Analysis Of Who Counts As Them By Mich�le Lamont

Black people still call America their home, even though they are consistently discriminated against. Consistently hated on because of how they look like. Black people have been viewed as trouble, suspicious, no good, and will never be anything respectable (Goldberg 2). When young black children cannot be protected from this everyday, so they adapted to this way of life and was to never believe otherwise. Racism and discrimination limit not only black people, but everyone of color. People of color believe they will never be like a white man because of all the advantages a white man has. However, people like Benjamin Banneker, Kenneth Clark, and Toni Morrison are showing their skin color does not relate to their success or intelligence (Goldberg 3). These people are showing how even with all the injustice in America, they were still able to be successful. It is not about what the color of one’s skin is, it is about the mindset and perspective of each

The black race has faced many hardships throughout American history. The harsh treatment is apparent through the brutal slavery era, the Civil Rights movement, or even now where sparks of racial separation emerge in urbanized areas of Baltimore, Chicago, and Detroit. Black Americans must do something to defend their right as an equal American. “I Am Not Your Negro” argues that the black race will not thrive unless society stands up against the conventional racism that still appears in modern America. “The Other Wes Moore” argues an inspiring message that proves success is a product of one’s choices instead of one’s environment or expectations.

In Derrick Bell's Faces at the Bottom of the Well, this idea was well played out. The dialogue was between a "moving on up" black person trying to explain to a regular working class black person that he and all other working class brothers are in the same boat. However, the less successful working class brother proclaimed, " Not really, brother...the fact is you "moving on up" black folks hurt us everyday blacks simply by being successful. The white folks see you doing your thing, making money and they conclude right off that discrimination/ racism is over and that if the rest of us got up off our dead asses, dropped the welfare tit, stopped having illegitimate babies, and found jobs, we would all be just like you." Unfortunately, the problem of racism in America lies so much deeper than that. Black people everyday encounter different types of racism, be it they can't get the good jobs, can't afford the best education, and overall cannot partake in the "better life" that is such the emphasis of the American Dream.

One common theme throughout the reading is that “…systemic racist attitudes and negative depictions of people of colour by whites persist” (Feagin & Elias, 2013, p. 937). The historical trajectory of research methods are deeply rooted with systemic forms of racism, which is reflected in literature that was published centuries ago and can still be found in current literature today. Some of the articles that were assigned reference opinions and other forms of literature that state that white Americans believe that race and racism are a thing of the past, while others continue

Walter Benn Michaels, a white man, believes that economic inequality is a more “fundamental” problem than the racial divisions that currently exist in society. He is very quick to dismiss the concept of race and counters W.E.B. Dubois’ definition of a black man- “a person who must ride Jim Crow in Georgia”(Michaels 47). Walter Benn Michaels states “the beliefs about race that underlay the Jim Crow laws have turned out to be mistaken; we no longer believe them and we no longer have Jim Crow...if a black man

The oppression of certain groups of people is nothing new. These oppressed groups tend to be looked at as different because of their physical features and/or cultural background. Many efforts to improve the lives of the oppressed have been achieved, but there is still a long way to go. These oppressed groups consist of women and different ethnic groups which have had to deal with being pushed around by the white man throughout history. Frantz Fanon deals with his experience as a black man in the French colony of Martinique. Simone de Beauvoir speaks about her experience as a woman in the French mainland. Both authors assert the idea that the man, in particular the white man, sets himself as the superior being that defines what it is to be human and views women and blacks or minorities as the “Other”.

“What I told you is what your grandparents tried to tell me: that this is your country, that this is your world, that this is your body, and you must find some way to live within the all of it.” (Coates). This powerful quote exemplifies the mistreatment of blacks in America as something that has been prevalent throughout our nation’s history and is still present in our contemporary world. Our national founding document promised that “All men are created equal”. As a nation we have never achieved the goal of equality largely because of the institution of slavery and its continuing repercussions on American society.

