughing off what is absolutely crazy and horrible and just listening to others, then remaining come and respectfully responding.
Throughout the episodes, racism and inequality are addressed in many different ways. Bell brings up past events and gives examples of racism such as police brutality. He explains many different recent instances, along with talking to people who currently face constant racism. Bell touches on the idea of unequal education systems in lower income neighborhoods and the effects of this. He also talks to many immigrants that face inequality everyday such as in the workplace. Throughout both episodes Bell is constantly asking his viewers overlying question of what can we do. What can we as viewers, as the audience do about these challenges that face our life. We as audience members need to stop standing back in hopes everything fixes itself. We need to inform others and stop being racist. We can control out own behaviors and attitudes and we need to spread awareness. Today, I absolutely see the racism and can make a connection of all these topics to the real world. I constantly see new stories on the news about police brutality or a tweet from a political figure, that degrades immigrants or people who aren't white. It kills me every news article that is racist but in todays society it is very prevalent and as informed individuals we need to get out there and do what we can to stop racism.
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