TOW #24 - Cover from Newsweek Magazine (Is your Baby Racist?)

            Some people argue that the roots of discrimination dwell inside human nature, and others revert to the idea that discrimination is a learned process; therefore, a newborn child not yet exposed to racist beliefs, cannot be discriminatory. To take a stance on this issue, Newsweek published a controversial magazine cover, the title being “Is Your Baby Racist? Exploring the Roots of Discrimination”, on September 14^th of 2009. The cover also displays a photo of a male Caucasian infant. Due to the questioning, and emotional appeal of the photo, I feel as though the cover argues that discrimination is learned though experience and lesson, and this, I arguably agree with. The thought provoking statement “exploring the roots of discrimination” refers to human nature, this being the root of humanity. By nature, every human being is, more or less, the same. As the saying goes, “we all bleed the same blood.” Therefore, a child not yet exposed to discrimination, is unaware of the fact that humans see other humans as “different” based on external attributes. Furthermore, the abrupt question on the cover almost comes off as offensive to the viewer because it can easily be mistaken as an accusation; that Newsweek is accusing their viewers of teaching discriminatory values to an innocent child. However, the point of this questioning is to make the viewers evaluate the roots of discrimination, and how a parent’s views on discrimination could impact their child’s. For example, if a parent repetitively enforces to their child that all people of any other religion (than their own) deserves to be discriminated against, that child would logically feel uncomfortable around people of another religion. In addition to the phrasing on the cover, the photo shows a baby of a race and gender that, typically, does not face as much discrimination in society. Similar to the phrasing, the photo forces the viewer to internally argue what causes discrimination, nature or experience.

Visual: https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.digication.com/M9426704b5b5063dd1659a4cb984cde35.jpg

 

Caption: "Discrimination Draws Upon Experience"