The Difference between Seeing and Knowing

Goldie Barajas

English 1B

2/16/11

The Difference between Seeing and Knowing

            Stories, events, books, and films are key factors in portraying the world’s reality or fiction. They predispose human beings to reflect on the past, present and to even plan or think for the future. This was my case, when I watched the film Rosewood. The film, Rosewood, was featured in 1997, but based on the 1923 Rosewood massacre, in which a white woman by the name of Fanny Taylor claimed to have been raped by a colored man, in order to cover up the fact that she had cheated on her husband with a white man, not black. This accusation serves as an excuse for the white people, living in the town of Sumner, to take out their anger and rage at Rosewood’s black people. Whites were jealous and envious of blacks due to the fact that they had been seeing black people better themselves, by owning land, having a fair job and have even earned an education. Whites could not resist the fact that blacks were doing better than they were because in their eyes, although African Americans were not slaves anymore they were still considered inferior to white people. Blacks had no right to own land, to have an education or to have a decent job, whites did and because of this racist way of thinking whites destroyed the town of Rosewood, tearing Sylvester’s beloved family apart along the way. The family of Sylvester Carrier, which was innocent of blame, and had nothing to do with the supposed rape Fanny claimed to have been a victim of, suffered the death of Aunt Sarah and Big Baby, just because the family was better off and brave enough to step up to the white mob. Although white people knew the truth about the rape they still continued to lynch, shoot, and torture blacks because it was easier to blame a black person rather than a white one. As a viewer, having watched a film portraying to me the Rosewood massacre of 1923 definitely changed the way I see the world including myself. The film Rosewood made me “wake up” of my comfort zone by reminding me of the world’s complexity. It also gave me an insight into what black people had to overcome in order to claim some identity, which is helpful to me because it keeps me alert and away from being ignorant.

            Being able to see the world realistically is important because it keeps me with my feet on the ground rather than flying on the sky. Often times, as human beings we tend to wonder off and pretend nothing is wrong with the world or ourselves. It is easier and comfortable to keep pretending rather than accepting our contribution to a problem or to face the fact that there is such thing as racism, sexism, or oppression. I accept the fact that I was one of those human beings pretending everything was fine, until I watched the film Rosewood. I knew racism exists and that blacks have overcome part of it in the past. I never knew to what degree though. I never saw the lynching, or shootings but I knew they had taken place. I never saw the discriminatory acts towards blacks but I knew they had occurred. Rosewood faced me with the ugly truth. The film made the difference between not seeing and knowing something had occurred clear to me. The difference is that when I see, I accept the fact that it was real, that whatever I saw it’s not a myth or story made up. When I see something I make it practical to my life and the world rather than just knowing something occurred but not putting what I have learned from it into practice. Rosewood showed me how awful whites were against blacks. Through the film I got to see how black people were lynched without any doubt of the consequences. I saw how whites shot blacks as easy as a hunter would shoot a rabbit. I admit I was shocked when watching the film, but I am glad I did because now it is clearer to me that the world has always been complex and perhaps it will always be. Living in a world in which there are people that can be as sweet as honey is good. Living in a world in which there are people that can be as evil as the devil is bad. Unfortunately that’s reality and Rosewood portrayed this to me very well. This will help me detect evil and fantasy at a glance keeping me aware of my surroundings, which is better than wondering off with my feet on the sky.

            Being able to stick to the world’s reality makes me feel ready. Ready to act upon racism if I am faced with it in the future. I owe this to having watched Rosewood. Being ignorant is a flaw. I feel that watching Rosewood has minimized that ignorance. Why? Because Rosewood informed me of the racism that existed and still exists, although I live in the 21^st century. I used to think that racism was way past its peak but it seems to me it’s not. The problem here is that people are still living thinking that they are better than others. It is good to have self confidence but to what extreme? To the extreme of hurting others just because one sees ones self better than that other person? Definitely not, it shouldn’t be that way. Rosewood opened my eyes widely enough to see myself differently. I see myself more open minded and intellectual about the topic of blacks’ battle for equality. Ignorance is not a flaw anymore because Rosewood broke the boundary between knowledge and ignorance. I definitely see this as a positive impact on myself because knowing about what really happened in the past with black people keeps me well rounded and informed about the past which can always work for the future. The past teaches us how to live the future either for better or worst, in this case for a better tomorrow.

            In conclusion, Rosewood has taught me not to fall for any false or baby information the media, newspaper, or internet feeds me. From now on I will start asking questions and feed those questions with real answers not subtle answers that will only answer the basic. I will try my best to go deep and beyond the baby answer. Before Rosewood I was in my comfort zone. I have gotten out from it. I am ready to see how the world is shaping itself around the many ways of oppression human beings have come up with and to act upon it. I have taken with me the value of reality and the knowledge of knowing how it really was for blacks. This is important for me because knowledge keeps me well rounded, and it helps be alert in a world full of complications.