The Prejudices We Hold and How to Erase Them
In the mini-series and novel, Little Fires Everywhere the character Elena Richardson (portrayed by Reese Witherspoon) is a perfect example of the biases and prejudices we all hold against different races, genders, and sexualities. Unbeknownst to Elena herself all of her actions are motivated by the biases that she holds. Watching her interact with others and live her life gives us all a look into the biases we hold and how they prompt the choices we make.
This OP-ED is not a critique on Elena Richardson, but rather on myself. Even after I recognized that Elena was a genuinely bad person a part of me was still rooting for her. Because, as all villains do, she believed her actions were good, that the biases and prejudices that she held drove positivity and respectable actions.
Elena Richardson held a white savior complex, which is defined as a white person who provides help to non-white people in a self-serving manner. Elena doesn't help the Black people around her because she is motivated by helping them, but rather because she wants to help herself.
Little Fires Everywhere, however, is not a White Savior TV Show, unlike “The Help” and “Greenbook” the Black characters in the show don't serve as objects to glorify the white character. Rather, Little Fires Everywhere points on white saviorism, in an ugly and honest way.
We all hold prejudices, whether this is because we have decided to believe something or because an assumption and stereotype is something that we unknowingly embrace varies from person to person.
My first topic is something that Taylor Swift brought up in her documentary “Miss Americana,” how we all are internally misogynistic. No matter how liberal and feminist you are there are certain ideas of women that will stick in your brain because you are taught them from such a young age. We’re taught that girls are supposed to be kind and sweet and focus their energy and actions all to please, find, or fight for a man. We’re taught that girls that show skin and embrace their sexuality are ‘whores’ and ‘sluts.’ We’re taught that as women age they lose value.
White people are taught negative and incorrect facts about POC which causes them to hold biases against POC, much like Elena does. The Amy Cooper story is one that stands out to me, she called the police on a Black man asking her to leash her dog in the park. We were all quick to assume that she was wearing a “MAGA” hat, but Amy Cooper is a liberal. If it wasn't for the viral video of Amy, she probably would be signing BLM petitions and walking in protests. But behind closed doors the biases she holds motivate hurtful and racist actions. I think many white people must examine the “Amy Cooper '' within themselves. Whether it be rushing to close the door when they see a Black man approaching the elevator or clutching their purse as they walk by one in the street the internal racism is real and must be recognized.
Finally, we all hold homophobic biases and assumptions. We expect gay men to have high voices, rainbow overalls, and to want to be our best friends. We except lesbian women to have pixie haircuts and to dress in masculine clothing. We expect members of the LGBTQIA community to fit the mold we have laid out for them.
The biases, assumptions, and prejudices MUST be taken down. But doing that isn't going to be an easy task, especially when society has been living a certain way for so long. But to start we have to recognize that we all think a certain way and hold certain ideas against different groups. Once we ALL recognize the problem, the solution won't become clear or simple or just happen, it will be hard work, but listening to voices of minorities and the oppressed is always a good place to start.
