I often think about these issues of racial discrimination and mental enslavement, but I don’t get a chance to share my thoughts. During the Middle Passage when slaves were being transported from Africa to the New World, is where this problem began. It was referred to as “ A voyage of death, bodily objectification, humiliation, dehumanization, geographical and psychological dislocation” (Yancy, 10). This is the time period where African slaves were taught to think of themselves as property rather than human beings. The Middle Passage was a perfect example of this. They were subject to tight, unlivable confines. “For example, 250 women, many of whom were pregnant were forced into a space of sixteen by eighteen feet” (Yancy, 9). We must not forget that the women who did survive the initial stages of pregnancy and gave birth aboard the ship were exposed to exceedingly hot weather, or the very opposite. So many women died during childbirth that a specific number will never be known.
Personal Experience
When we arrived to Florida we would always stay at my aunt and uncles’ house. We always split up into age groups because they are a lot of cousins. On one night, my mom, my cousins Pam and Lawrence and myself all decided to go out. It was Sunday and we made arrangements to go to a restaurant to have dinner. This particular restaurant had a dance floor and there were people from all races, but there were mostly African-Americans and Caucasians enjoying themselves on the dance floor. Little did I know that I would experience racial tension for the first time in front of my very eyes. There was a man who had an obvious problem with a black male dancing with a white female. He replied “ Why do these niggers have to always everywhere we are and dance with our women?” We all were standing close by, and of course there was an immediate problem with this remark. It was fairly obvious that this man was inebriated, but Lawrence felt it was necessary to jump in when the man attempted to hit the gentleman who appeared to be dancing with someone that the Caucasian male knew. Lawrence tried to stop it from happening, but then he had some not so kind words to say to my cousin. He threatened him, and continued to speak all sorts of negative things about the black race. Pam, Lawrence’s sister, did not take those words too lightly and she jumped in which caused the problem to escalate to another level. Let’s keep in mind that when this incident took place I was only fourteen years old. Being this young, I did not really grasp all of what was happening at that time. As I look back I can analyze the situation and take it for what it was. It definitely was an eye opener for me. Racism still exists in this day and age and it always will. The only question that can come to mind is will it ever cease and does this attribute to the mental enslavement of African-Americans today?
Hip-Hop Culture
The hip-hop culture has only added to the negativity of this specific word. A negative stereotype is associated with hip-hop. Automatically if a black male has baggy clothing and perhaps blasts rap music, devious behavior is associated with that image even though that may not be the kind of person that he is. Other cultures mostly base their stereotypes off of what might be seen on television. However, can we blame them? There seems to be a lot more African-Americans that pursue the entertainment industry rather than and education. However, some pursue both. Hip-hop started as a positive movement. It was started to uplift the African-American community, but it has wandered far from that. Before anything we have to realize that hip-hop is a culture, not only music. It has turned negative because it has become about materialistic objects. It has become about sex, drugs, money, women and violence, simply because that is what sells. Black women are viewed in a negative context and are seen as trophies because of the curves that they have rather than their mind. http://rideordiechick.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/lollipop.jpg
Many people fail to realize that the music is negative, but the culture is not. The two are often confused with each other. The black youth who may be subject to a one parent household looks at this because they may not have a role model at home or in their life at all. These rap artists and singers become role models for some of these black youth. The music that speaks about drugs, sex, money, women, and violence captures the mind of our children. If they have no one to look up to at home and a parent or guardian is always working multiple jobs to try to pay the bills, what other role models are our children going to have rather than those who they see on television all the time? It makes perfect sense why our black children want to go into the entertainment industry rather than educate themselves to become the next top doctor, lawyer, judge or whatever they would like to do.
Many people fail to realize that the music is negative, but the culture is not. The two are often confused with each other. The black youth who may be subject to a one parent household looks at this because they may not have a role model at home or in their life at all. These rap artists and singers become role models for some of these black youth. The music that speaks about drugs, sex, money, women, and violence captures the mind of our children. If they have no one to look up to at home and a parent or guardian is always working multiple jobs to try to pay the bills, what other role models are our children going to have rather than those who they see on television all the time? It makes perfect sense why our black children want to go into the entertainment industry rather than educate themselves to become the next top doctor, lawyer, judge or whatever they would like to do.
African-Americans in Jail
Statistics say that for every 100,000 African-American males in the United States, there are 4,810 African-American male inmates. In 2002 out of 1.9 million incarcerated males, 818,900 were black males. Many of our young black men join gangs for a sense of family. When in reality it is not a family at all. These young men that involve themselves in gang activity sometimes are all each other have in a sense of brotherhood or “family“. Many of these young men have absent parents or do not have family at all and the gang fills these empty voids. Perhaps if we worked together we would not be in the situations that we often find ourselves in. Things that occur with my race are ignored as if they aren’t happening, when in fact they are major issues. However, the attitude is if it is ignored then its not happening. These problems should be addressed if we would like to see progression within our race.
My Hope
Perhaps my words will one day no longer be an issue for my race. Someday change will come and our people will work together and not ignore those whose efforts came before us. I can only hope for the change to not be a mere dream, but instead a reality. Everything our ancestors fought for would be in vain if things do not change. There are few of us that can educate those who do not know or choose not to know. This is an important issue to our race. The truth hurts and many of us do not like to face the truth because it has the ability to hurt or bring out something you do not want to deal with. I am grateful to get the chance to express myself through this opportunity. Others before me fought for their voices to be heard. It is only right that I exercise my ability to find my voice on their behalf. However, our race must also find its voice within the process.
I also found this Malcolm X Debate to be interesting. Check it Out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqhVv9--MSY
1 comment:
nice blog and hope u dont mind the drive by and do chk me out one day if u can, ill be back.
and if u like what u read, do let me know, maybe be even consider adding me to your blog roll
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