Another problem discovered by the author was that Negroes don't trust other Negroes when it comes to business. He talks about a negro man that stated," If we invest our money in some enterprise of our own, those in charge will misuse or misappropriate it. I have learned from the study of economics that we had just as well keep on throwing it away."(Woodson, 41) Some mis-educated Negroes gossips about other Negroes instead of supporting them, expecting that the fellow members of their race are destined to fail. The author states that yes Negro men may make mistakes, but it is because they are not being properly supported are the reason why their businesses are failing. When the Negro does do well in business, men around him grow jealous because he rushes out to build the biggest home, buy the finest

An example to illustrate this argument from Black Like Me is found on page 39. The elderly owner of the Y café complained to Griffin about how unfair the economic system was to black people. Many brilliant black students graduated with great marks, but still ended up doing the most menial work or very few selected jobs. Many black people, therefore, chose not to educate themselves. As a result, the whites said they were not worthy of first-class citizenship and everything continued in a vicious circle. (Griffin, 1996: 40)

Racism, known as “the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.” (Oxford, 2013) When an individual mentions the word ‘racism’ almost all the time it will be referred to a black individual, not white nor any other race, but black. Over the years racism has repeatedly occurred whether it was said or done; some showed racism by the words they used, while others presented it by the racist acts they committed. Racism towards the black community has not only been shown by other races, but also by individuals who were there to keep them ‘safe’. Very contradictory yet true, that a black man’s worst

Though many white men fight with violence, all black men must fight back with acceptance and love, which poses significant physical threat to the black man. The nonviolent black man is brave enough to act on what he knows: a black man is no better or worse than a white man. By acting rationally and without violence, a person can authentically maintain his or her dignity by being respectful, courageous, and accepting. These qualities are especially admirable when they exist in all areas of a person’s life, even in the face of physical danger, violence, and fear. When a person chooses to act on what he or she knows is right, this person understands that “to act is to be committed,” but “to be committed is to be in danger” (9). A white American man takes no risk in claiming that an African American is inferior, especially since his fundamental reason for believing so, that the black

Robert Penn Warren stated that he has use to run into an issue all the time when he interview African American on their thoughts about segregation or civil war. He said that WEB Dubois used to always say, he said that it has always being a challenge situation for Negros to feel as if they have no choice but to fall at the feet of a white man.

“Black Skin, White Masks,” by Frantz Fanon is a book that explains the psychology of racism. Fanon studied medicine in France. He specialized in psychiatry. The novel looks at the minds of blacks under white rule, and the effects race has on French society. Throughout the book Fanon discusses his experience with racism in 1950’s France. He discusses many concepts like language barriers, race, dependency complexes, and other controversies between blacks and whites. The book talks of events that were dated in the 1950’s, but these concepts can help us to understand racism in America today.

In his book, Jenson reviews the history of racism in the United States and its evolution into a closeted mentality, which still holds a power over many non-white citizens. It is this subtle power relationship

This practice of divide and conquer is made possible by stereotyping each ethnic group, so that society can attach an attitude about the work ethic of each group. For instance, Afro-Caribbeans in the workplace are often characterized as motivated, hard-working, and determined. On the other hand, African Americans in the workplace (and society) are characterized as lazy, entitled, and thus, unpreferable to hire over Caribbean immigrants. However, these stereotypes are damaging and do not paint a full picture on why each group is characterized as such. The critical mass of African Americans feel like they do not have much to lose in society, according to the condition of anomie, defined as when an individual or group becomes unstable or frail due to a breakdown of values or lack of purpose in life, As a result of inner city African Americans experiencing anomie, they will begin to exhibit symptoms of the “culture of poverty,” where they will believe that education is a futility, hard work is unnecessary, and success is not possible for them or their racial counterparts. In addition, they will feel less inclined to put on their “whiteness” refusing to make whites feel comfortable by adapting to social norms. Thus, in manufacturing factories or businesses, the critical mass of African Americans will be less willing to over extend themselves in the workplace, where they will often refuse to work over-time or feel the need to please their white supervisors. To the White employer who already deems African-Americans as inferior, these actions and behaviors exhibited by black Americans will only be used as proof for white employers to illustrate to their Caribbean workers why they are superior to African