Leah Dean, Jordan Lawrence, Kaeli Vandermark

3. What are some of the experiences of these Black women in terms of how they experience
both their race (or ethnicity) and gender? Give some examples.
These individuals seemed to experience more discrimination based on their appearance due to the
intersectional nature of their race and gender. Many of the women confessed that they were judged
for their natural hair in settings where White womens hair were considered the ideal. One woman
who was a member of a dance troupe believes she was singled out for being Black because the hair
stylist for the dancers was unwilling to style her hair in the same manner. Another woman was pulled
aside by her supervisor and told she was unprofessional because she had natural hair. In addition,
many of these women were never told that they were intelligent or beautiful, and admitted that they
felt inferior as a result.

2. Explain the differences between how the White police officers discuss race compared to
the Black officers. How do each see race? Why is this important for policing?

Two out of the three White police officers, while very aware of the dynamics race played in their
careers, seemed like they were educated on the matter in a clinical setting. Their discussions
seemed to speak of education rather than experience. The Black police officers, on the other hand,
appeared to speak with less detached and pedantic diction than the White officers. This could
possibly be a result of the Black officers experience with systemic racism in their career. A very
important point is that both of the Black officers acknowledged that racial profiling in the police force
was a real problem, and one of the three White officers firmly believed that such a problem did not
exist. This officer was actually very adamant that he would never make assumptions based on race,
and that anyone who believed that police regularly did this was ludicrous.

5. Identify some common discussion points that transcend (or cross-over) many of these
individuals experiences as portrayed in these video clips. Are there commonalities that your
group can identify?

A common discussion point across all four videos is the idea that racism is systemic. The white
people featured in the videos are naive and some explicitly mention the idea of not having to think
about their race. Because of the privilege afforded to them by their racial identity, many of them are
unaware of the effects of systemic racism. On the other hand, the African American people are
constantly made aware of the inevitability of their scary appearance, and feel like they need to
accept the way that society views them. Unfortunately, they have to constantly evaluate how a
mundane action or just plain presence in a place/situation, will be seen by others in society. Little
boys of color are taught to not really depend on the protection from the police. A warranted
weariness, for one of the white police officers admitted to questioning black kids in a typical white
neighborhood, even if they were doing nothing wrong. Their mere presence was a call for worry.