In the documentary film "The Color of Fear, "a group of men engaged in a candid discussion on racism.

In the documentary film "The Color of Fear, "a group of men engaged in a candid discussion on racism. The group consisted of eight men, and they were African, Asian, Latino, and White Americans. It was to show that all Africans, Asians, Latinos, or Whites do not think alike and are diverse. I believe that is why there were two men representing each ethnicity. At some point in the movie it made me feel quite uncomfortable to watch because of the intensity of the men. For the most part I felt as though I could relate to their experiences being a minority myself. There were some hits and misses in the film, but overall it was informative.

I believe the first question that was asked from the director was how they identified themselves racially. There were so many different responses, but most of the minority did not identify themselves as "Americans." What was surprising to me was that most of the men there were born in the United States so they are American Citizens. Yet, they still felt alienated from this country. I believe that the minority in this country will always be viewed as a foreigner because White Americans are the dominant culture in this society. For example, I am an American Citizen because I was conceived here in the bay area. Yet, people will ask me what country I am from. Furthermore, I was astonished of how important it is to grow up in a diverse committee such as the bay area. When I was living in Maryland I went to a school where my peer consisted of only Whites, Africans, and some Koreans. It was such a cultural shock for me because I grew up with such a diverse group of friends. The lunch breaks at school helped illustrate how each ethnicity formed their own clique and kept to themselves. Also, for the first time in my life I was the only "Asian" in my classes. I was viewed as an exotic and foreign creature because they would look at me with such curiosity. I came to the conclusion that their ignorance is due to the fact that they were never exposed to variant cultures. They never learned how to be tolerant and aware. For example, one student asked me what ethnicity I am and I replied "Vietnamese." Her response still baffles me today because she had no clue of what I was talking about! So I proceeded to wonder if she ever took history because it's amazing to know that she had no clue of what went on in this country during the 60s-70s.

Another topic that came up in the video that I related to was the whole "Model Minority" concept. I guess Asians have always been perceived as being the diligent and intelligent race. Of course this isn't true because each ethnicity has its hit and misses when it comes to individuals. Last quarter I was actually enrolled in the Asian American Experience course. That class has changed my perception of this country. I grew up thinking that everything was fine, but when I learned the history of the struggles of variant Asian cultures in this country I realized how wrong I've been. This is why I believe that the curriculum in lower division history classes should cover other races. For my final in the course I had to do a group project where we would investigate struggles and issues amongst the Asian Committees. My group of course chose to do our final project on Model Minority. When we presented to the class a White individual asked us why we didn't like to be viewed as the "intelligent" and "hardworking" race. He didn't understand that this concept has pigeon hole us. In high school, my Asian peers and I have always been expected to do better than the rest when it came to Math and Science. Math has never been my forte so it was hard to have to hear constantly, "but you're Asian you're supposed to be good at this stuff."

I really enjoyed the movie because it helps illustrate how our nation as a whole is still divided due to racism. I believe that racism will always exist, but I hope someday we will reach a level where will be able to tolerate each other. I believe the only way to reach that goal if we become more aware of each others culture. We are all foreigners if you think about it. In the end we all have something in common.