While images have been used for communication and recording information since the first early humans etched on rock walls, never before have images been so prolific and essentially unavoidable. The sources and their meanings have multiplied to almost unimaginable numbers. I find the statement that “myths have become a substitute for the search for meaning which other generations sought in more expansive and significant ways” to be a striking truth. If we look at how our population is so easily swayed by strategically placed images (that carry myths), this statement seems painfully simple and yet to the point.

The article Skin Tones and Racial Stereotypes raises an important issue. I do believe that these prejudices still exist, and perhaps more dangerously, that few people are aware of them. My own personal awareness of this matter became heightened when I had to relocate to Alabama for a year. While I have traveled quite a bit, I have lived in Oregon all my life other than this experience. I took it for granted that racial issues were resolved because they generally appear so mild in the Northwest.

After being exposed to the racial tension that persist in the south I began to question whether the Yankees were doing much better at breaking down racial boundaries. The answer I settled upon is no. From what I have seen we tend to avoid talking about issues relating to race. When we do address such issues it is usually presented as a “special feature” or side conversation. Very rarely are racial issues spoken of in the direct and frank manner in which they should be called out addressed. It simply makes people too uncomfortable to look at how little has changed.

That being said, I would have liked a clearer definition of “Afrocentric facial features” in the final article. It seems that such a term is in and of itself stereotyping. I’m not sure I fully understood the intent of this article due in part to a lack of understanding of this very key definition.