The comment made by the Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, stated that black students should attend schools that match their speed. This was not only rude but misinformed. As an African American and a college graduate and I have seen the difference between predominately black high schools, and how they can put African Americans at a disadvantage compared to White schools. I would like to detail my own experiences going to schools where the majority of the students were black and then going to a Predominately White Institution. I want to describe the things that could give others the impression that black students are not as intelligent as White students. One of the main problems is that our teachers lowered the expectations for black students. The work I did in high school was very remedial. During the first few weeks of college, I realized that the books I was reading in some of my college courses had already been read by many of my White counterparts. They were also prepared to write at the college level. They were familiar with all of the writing styles, APA, MLA and Chicago style. My childhood friend who attended Case Western University and graduated high school with a 3.9, also struggled with the material, but took the time to study, in order to make up for her lack of knowledge. Although, we attended different colleges in Ohio, she told me a White woman in her class had also used one of their science books already while she was in high school. During class discussions, I realized the White student's vocabulary was more advanced. I would often write down words I heard in class and Googled their definitions after class. Some other reasons lie in the fact that black students have internalized this idea that we are not intelligent, so much so that many of them bully those that demonstrate their intelligence. The learning process is often interrupted by bad behavior and school fights. Many African American students feel compelled to live up to their stereotype, so they accept the mediocrity that is expected of them. While African Americans, may seem slow some are simply displaying the result of not working on the same level as Whites for years. The first year of college is spent catching up. Many have the idea that black people are innately dumb. There are even some white patients who refuse service from an African American doctor. I feel it is important to explain all the factors that contribute to this perception. Many black Americans feel that safety and concern is limited to white Americans. That the prime focus of America is centered around the well being of white people. That problems are only problems if whites are endangered and we as black people are often ignored when we are in trouble or presented as the victimizers of whites. An example of our neglect is the late response to Hurricane Katrina. Many African Americans felt neglected by the U.S. government because they were not given transportation to evacuate and many blacks were being threatened with guns to prevent looting which is ridiculous because the stores were destroyed and those items wouldn't be able to be sold anyway. Many blacks were left hungry and displaced as well as others who died. The ten year anniversary had many blacks angry at former President Bush for going to New Orleans and many of our black youth smiling as if he had not neglected their town a decade ago. White plight on the other hand is treated totally different when whites are in trouble there is a level of sympathy. When the drug epidemic emerged in America it was only taken seriously after white teens started over dosing. Before the drugs spread over to middle class white America many African American babies were being thrown in the trash by crack addicted mothers. Even worse it has been speculated since the trial of FreeWay Rick Ross that the C.I.A. were given orders from President Reagan to provide cocaine to black gangs and drug dealers to sell in the poor black neighborhoods. Yet, crack offenders especially blacks were given long sentences in prison. White drug usage is always shown as a mistake that can be fixed and pathos is always present in their rhetoric.
Often times the greatest concern is protecting whites from black people. This can be seen in our constant survelliance. Many blacks have faced harassment by police officers. A small infraction such as a blown tail light can end in a car search an arrest or just an annoying inconvenience. Any threat against white Americans is handled swiftly. The 20 year old man, Carlos Anthony Hollins, who allegedly tweeted "TONIGHT WE PURGE! KILL ALL THE WHITE PPL IN THE TOWN OF LA PLATA" was arrested. They also responded to the black woman who created a meme that depicted her holding a gun and stating "It's open season on white people". She was arrested at her home and is now out. Even the Eric Shepphard case was handled with extreme caution because he was apart of the viral videos called the Stomp the Flag Challenge. He also spoke of the pain whites have caused blacks throughout history and a book bag that allegedly belonged to him was found on his college campus and a gun was inside it. A warrant was issued for his arrest and he was in jail and is out but not allowed on social media along with other restrictions. The irony of this is a white Texas man made a video while holding a gun and threatening the Black Lives Matter movement and he was never arrested. Why? Because he is a white man threatening a group that has a large amount of black people. He is a racist and white racism is often given a pass because it reflects the ideology of the people who pass laws and enforce them. The Hacktivist just outed 80 KKK members many who are senators mayors and policeman. The KKK have killed more people than Muslim terrorist yet we focus on Arab, Pakistani and Nigerian terrorist as being a threat. I have looked on Twitter and seen many tweets that call for killing n-words and Muslims and I reported them but that didn't make the news. There were no policeman at the front door, no warrants for anyone's arrest. We as black people know who the cherished are and who are the oppressed. We know who runs this country and what they stand for. America the land that speaks of freedom but limits it based on color that fasely stands for justice but operates