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In the TV show “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air”, there is a family with a lot of similarities. They talk the same way, eat the same food, have the same interests, wear the same clothes, etc. This family shares the same culture and the way of life. However, all this changes for this family when Will’s aunt allows him to stay with them. Just by looking at figure 1, you can easily tell which one is Will. He’s the only one who stands out. His angle, smile, and clothing are completely different from everyone else’s in the photo. They are all dressed up in black and white with great posture. Will has this sarcastic look on his face as if he is mocking them. They are all the same skin color, but you can tell that Will is from a whole different culture. Will is from the lower class, and his family is from the rich upper class.

People can look alike and be from two totally different cultures. Will and Carlton are an example of looking alike but are nothing alike even with the fact that they are cousins. They have the same skin color, but Carlton acts whiter than he is black. Carlton is the black nerd who grew up in different way than Will did. Will makes fun of Carlton for how he dresses, and Will even mentions that he never wants to be like Carlton. This is because Will came from a place where he was surrounded by other members of his race, and he was himself. However, Carlton grew up in a neighborhood where everyone was white. This caused him to be more like the white kids. The way Will and Carlton talk is completely different. Carlton is very proper and uses correct grammar, and Will leaves out the ending in words (e.g. chillin) and he doesn’t care how he says things. Will is a person who stands out and wants to stand out. He changes up his outfits so that he doesn’t look like everyone else. He is a unique person who you will remember. However, Carlton blends in with everyone else. He wears the same clothes and talks the same way. Carlton is always serious, and Will is more laid back and likes to have fun. When Will moves in with his cousin, he is forced to change who he is There is “intraracial racism or discrimination, which may not be a mainstream topic, but a persistent and ever-present issue within Black communities.” (Busey 1) Interracial racism is when an individual is being treated differently because of their actual or perceived race. This happens when Carlton is always treating Will as if he doesn’t know anything. Carlton tells Will that he is rubbing people the wrong way and needs to be more like him. Instead of being supportive of Will, Carlton tries to change him.

You are part of a culture as soon as your born because of your race. However, as you grow older your culture can change. It can change due to your interests, language, beliefs, values, and where you grow up. With race and culture, there is diversity that goes on within. You could have Spanish, White, Black, or even Latino in one culture. This is because they all have common interests. Having diversity within your race means having the same skin color, but you have totally different personalities like Will and Carlton. Will and Carlton are both black, but they are from totally different cultures. Will and Carlton both attend Bel Air Academy which is full of white students. When Will learns that this school is circled around three white men who build the school, he makes a point that this school teaches nothing about black history. Since Carlton grew up in a rich neighborhood, he is more involved in the white culture. Will makes fun of him for being a black man who knows nothing about black history. He doesn’t know about the struggle his ancestors or even his parents went through to gain equality and freedom for all black people. Will feels as history would be more interesting with interracial history. He gets people to sign a petition for there to be more about black history to be taught. As you can see, figure 2 shows Will’s aunt is teaching the class about black history. All the white students, including Carlton look engaged and interested because this is all new information. Will can learn more about something he is interested in. A “discussion about intraracial discrimination may help to engage a group of students who are otherwise discontent with the curriculum.” (Busey 2) Not only in this show, but in real life students “express more disinterest and dislike for the social studies because of its irrelevance to their lives.” (Busey 2) When you look at figure 1, you can see there are only two black students and only one of them is from the black culture. Will is called different because of where he came from and how he talks in comparison to Carlton; “We can’t judge Will Smith by our standards, he doesn’t even speak our language, where he grew up, the word bad means good.” (SE1 EP14 16:45) They speak of him as if he came from a different world.

In reality, “intraracial bullying among school-aged and adolescent children is a common problem.” (Busey 2) Students are being judged by how they talk, dress, look, and act just like Will is. However, that’s not the only issue that is being brought to light. The Fresh Prince of Bel Air has a lot of racial humor and most of it is ignored. One thing said that really stood out is, “We tap every black person's phone in the United States of America.” (SE 2 EP 20) This is said as if all those of color are dangerous individuals who are most likely to commit crimes. Blacks are targeted as soon as they are born, because of their color. Even with no suspicion at all, they are being watched. Whites are always put into a more positive light and will always be the superior ones; “American comedians further reinforces the acceptability of social dominance and control by Whites as a theme in popular culture.” (Coleman xii) Therefore, blacks are always displayed as inferior even to each other. Since Will is the one from the black community and Carlton is black from the white community, Carlton feels superior to Will.

Your socioeconomic status is based on your income, education, and your occupation.  Socioeconomic status is broken into high, middle, and low. The high level of economic status is the rich, the middle level is working class, and the lower level are the poor. In America today, the word class makes you think of rich whites. There has been a huge gap between the rich which are the whites and everyone else. By everyone else, means those from the black community “On the average blacks have worse jobs, income, and housing than white people.” (Kluegel 514) However, it is argued that they are in their economic situation because of their lack of education and “the motivation or will power to “pull themselves out of poverty” (Kluegel 514). This then causes conflict between the government and whites. Those who are white let their “explanations for the racial economic gap influence their attitudes toward government policies to improve the status of blacks…”  (Kluegel 512) Whites are ignoring racial inequality due to their own beliefs of it being the faults of those from the black community.

The Fresh Prince of Bel Air focuses on the other side of things. It focuses on blacks being successful, which is showing a side of equality that has yet to be shown on a TV show. When Will moves in with his aunt and uncle, he is constantly being yelled at because of his behavior. What his family fails to realize is that this behavior is normal to him because of where he grew up. Will has to adjust to this life from being in the hood to being in a rich neighborhood. This is a big change for him and he is not being supported. When Will first moved in, he says “I ain’t know there was so many brothers living in this neighborhood.” (SE 1 EP1 02:26) He points out that it’s not normal for there to be so many blacks living in the upper class. This show is highlighting the stereotypes people have about who can live where. It’s normal to see those from the black community living in small town homes in bad neighborhoods. However, as you see in figure 3, there are blacks living in these types of houses on the show. This makes it odd when Will sees so many blacks living in a rich neighborhood.

When Will first moved in with his family, they were both totally different. However, now they have both left positive impacts on each other. Will has grown up a lot and he has matured.  He takes things more seriously, but he still has his fun. He is now in college and is making something out of himself, which we didn’t see at the beginning when he was an immature and trouble making kid. Carlton is not as serious as he was at first. He knows how to make jokes and let loose occasionally. The whole family has realized that they need to enjoy their life and focus on the important things, which is family. Will taught them that we can’t forget who we are and where we came from. No matter where we are at in life now, we can’t forget how we got there.

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I feel as I grew as a writer because I got out of my same pattern. I was used to writing essays a certain way with quotes integrated the same way. I now know that I can change things up and be different. I was so used to only writing about topics of my choice. However, this class forced me to write about things that was chosen for me. I used to be very nervous and not confident if I was told what I had to write about. I now feel very confident if someone throws a topic at me, because I know the steps to take which I learned in this class. I learned how to incorporate photos in my essays which I have never done before. When creating an essay, an outline is very helpful to start with. I feel less stressed when the due date comes around. This is because I have all the information that I need. What I enjoyed learning the most was the different types of quote integrations. I never realized how many ways there were to add in quotes. What I will take with me in the future is using more of the "I" voice. It really helps me brainstorm and not overthink things. I like relating to the essay in a way that I didn’t know I could. When I can relate to something, I find it more interesting. Even if it's not an "I" voice type of essay, I can still use it and just cut the I’s out.