For a long time, most societies have drawn barriers between “us” and “them.” That’s how things like nation-states, political parties, race, and every other group that divides among others. However, this often causes us to loose the ability to see the person as human because they aren’t like “us.” Therefore, they must be something else. It’s more often that people of the dominant group, of which there usually is one, are the ones getting better treatment in society, especially in public society and the media, while the people of the “other” groups are often discriminated against because of their differences and the dominant group’s biases against them.
One of the “great divides” in society, especially American society, is race, most notably African-American and/or Muslims against Christian White Americans. Not only are African-Americans more often associated with crime, even if they have never seen a gun before, but when they are the victims against the crime, it seems that, as Nick Wing puts it, “The Media Treats White Suspects Better Than Black Victims” (Wing). He points out that often times, when it’s a white attacker, they are often given an excuse as to why they would commit a crime and painting them in the best light possible, while African-American victims are often vilified, with the media only focusing on only the bad things they did in life, such as being involved with drugs, almost as to say that the victim deserved it or had it coming. Natasha Noman brings to light many twitter posts that after the Charleston shooting, which involved a white man going into a church and shooting African-Americans, the media didn’t cover it for a while, which it seems that they have done right away if the races had been reversed, judging by what the tweets are saying (Noman). Something that seemed to enrage them all was that, although many people thought it seemed like a hate crime, the media still depicted it as the suspect’s own health, and not the fault of the society he grew up in.
Lisa Wade, PhD, points out that this does have consequences on society. Because while only 51% of those arrested for crime are African-American, 75% of media coverage focuses on African-American crime, leading both African-Americans and White-Americans to believe that African-Americans are more violent (Wade). In addition to that, because the media portrays African-Americans as more violent than White-American perpetrators, this leads people to actually believe it, perpetuating the racism, if not making it worse (Wade).
However, by taking this knowledge and publishing it so that more and more people can see it, we are making a difference as people become more aware. It shows that society is trying to change, if not slowly. By showing that African-Americans are being inhumanly treated, it reminds the White-Americans and everyone else that they are people too and that they are similar in every single way, from fighting for equality that has been taken away, by tweeting, and just by being themselves, as any other person would do.
Even with less pressing matters, decreasing the divide between “us” and “them” is equally important. I think that the McLennan group had a very effective way in presenting that in putting up the contrast between the picture of one of the founders, and a drawing that he made for his daughter. Not only was it incredibly effective because it did show him in a different way than just stern, but it also made him very relatable, which is an important part in making an “other” into someone more human. In addition, I really liked how each group made sure to have elements that kept the personal touch to each archive subject. For example, the infographic group who decided to keep the quotes in Cantonese instead of translating it. That way it was almost like we were looking at the work ourselves and having a direct conversation with each one, learning more without any barrier. That too, made the contributors seem more human because they each seemed to have character. With more being able to see them as more human, more began to care, instead of seeing the papers as just papers, they were actually thoughts, important ones, at that, and more people can become interested.
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