a crooked system. How blessed I would be to be born white. Twitter has been growing crazy over the news that Star Wars VII will have two black lead characters. It originally started with a UK based twitter account who complained that"The new Star Wars movie barely has any whites in it". Soon after someone else tweeted in outrage against the diversity in the movie one of their tweets said that "white children deserve wholesome movies, not more PC anti-white diversity crap". A third person tweeted "Let's make #BoycottStarWarsVII trend" and suggested that the movie was more "anti-white propaganda". Here in the U.S. many started tweeting in outrage against the idea of boycotting with the hashtag BoycottStarWarsVII while some tweets were racist and containing comments about not paying child support and putting "rims on At-At". This just proves that many people saying that the race problem in the U.K. and U.S. is non-existent are delusional. Diversity to some whites is seen as threatening and part of some big agenda rather than representing the way the world is, diverse with different skin tones, hair textures rather than this white fantasy where one ignores all the diversity and deem it as "wholesome" or the norm of society. Why not add people of color to a movie about fictional characters? This reminds of the outrage against the newer Annie movie which had a black girl playing Annie, social media was up in arms against Annie no longer being white and resorted to calling the young black girl the "n-word" and "nappy headed". All because the girl didn't fit into the ideal utopia of whiteness. The strange thing about this is National Geographic predicts that there will be less pure white people and more mixed race people. Therefore, a movie full of people of European descent wouldn't even be accurate. Adding black people to a movie should not evoke so much hate and irrational feelings that we as black people are trying to take over. Non-black people also shouldn't believe that adding blacks to a movie makes it ghetto or tarnish the purity of a movie. While, I do not believe in false symbols of progression by adding more diversity I believe in diversifying the roles of black people in Hollywood especially in utopic or futuristic movies that shy away from the criminalization of black people such as roles as drug dealers and robbers or someone trying to make it out the hood. Depictions like Will Smith tend to play like his roles in I am Legend, and I, Robot chip away at the stereotypes and depict the universal feelings, characteristics and dilemmas of everyone such as; fear, vulnerability, love, cleverness and the internal conflict of wanting to be good and fighting the allure of being evil. Unlike, many depictions of black Americans that depict us as innately bad, ignorant and unskilled in things that require intellect and wisdom. People of color should be seen as diverse with the ability to break the mold. Little white children never feel limited by society because of their skin because they see their potential in all aspects of media it's time black children feel that way also. As black people we tend to perceive inclusion into white spaces as a victory and a symbol of progress. Some tend to think of being the first black person to get an award in sports or acting as a sign that humanity is getting closer to this colorblind utopia. Well, I personally have never felt that way I feel that by celebrating small, superficial victories we are being gullible and not looking at the real issues. We seem to be blinded by the symbolism of actions rather than accomplishing real progress.Some months back after we heard that Dylan Roof, opened fire on the church in South Carolina we blamed the confederate flag. After Bree was arrested for taking it down we rallied and protested after she was released we were relieved and when the flag came down we saw it as a victory that our country no longer upheld a flag that was the symbol of the Confederate Army that fought to keep blacks in slavery which makes it inherently racist and makes most black people leery of the white southerners who hang it outside their homes and businesses and look down upon the blacks who have one. And while the Confederate flag has been modified over hundreds of years I can still understand why many feel it is racist especially since the KKK tends to march with it. But ask yourself this, Did racism go away? Did police brutality stop? Did all the laws that are made specifically to harm the welfare of blacks suddenly vanish? No, so it was a false symbol of change without any real effect. The latest news that Viola Davis's won the Emmy Award for an outstanding actress in a drama series for her role in How to Get Away with Murder had everyone rejoicing at the fact that she was the first black woman to receive this award after about 65 white women had received one year after year. I do appreciate this because I think Viola is a great actress but again. What happened after that? A white woman went to Twitter trying to silence her speech that spoke about the lack of opportunity in Hollywood for black women by saying the Emmy's was not a place for that. Even with this small victory others around Viola didn't want to acknowledge problems in Hollywood such as colorism, stereotypical roles for black women like prostitutes, maids, ghetto queens or single mothers. An Emmy nor a flag gets to the root of the problem it changes nothing it actually allows some whites to silence you more by saying things like "if racism is so bad why do we have a black president?" People will ignorantly site the symbol without the reality that Obama receives the most death threats than any other president or that he is constantly called the n-word or depicted as a monkey. Let's shy away from being tricked and do things like change the structure of rap music which promotes colorism by showing mostly mixed women or depicting black women as promiscuous who allow men to call them the b-word. Why don't we boycott networks that perpetuate negative stereotypes? Why don't we support activist who do more than marching? Until we do nothing will change. We will have a wall full of symbols and still be in chains. |
AuthorMy name is Kiara and writing is the way I express myself. Archives
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