We have made so many breakthroughs and discoveries in a plethora of fields of study, constantly growing towards a goal of the utopian society we could only read or see in movies, but as much as we’ve progressed, we still face many problems, and it doesn’t take a microscope to see the injustices going on every day. Racism continues to target Black men in society with the same stereotypes and derogatory ideas that have been preserved in North American history. We see this with the idea of how racism is almost as prominent as ever and with the themes explored in “The Skin We’re In” by Desmond Cole as well as Jordan Peele’s film “Get Out”.
It would be quite ignorant to believe that the problems of racism in the past aren’t troubling people now. Films and stories have always given us the freedom to escape reality and enjoy a world different from ours. Jordan Peele decides to bring us all back to earth and face the problems that concern black men throughout their lives, showing us that this utopia is only a dream until we solve these problems. In his film we follow Chris, a young black man who is dating a white girl (Rose), he is meeting her family for the first time who turn out to be massive racists and can be connected back to the slave trade with how they treat people of colour. Peele seems to be giving everyone a glimpse into how it feels to be constantly criticized for the colour of your skin. The older folk constantly use stereotypes of black men when talking, seeing them more as physically gifted beasts who don’t have a place in this world. This idea might resonate with slaves who were put through horrible, backbreaking labor for white families. Peele shows through his directing that racism is still present as ever even if you believe that “the world is healing”. An interesting little thing I noticed in the film was when Dean Armitage was talking to Chris towards the beginning of the movie and he noticed that Chris was eyeing how all the staff was African American he said “Oh, don’t group me in as one of those” (Peele), “one of those” being a white racist. He’s trying to ease Chris’s worries by eliminating the idea that he is just another racist guy that Chris must live with. The reason I brought this quote up was because a lot of the powerful white people in society don’t see themselves as racist, convincing themselves that this is just the way it’s supposed to be and there’s nothing wrong with how they treat different races, always targeting minorities. History plays a role in the development of stereotypes and leads to understanding how we can change to benefit the future.
North America has a bad history of mistreating people, cultures, or things that are different from them. To quote Desmond Cole, “Black people just can’t win in this white supremacist construct called Canada”. (Cole 16). Even if the spotlight has been on America for all the racism, Canada is not in the green per se, it has a ton of problems with racism that tend to fly under the radar because we have such a welcoming facade. Desmond Cole is the best at telling his personal encounters with being a black male living in Canada and all the problems he faced with over-policing and just general racism on a day-to-day basis for him and his friends. One example that shows how prominent this type of harassment is, was when his friend John had his art gallery, that just recently opened, raided by police on New Year’s Eve for no acceptable reason, to quote Desmond “[…] several officers jumped him, pinned him to the ground, and repeatedly electrified him with the taser” (Cole 6) which is just an excessive amount of force when in this case John posed no danger in any way, Desmond Cole wrote that “The police attack on John was calculated and it fits the pattern of disproportionate use of force against Black people in general” (Cole 6) something that people overlook when trying to choose who’s to blame for all the hate committed towards racial minorities. America and Canada have a sad past of how they’ve treated people who are different, a big problem that deserves to be put more into focus instead of being swept under the carpet like it has been for the past century, there’s not a perfect time to take action, we must start now, with the help of awareness such as Jordan Peele’s movie and Desmond Cole’s writing we can only hope to see some change sooner rather than later.
A big aspect found in Peele’s film is how a lot of Black people deal with a lot of code-switching to make everyone feel comfortable, the idea being that they won’t talk in the same manner with their teacher as they would with their best friend, something that most of us do subconsciously. Chris spots another Black person at the party he is at and walks over to him excited to be with someone who understands him, just to find out this man talks and acts like how an old white man would. We see that a lot of people of colour constantly have to code-switch when talking to white people because of stereotypes created in the past. In Cole’s story he shows that these experiences such as code-switching and constant examples of racism are a shared problem through generations, “I was now old enough to feel safe in sharing these experiences with my parents and relatives, who reciprocated stories of their own” (Cole 15). Cole and Peele touch on this in their own ways and get the same message across of how racism is a shared experience and not something that has just affected one Black person a long time ago, if it happens to one person, it happens to everyone.
Black men have been preyed upon by racism the second they were deemed as different from the white leaders. Although our current state of racism is quite poor when we look at it objectively, (especially when we hear stories like Desmond’s) it would not be fair to say that we haven’t made progress at all in the last couple of decades when so many protests and movements have been made to allow for this generation to have more equal rights.
Cole, Desmond. “‘negro frolicks (January).’” The Skin We’re In, Doubleday Canada, 2020, pp. 1–17
Peele, Jordan, et al. Get Out. Universal Pictures, 2017.
Fight Clubs/Night Clubs 
You’ve made a good attempt to analyze the concept of racism as portrayed in both works, but further exploration of how these experiences are specifically reflective of Black men’s relationship to society would strengthen your post. You have effectively used some quotes from both Cole and Peele to support your points. Continue to integrate evidence seamlessly into your analysis. Consider providing more detailed analysis of the quotes to deepen the understanding of how they support your argument.
You’ve begun to address the complexity of Black men’s experiences and the stereotypes they face. Expanding on this by exploring the resistance to racism and stereotypes in both works would provide a more nuanced discussion. Reflect on how the portrayal of Black masculinity in Cole’s and Peele’s works challenges or reinforces societal norms.
Your thesis statement could be more explicit and focused. It is essential to clearly state your main argument at the beginning to guide readers through your analysis. Ensure that each paragraph directly supports your thesis and that the connection between your arguments and the thesis is evident. Your blog post is generally well-structured, but consider using clearer topic sentences at the beginning of each paragraph to enhance readability.
You have adhered to MLA format for your in-text citations. Ensure that your final Works Cited is also formatted correctly.
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