Introduction As our nation heads towards a united stand to build better relationships with other countries and build a united front with people of different backgrounds, religions and races, we are shocked to by the fact that there are still extreme prejudices and injustices within our own communities. We are shocked that a large portion of our black youth from disadvantaged families are not reaping the benefits of our society. Or they are simply unable to because they are unaware of the opportunities and they are not available to them. Unfortunately, there are a lack of programs in our communities that pushes the advancement of our youth. The programs that are available are either for profit or riddled with other agendas. Today we see more black youth unable to compete at national levels through education, involved in crimes and forgotten than any other minority. Our community has collectively forgotten about them only believing that if they themselves can succeed than that is all that matters. Our plan is to stop this and create a program that will enable our youth to have a better future. Why this is an Issue: Problems and Statistics faced by Black families Racial inequality and structural inequality has led our communities into a downward spiral. The economic crisis has not helped the situation either. It has pushed families further and further into poverty, homelessness and despair. During a time that we are trying to show the world that we are united it is shown
These claims have been well documented. However, the connection to the graduation gap may be clearer with an answer of how other factors such as financial and other family problems brought about by poverty affect them. The rest of the book provides possible solutions to questions of invisibility such as respecting and valuing black students. Another solution is removing remedial programs for challenging curricula and supports that are appropriate.
In the essay " Black Teenagers Defy Pop Culture Portrayals", Laura Stepp talks about the stereotypes black boys and girls face. They face being overly sexualized in pop culture, being careless when it comes to sex, accused of want nothing but sex and becoming a teen parent. I was somewhat aware of the stereotypes young black people face but not in depth.
In America, we are told that it is the land where everything and anything is possible. For many years, it wasn’t like that for African American. With many hard work, strength, and courage African American manage to earn the right to an education. To the African American community education became more of a need than a want. We’ve learn that education is such a powerful asset that with it you are unstoppable. You can do so much if you put your time and energy to it. Having an education to African American is the one hope for a brighter and better
Growing up poor and African American, I quickly realized the disadvantages I was faced with. That becomes evident when I reflect on the lives of my childhood friend Jonathon and mine. We were both creative and smart young men, but got into a little trouble at school. At the age of 13 we built a go-kart using junk parts and anything we could find in the garbage dumpster. I always believed young minds like ours should have been nurtured and supported. But rather than help us or get a better understanding of why we’re not behaving in school, we were punished.
The factors of the effects of oppression in the lives of African American teenagers is the opposite of the factors in which that would produce “The American Dream”. The restrictions and exclusions of the government, history, and irrational mindsets has caused many African-American teenagers to depend on unorthodox alternatives for the use of spare time, making money, and the feeling of acceptance. Oppression of African-American teenagers has caused poor education, violence, gang activity, broken or dysfunctional homes, and health issues. Hatred is another major factor of the effects of oppression in the lives of African-American teenagers. Oppression is also the cause of civil wars, and a disunited nation. Oppression doesn’t just effect the oppressed, it effects everything around it including the oppressors.
For generations African Americans have been disadvantaged in America and effects of these injustices have made a lasting impression. Education is one of the leading problems in the black community. Though there have many reforms in education over the years, racial injustices still exist because no attention in placed on how legislature affects people of color. I was raised in a middle-class family of educators. My entire life I’ve been told to “stay in school, get an education, and work hard so that you can beat the system.” Recognizing the structural forces in my life has helped me understand my place in society. Being able to “understand everyday life, not through personal circumstances but through the broader historical forces that
Education is key to this intervention. Schools and most education for young black males are more of a social activity than a learning and gaining knowledge experience. Success with young Black males requires understanding of their lives and what they come from, including urban settings and all that they are exposed to. “Encouragement of continued professional development among teachers in an effort to better understand and work with urban Black male children from economically disadvantaged communities”. More Black males need to step back into these urban communities and show these younger black males that there is other opportunities for them.
