Ray- Extra Credit

Ray was a very inspirational film. Ray witnessed his younger brother's death and went blind at the age of seven. He was encouraged and inspired by his mother to make his way in the world. He finally found that he was actually very talented at playing the piano, even though he was blind. Ray began touring and eventually thousands of people around the world knew about him. He has taken various forms of popular music and changed them in ways that people loved. He was able to overcome the racism and cruel prejudices against the blind. He fought segregation in the clubs that he performed in and tried to diminish the stereotypes against people of color and the blind. Even though Ray struggled throughout his life with things such as drugs, but he was able to influence and change the lives of those who heard his music.

The story of Ray Charles reminded me of the first tenet of the Critical Race Theory. This tenet states that race is ordinary and involves white-over-color ascendancy. Ray was often looked down upon and discriminated against because of his race, but he was able to overcome these issues with his hard work and determination to make something of himself. He used his music to help others see that these could change and did not always have to be like they were. Also, he tried to over the white-over-color ascendancy. He wanted others to know that whites should not be so high above everyone else just because they are white. Ray was able to bring people together and change how they thought about things.

People often thought that Ray couldn't amount to any thing because he was black, but showed that his race does not affect his talent. Within Lies My Teacher Told Me, Loewen declares "Almost no genre of our popular culture goes untouched by race"(136). This means that race is a major factor in our culture that will prevail above things that truly matter, like talent or effort. Because Ray is of color, he has to deal with a variety of issues. Even if he wanted to be a soccer player, he would still have to overcome obstacles because of his race.