Danielle Krattiger

Sociology
E. Ortega
9 April 2015
Project 1: Video Analysis
The video that I chose to write about is a video on race equality. A woman named
Mellody Hobson voiced her opinion and experiences in a Ted Talk and explained that race is a
regular topic several people feel uncomfortable speaking about. Hobson clarifies that there really
should be no reason to feel uncomfortable when discussing race, religion, discrimination,
orientation, etc., because it is a topic that occurs all the time and is relevant to most situations.
Hobson shares personal experiences where she had been racially stereotyped and how common it
is now-a-days, and that society shouldn't be so color blind when judging people, but rather
color brave, meaning that individuals acknowledge that we are all different, and that is okay.
Auguste Comte, who is known as the father of sociology, believed that all societies
progress and develop within three stages. These stages are religion, metaphysical, and scientific.
He argued that society needs scientific knowledge based on proof and facts to solve its problems.
Comte believed the science of sociology consists of two branches, dynamics, and statistics.
Dynamics is the study of the processes in which societies change, and statics, is the collection of
data of information in which societies endure. If Comte were t watch and evaluate this lecture, I
believe that he would take in as much information as he could so he can further study where
Hobson was coming from.

Emile Durkheim is remembered as a French Functionalist, meaning that he looked at

society in a scientific way. Durkheim was considered a father of Sociology, and he was also
the first theorist to call Sociology a science. Durkheims theory stated that if one thing went
wrong in a society, everyone suffers. He believed that everything serves a function in society
and he is looking to find out what that function is. If Durkheim were to watch this lecture, he
would have several questions because I believe that he would try to understand why humans feel
the need to racial stereotype and possibly try to come up with a solution to what could fix racial
issues in todays changing and growing society.
Karl Marx is remembered as a German philosopher and an activist, amongst several other
titles. He viewed Sociology as a competition that focuses on distribution. Marx became the
leader of the sociological theory called Marxism. Marx believed that society is not a happy place
and that the members of society are in constant conflict with one another. His theory implies that
only in a socialist society in which all were to be equal and had equal rights and resources, that
all would live happy. I believe that Marx would have a very strong opinion on this topic because
he believes that if all were equal, society would be happy. He would agree that people need to be
color brave and acknowledge difference, yet have the same attitude and compassion towards
everyone.
In my opinion, I do believe that positivist paradigm is represented in the video I chose.
Functionalism is how each part of society contributes to the whole society. For example, racial
profiling and discrimination occur to a majority of society and effects everyone as a whole.
Mellody Hobson: Color blind or color brave?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKtALHe3Y9Q