Imagine living in a world that consistently devalues your existence and is heavily populated with individuals who are quick to use and abuse your resources, but are slow to share the wealth that is accumulated from those resources. How would you feel? Unfortunately, certain populations do not have to visualize the disparity that is pictured above. This is because inequity is one of the most demoralizing social issues that plague America today. The worst thing about inequity is the fact that it continues to disproportionately burden individuals who are categorize as being minority in today’s society.
Clearly, there is a need to make communities safe and assist a population of African American male youth, that are headed towards a continued self destruction path, of criminal life. Causes such as lack of employment, lack of education, social disparities and an injustice justice system, leads to high recidivism rates among African-American juvenile offenders. It is imperative that programs are implemented in areas such as rehabilitation, intervention, job ready skills, substance abuse treatment, educational skills and anti-social behavior programs, to help move the African American male juvenile youth into a positive direction. In a direction of not having to make life criminal choices, from living in communities of disparities and
On January 26, we attended Rob Jager’s presentation on “civic development among black youth: toward an integrity-based research agenda”. Throughout the presentation, Jager presented many key concepts like integrity-based perspective, strands, types of citizenship, oppression, social justice, civic engagement, cultural considerations, etc. In addition to these conceptual groundings, he presented samples from basic and applied research work. Some of these samples from basic research work were Black Youth Project Youth Culture Survey and 3D Project (CSBYC). In the Black Youth Project Youth Culture Survey, there were 634 black youth ranging from ages of 15 to 24, which undergo political cynicism, institutional racial discrimination, political
The campaign I chose was from The Movement for Black Lives End the War on Black people a proposal to create reform of police in the U.S. “An immediate end to the criminalization and dehumanization of Black youth across all areas of society including, but not limited to; our nation’s justice and education systems, social service agencies, and media and pop culture” (The Movement for Black Lives). Through the push of policy reforms like the zero-tolerance, banning exclusionary discipline which other alternative differ from existing form because it has not been implemented to help stop the criminalization of youth.
Key Publics Today’s Black Teens are consumers, trendsetters, and influencers of household purchases. They have a major impact on society’s mainstream culture. Black influence permeates American culture in every aspect from music to fashion to dance. These characteristics prove Black Teens to be a valuable target audience for marketers and a noteworthy key public. Black Teen buying power is sustainable in comparison to the counterparts and beneficial to advertisers as they spend 20% more per month than the average U.S. teen.
Magic’s biggest challenge did not hold him back even though sadness and disappointment is consuming him. He continued to be a voice for Aids awareness and an educator that created an epilogue, “A Message for Black Teenagers.” As he continue to educate the world, a question made him think and left it unanswered. “If all this had happened to somebody else, what would have i done?”
African Americans have been through so much since being uprooted from their home in Africa. Most people do not understand what happened to African Americans and they understand what they had to go through to be where they are today. It went from being kings in the comfort of their home to being thrown on a boat packed like sardines to be forced to work in the fields. The trip was a massacre itself because many did not make it due to the treatment from others. African Americans have always been treated like outsiders and it took many people to sway the perception of others to be where they are today. Through all the ups and downs African Americans persevered and made it out the struggle. African Americans has always been treated badly all groups of people and they always looked down on African Americans. Throughout the history involving African American, it showed the constant inferiority treatment. African Americans were slaves years ago, people still look at blacks as less important than other people. Slavery has a huge impact on our society today because people are still bias and unfair towards African Americans, most African Americans are still living in poverty and don’t have proper education beyond high school which is why they don’t have the equal opportunity for jobs. African Americans still continue to sit in the shadow behind white people.
The 21-st century is characterized by the continuous economic downfall. The relationship between race, class and gender should be evaluated to identify the life chances of people to improve their relative position in our socially stratified world. The increased rates of unemployment, homelessness and poverty show that our society requires implementing a transformative approach to reduce social stratification. The term social stratification is applied to identify and asses different forms of inequality that exist in the US society. Patricia H Collins suggests, “while a piece of the oppressor may be planted deep within each of us, we each have the choice of accepting that piece or challenging it as part of the 'true focus of revolutionary change'” (p. 680). Inequality has become a universal feature of our society; therefore, it exists everywhere and concerns race, class, and gender as the key categories of society.