A few days ago I was watching Sex in the City with my black roommate Sibulele. That she is black is significant in this context because in the episode we were watching the mother in law of one of the main characters made a racist comment that cracked her up, but I didn’t even notice that it was made. First I was shocked that in such a popular series like Sex in the City racist jokes where made so openly. And then I was even more shocked that I didn’t notice it. I always considered myself to be a very sensitive person and I thought I would be someone who is “aware of things” and who is critical but the racism in Sex in the City just past me. It made me wonder how much more I miss out. I guess I didn’t notice the racism because it didn’t regard me whereas for Sibu racism against black people is probably more of an issue she deals with in her life. If the character made a comment about Germans being Nazis or so I probably would have given it more attention. But does this mean you have to be pre-sensitised to things to notice them?
This issue reminds me of the language-thought-reality-problem, even though it’s farfetched - I know. But according to Whorf our language shapes our perception of reality and we are only able to see what we can name. Maybe my example indirectly proves that we need to be aware of things in the first place before we can be sensitive for them and this awareness might be influenced by our ability to name things.
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