Cynamon Mantley

Sociology 1
Professor Prior
7 February 2016

Project 1: Video/DVD Analysis- Confronting Racism Face to Face

The video I chose was "Confronting Racism Face to Face". It is a short video of Mo
Asumang, a mixed woman who is half Ghanaian and half German. In this video she is
interviewed by BBC about her experiences interviewing both Neo-Nazi's in Germany and the Ku
Klux Klan in the United States. The video is an interesting look on racism in society and how it
is still prevalent despite some arguing that it no longer exist. It shows some of her interviews
with Klan members and Neo-Nazi members and a lot of them do not view themselves as racist.
In fact, in what part of the video, a Klan member was justifying their racism by claiming that
they are not racist but instead just "following tradition". A lot of them have a view on people who
are different than them as almost a boreline of fear. They did not and do not want to confront the
people that they are prejudice against, instead they choose to maintain their misconceived
notions about people who are different than themselves. This shows that the idea of possibly
identifying with someone from a different race scares them.
The video can be viewed from several sociological perspectives and interpreted in
different way from different sociologist. Auguste Comte for example coined the term
sociology and believed in two key principles: social statics and social dynamics. Social statics
are the principles by which societies hold together and order is maintained (Witt 13) Social
dynamics are the factors that bring about change and that shape the nature and direction of that
change. Comte would view the video as one that is working to bring about change in society.

He would see the dynamics of it as revolutionary because she is going into these social groups
and challenging their socialized view on race.
Sociologist Emile Durkheim focused more on the social order aspect of society. He
would view the individuals in this video as those who are afraid of losing their social status
among each other. An example of this is when in the video, she is trying to interact with some of
the Neo-Nazi members and they refuse to speak to her and tell her to mind her own business.
This underlying fear of being ostracized by their community for speaking to an outsider is
apparent when some refuse to turn around and look at her. Durkheim would view this behavior
as one who is afraid of anomie or feeling a sense of loss in direction thus increasing loneliness or
despair. The need to be apart of something that they feel is important shows just how much they
have grown into their roles. Most of the people she interviews do not have a clear reason for why
they are against interracial mixing or believe in segregation; they simply believe that is how life
should be and do not see a reason to explain themselves. An example of this is the young NeoNazi she interviews at the end who is considering leaving the group because he knows that their
viewpoint is not correct however, watching the video you sense his fear of rejection and his fear
of losing the social group to which is accustomed to.
Karl Marx on the other hand would have a different sociological approach to viewing this
video. Though his sociological work was focused on capitalism and the economics of it such as
the proletariat versus the bourgeois, he looked at the inequality between these groups and he
probably would have looked deeper into their socio-economic statuses. Perhaps the underlying
fear for many of the individuals in this video was their economic well-being and the idea of
having many immigrate into their country and start to occupy the job market may make them
nervous. The fear of losing their identities is also a factor and in the beginning of the video one

of the German men was speaking about how many people come for a melting pot similar to the
one in the USA and he did not want that for Germany. This can express a fear of losing ones
self in a diversifying country that identifies with more nationalities besides German. He would
also be interested in the social inequality aspect of the video as well due to the evident bias these
individuals have against people that they have never interacted with. Again, this can relate back
to a possible underlying fear of other races taking their jobs or simply, others doing better than
they have managed to do in life.
All three sociologists would be interested in understanding these peoples worldview and
their experiences that lead them to the ideas they have about people who are different. They
would dig deeper into the historical aspect and see how much their perspectives have been taught
or learned from past generations. In Germany, it is notable that these people are openly
protesting in broad daylight without covering their faces like the Klu Klux Klan. From a
sociological point of view, it would be interesting to exam their cultures and see why in Germany
racism can be exhibited more openly than here in the United States where Klan members meet at
night and cover up their faces. It is interesting to think of how much their perspectives were apart
of their socialization process growing up and perhaps that can explain why they stick to their
believes and refuse to think differently.
This video represents both the conflict and interactionist paradigm. In this video you see
racism and groups of people who have been coerced to believe that people who are "different"
are evil despite getting to know them. She gets members of both the Neo-Nazi German group
and the Ku Klux Klan to talk to her. In some parts, they even refuse to even look at Mo Asumang
and it seems like they are almost ashamed for her to be confronting them as an intellectual
woman who is clearly not evil or out to get them. The tensions between her and the people she

encounters is interesting to watch because you can clearly tell that they are uncomfortable with
her around them and her calm demeanor to their racial bias seems to confuse them.
It represents the interactionist paradigm because she is communicating with these people
and getting an understanding of their world view. She says it best in the video when she points
out that most of them have never talked to a jewish person or a black person so they do not really
know the enemy therefore, when they speak to her they are confronting the reality which is far
removed from their misconceptions. Also, their everyday interactions with one another clearly
has a huge influence over them and this is illustrated once again with the young German man at
the end who wants to leave the Neo-Nazi's.
She and him ended up becoming friends and this was the most touching part of the video.
These were two people with different views who came together for a day to talk and it blossomed
into a friendship that helped a young man see that the misconceived ideas he was being taught
for years were not true because Mo Asumang is an example of the reality. The reality is that we
all judge each other and though it may not be as extreme as a Neo-Nazi we all hold misconstrued
notions in our heads about people. This video reflects that these judgments can be overcome
when you get to know a person for who they are and not based off of what they look like or what
they believe in. Differences is what tears us apart but they should be what unite us and allow us
to ask questions to one another just like these two did at the end of the video. This is how we
come together in the world, by embracing differences and asking questions about them instead of
judging them.

Works Cited
Witt, Jon. Soc 2013. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2013. Print