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The Seal of Whitesboro

During this semester I began listening to a podcast called "2 Dope Queens" while I worked at the library. I became a big fan of Jessica Williams, one of the hosts of the show, and researched her other public appearances. I learned that she was a correspondent on the Daily Show with both John Stewart and Trevor Noah. In this research I came across the above video from 2016; it is definitely worth a watch. The present controversy is over the racist seal of the town of Whitesboro in upstate New York. The seal depicts a white man choking a Native American man. It was supposedly a display of wresting which actually fostered a relationship between the settlers (colonizers) and the Native people. Jessica Williams became involved and attempted to educate the mayor on why the seal was blatantly racist, with little success. She helped initiate a vote to change the town's seal. She then interviewed many of the people coming to vote. Some citizens were very vocal about the seal's racial implications however a large body of people were in favor of keeping the current seal because it portrayed history. Many of these people, including the mayor, adopted a semi-colorblind approach. Jessica attempted to educate them on multiculturalism, which did not instigate much change until it entered the national radar. Regardless of the public attention, the town voted to keep the seal. However, it was actually changed shortly after in response to even more national criticism. What I found particularly relevant to the class material was the colorblind approach many of these old, white people adopted while still trying to argue its validity as accurately historical. This example demonstrates the fallacies of a colorblind approach but also addresses issues of power. The seal supporters were unable to confront why this seal was so offensive given the disenfranchisement of Native Americans. They acted as if they stood on equal ground; they failed to acknowledge the historic and present structure of white supremacy symbolized by the seal. This example speaks particularly on the state of race dynamics in the United States as well as the harms of a colorblind approach.

This is the video!!

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