Paris Is Burning Essay

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The documentary “Paris is Burning” represents a subculture from a group of minorities in the 90s. This documentary focuses on poverty in the minorities and their representation of creating a temporary vision of success. The movie reiterates many times people dressing up like others, the others being white. They keep continuing stating they want to be successful and want to emulate successful white people. In my opinion, Hooks critique of Paris is Burning is vulgar and it focuses a lot on race, I believe her critique is disturbing as she states, “ black people/people of color, who are daily bombarded by a powerful colonizing whiteness that seduces us away from ourselves, that negates that there is beauty to be found in any form of blackness that is not imitation of whiteness” (149). This statement is true when segregation and oppressive slavery was the law in the United States. But in the 1990s when I was growing I find it hard to believe that people of all races and ethnicities had the same shot in being successful. Blaming another race for the issues in our community seems old fashioned. I’ve experienced something different. In South Africa, East Indians were brought as slaves to South Africa to work in the diamond mines by the British. East Indians also faced apartheid in South Africa until the 90s, but after oppressive laws were abolished in South Africa, the Indian minority has come a long way, they are educated and they are considered to be amongst the wealthy group of minorities, own major businesses and are educated. Although, they are still a minority and do

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