Othering can be defined as; The process of defining one group against another. It is a defense mechanism that one group of people use to identify an unlikeable trait that they see within onto another group and apply negative judgment towards them because of it. Hollywood has a tendency to include "token" ethnic characters in mainstream films in order to prevent racial tension between themselves and their audience. If Hollywood films choose to include "ethnic characters" their roles are often "cliche" and "stereotypes" usually with negative, subliminal connotations. 

Initially Irish Americans did succumb to these stereotypical roles as well, such as the drunken, fiery-tempered working class. However, once the Irish chose to assimilate into the American culture their roles began to change, becoming more a part of the cultural "norm" and widely accepted as "white/standard". The black face was used by Jews to illustrate the extreme differences between themselves and the Irish in opposition with African Americans. Since white Americans viewed all of these groups as subordinate, it seemed as if the Jews and Irish americans used the black face in order to gain more acceptance at the attempt to assimilate into the white culture. On the other hand, the fact that this act was combined with Yiddish it also seems as if these acts were magnifying the confusing parody of racial categorizations defined by white culture. 

I think it is important to study race and racial images simply because it is such a huge factor in our culture. America is obsessed with categorizing and labeling people and it is impossible to be oblivious to that. Perhaps it is also a flaw, and understanding and depicting racial images can help us understand what happens in our minds and how these prejudices manifest. Whites are often viewed as the "norm" or just plain human beings, the are judged based on the content of their character opposed to the color of their skin and all of the negative connotations associated with that particular skin color. Examining whiteness is going to be misinterpreted as reverse racism, white people are going to assume the role of the victim and by examining their role even more, will not change the glorifying of their whiteness even more. The paradox remains the same; whites are seen as human beings and our sub-consciously used as a form of ideology; what everyone should try to measure up to.