Analysis Of The Article 'Both Black' By Henry Louis Gates

Racism is part of America’s history. Historical leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. brought the Injustice problems to the light. King, Jr. “Letters from a Birmingham Jail confronts racism in the United States of America through his response letter to the clergymen criticism, while he is in jail due to holding a protest in Birmingham, Alabama. King, Jr. wrote “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” to defend the non-violent protest. He claims that the protest needed to happen because of the injustice that was going on. “In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether Injustice exist; negotiation; self-purification; and direct action. We have gone

“The scars and stains of racism are still deeply embedded in the American society.” US Representative, John Lewis said this in his return to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial he spoke on 54 years ago, during the March on Washington. Racism has been around since the beginning of time, but it is not human nature. Racism is something that is taught, and given the amount of time that has passed since To Kill A Mockingbird and the March on Washington, one would think that racism wouldn’t be a serious issue any more. Although race relations have improved along with other social issues from the time of To Kill Mockingbird, racism and discrimination are major problems in today’s society.

In today's world, many small changes have been made in regard to racism. In the movie To Kill A Mockingbird, author Harper Lee presented the changes made in the way black people were viewed. In the movie Selma, Director Ava Duvernay revealed the struggle many had to endure in order to achieve the right to vote. Despite the success of these small problems, racism is still a big problem in today’s society. As revealed in To Kill A Mockingbird and Selma, even though small changes have occured, big change and a potential solution to the problem has still yet to happen in today’s world.

Henry Louis Gates Jr. is the Director of the Hutchins Center for African American Research at Harvard University, and an esteemed Alphonse Fletcher University Professor. According to his Harvard University profile he is an “Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, literary scholar, journalist, cultural critic, institution builder…and the recipient of fifty-five honorary degrees and numerous prizes.” Professor Gates was also the first African American scholar to be awarded the National Humanities Medal. In 1973 he earned his Bachelors in English Language and Literature from Yale University, and in 1974-1979 he got his Master’s. and Ph.D. in English Literature from Clare College at the University of Cambridge (Department of African and African American Studies). Throughout many of his texts Gates provides examples of the ambiguity of language and identity, and the oppressive role ideology plays in the black community; allowing readers to apply the idea of deconstruction to our own daily experiences

Racism is still a very prominent issue in America today. Yes, it has improved from the days of slavery, and we do have a black president; but society is nowhere near equal, and that is not acceptable. White Privilege by Paula Rothenberg truly opened my eyes to the extent of the social injustice on African Americans. Just by being white, one is oppressing another race because the privilege and respect that comes with the skin color. Whether intentional or not, the racism is still there and present and that is not acceptable. Being white, I’ve never suffered from the repercussions of racism, but after reading and becoming more aware of the suffering of African American’s, it is significant to write and spread the knowledge about racism and especially implicit racism. Everyone is surrounded by racism on a daily basis, and it’s important to be aware of your actions and the effects they have on society.

On July 2, 1964 a world altering act was passed by influencing figures in society. The passing of the civil rights act, which outlawed discrimination based upon things such as race, gender and religion, seems like it would have ended racism, right? Contrary to that statement, Racism has not ended since the Civil Rights Act has been put in place, although it might not be as apparent as it was back then. And it’s not just adults that are victims of such racism - it is the younger generation as well. People need to know that racism is often not seen or heard and often goes silent.

John Lewis once said that “The scars and stains of racism are still deeply embedded in the American society." Racism has become a huge issue in people’s everyday life and not many may notice, but that’s because it’s been around for so long that it’s not new to anyone and it is the normal, when in reality that means it is so bad that not many people notice anymore. [African Americans experience racism in two main places their workplace and their education, and in a certain way, police brutality.]

Racism is an ongoing issue here in the United Stated. It is one of the very discussions that we still have to learn how to eradicate racism and its practices. Rodney Walter, in the Grounding with my Brother, gives a few controversial claims that he believes to be important in helping to combat this issue. I do believe and agree that his three claims are relevant to our time in America. He gives practicals on how we, as individuals of the black community, can help to eliminate and impact racism using our own individual strengths.

Just fifty years ago, America was a society of segregation and racism. The dictionary defines racism as “the belief that a particular race is superior to another.” Although it is clear times have changed, racism is still seen in modern american society. It’s also clear that relationships between African Americans and whites are generally better than they were in the forties and fifties. Today, it is rare to witness a black man walk down the street and step off the sidewalk to let a white man walk by, or to see a black man sitting on a different section of the bus or train because a white man told him he has too. But superiority of races is still happening. A lot of this has the do with the ignorance of others. Passed down generation to

The main argument that Louis Gates was making in his article was the divide within the social and economic classes here in America. He was explaining the gap between the classes. He is using examples from both the past and the present to validate his argument. He was putting most of the blame on blacks themselves. One example of how he validated this

To sum it all up, in conclusion, there are many different meanings when it comes to the term “racism”. The meaning of racism is when there is a division between the human species in this modern society and the sub-species that would then create a separation in the development and the given of unequal abilities. Racism is a global thing that includes color, ethnicity, language, culture, or religion and can result in racialism and the belief of racial inequality. The term “racism” is not held well in the United States as it has a long and strong relation to the lives of Americans just due to their history. There are African Americans that had some weaknesses to opportunities and some structural racism that still see the importance of disparities

Racism is the trend of thought, or way of thinking, which attaches great importance to the notion of the existence of separate human races and superiority of races that are usually associated with inherited physical characteristics or cultural events. Racism is not a scientific theory, but a set of preconceived opinions they value the biological differences between humans, attributing superiority to some according to racial roots. Even in such ethnically diverse country as the United States, racism continues evident against people of different ethnic traits and skin color. According to Steinberg (Steinberg, 1995), racial discrimination has been the most important cause of inequality between whites and blacks in the U.S. Because of that, minorities in American society have been fighting over years for equal rights and respect, starting with the civil rights movement in 1960s. Also, public policies implemented since 1964 in the United States have been instrumental in reducing economic inequality between blacks and whites, such as the affirmative action, a federal program that tries to include minority groups by providing jobs and educational opportunities (Taylor, 1994). From this perspective, does racism still play a dominant role in American values and American society? If so, what are the consequences of this racism that still remain in American society? What is the impact of the Barack Obama presidency on the unending fight against racism in this country?

In today’s day and age, the United States of America is seen of as the land where every human being is treated fairly. However, it was not always like this and America was considered to be one of the most racist countries in the world up until the 1980’s. From 1885 to 1968, when the Jim Crow laws were in place, black people were segregated from whites and were treated like second class citizens. However, black people fought for equality all throughout the Jim Crow era and finally succeeded after the civil rights movement in the 1960’s. Blacks in the American South sought to improve their lives by supporting and helping white people that had helped them before, by joining the American military, and by protesting against segregation and their rights.

Racism has been a big problem in America for many year. In the past, white children in the United States were to be taught that they were more important than black children. They could see how their parents treated other races, and then would begin to think that their own race is valued more than other races. We can see this in the way schools, and towns were set up, and still are set up. In the 1900’s, white families often had a lot nicer houses, and were more highly educated than black children and families. Racism was happening all around children. They could easily see how their own drinking fountains were better, and nicer than blacks. Racism in our country may not be as obvious and cruel as it was in the 1900’s, but it is still something that we need to be aware of, and fight against.

Even though the Civil Rights was so long ago, some still question whether our world has overcome the problems faced back then. The U.S. has changed significantly since the Civil Rights in both positive and negative ways, but the majority has clearly been positive. Obviously, there are still improvements we need to make as a society to banish all racism. However, if we work together as a whole, we will definitely be able to achieve these goals.