Essay On Being African Americans

Artwork has been an imperative part of Black culture, and many artist share their inspirations coming from African origins. From the beginning of slave societies to present day, African America artwork has contributed to large parts of United States artistic collection. Beginning in the early 1600 to 1800 “black art took the form of small drums, quilts, wrought-iron figures and ceramic vessels in the southern United States. These artifacts have similarities with comparable crafts in West and Central Africa.” The significance of the

Ava DuVernay’s documentary, 13th, is a powerful analysis of the 13th Amendment included in the United States Constitution. Released October 7th, 2016, 13th depicts African Americans, even after the abolishment of slavery, as legally exploited through the 13th amendment. The goal of the documentary seems to strongly portray to its viewers the manipulation of politics at the expense of Blacks, yet again. 13th effectively demonstrates the struggles African Americans face in the arms of the criminal justice system in a powerful and emotion-provoking manner.

The movie from the very beginning focuses attention on the loophole that exists in the thirteenth Amendment of the US Constitution: « Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction …» But at the same time the viewer is made to understand that real crimes are not always those. Black people were criminalized allegedly all African Americans are by nature criminals, rapists and in every way, violate the law. It began in 1915, when in the movie of David Wark Griffith "The Birth of the Nation" a black man tried to rape a white woman and she preferred to jump from the cliff, if only this did not happen. Since the beginning of the 13th Amendment, many political leaders have only aggravated the situation. In the movie they mention Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton.

The social perception of racial equality is still a topic of debate today; however, it is in stark contrast to the perception forty years ago. In fact, the media still portrays many situations where black people are discriminated against and are not treated equally. Sadly, one often misinterpreted notion has

The reason we perceive the word people to refer to African Americans is due to tactics used by the media when reporting on crime. Rather than report on crimes committed by blacks as well as by whites, “news stories regarding virtually all street crime have disproportionally featured African American offenders” (Alexander 106). As a result of the media’s inaccurate coverage of crime, our “racial schemas operate not only as part of conscious, rational deliberations, but also-automatically-without conscious awareness or intent” (Alexander 106). We have become conditioned to view African Americans as more likely to engage in criminal activities even though, for example, “African Americans constituted only 15 percent of current drug users in 1995, and they constitute roughly the same percentage today” (Alexander 106). Although this evidence proves that African Americans are not more likely to be drug users, people are hesitant in addressing this misconception for discussing issues about “race makes people uncomfortable” (Alexander 238). In particular, “police and prosecutors-like most

The recording is based on research founded by Nazgol Ghandnoosh, who is a research analyst for the sentencing project. The sentencing project is a non-profit group that advocates for the criminal justice reform. She also, is an author of a report called “Race and Punishment: Racial Perceptions of Crime and Support for Punitive Policies, which is about her study of police shootings disproportionately affecting African American and how media coverage shows racial bias against African American. In addition, a 2002 survey found that people made an estimate that 40 percent of those that committed violent crimes were African American, but the real percentage was only 29 percent. According to Nazgol Ghandnoosh (2015), a research

African American Studies is a very complex subject. To confuse African American studies with black history is a common occurrence. African American studies is much deeper and more profound than just Black history alone. There are many unanswered and unasked questions among the Black American culture which causes confusion and misunderstanding in modern day society. In unit one there were many themes, concepts, and significant issues in the discipline of Africana studies. Both W.E.B Du Bois and Vivian V. Gordan touched on many concerns.

African Americans in America have consistently been racially profiled by the police. More blacks in the us are imprisoned than whites. A black person is more likely to get arrested and convicted than a white person. A police officer will almost certainly shoot a black person unarmed than a white person. Black stereotypes such as a crack victim or a drug dealer easily lets the cop know to arrest a black person

1b. I am a woman, I practice Catholicism, I am 26 years old. As for my socio economic background I come from a middle class family. Growing up in the Congo we didn’t have much money, my parents did everything in their power to provide us with everything that we need to have the best possible life. For that reason my dad got a job here in Denver twenty plus years ago and we had to start all over. It was through the help of many family friends and relatives that we were able to have all the chances in life. My parents had to go to school and learn English and work at the same time. They had sacrificed a lot in order to make sure that we had everything in order to succeed in this

African Americans now constitute nearly 1 million of the total 2.3 million incarcerated; that is 60% of 30% of the African American population. African Americas are incarcerated at nearly six times the rate of whites. “Between 6.6% and 7.5% of all black males ages 25 to 39 were imprisoned in 2011, which were the highest imprisonment rates among the measured sex, race, Hispanic origin, and age groups." (Carson, E. Ann, and Sabol, William J. 2011.) Stated on Americanprogram.org “ The Sentencing Project reports that African Americans are 21 percent more likely to receive mandatory-minimum sentences than white defendants and are 20 percent more likely to be sentenced to prison.” Hispanics and African Americans make up 58% of all prisoners in 2008, even though African Americans and Hispanics make up approximately one quarter of the US population. (Henderson 2000). Slightly 15% of the inmate population is made up of 283,000 Hispanic prisoners.

Despite numerous misconceptions, African Americans who have attended HBCUs have thrived tremendously. In fact, African American students that attend an HBCU are more likely to go on to graduate from a professional school than African American graduates from other institutional types. Brandon Busteed, an executive director who organized a survey about the matter under Gallup-Purdue University stated, “There are still noticeable challenges around completion rates and loan default rates, and this data doesn’t change that…but this data does add a whole new dimension to the conversation about the value of HBCUs. Black students are having very meaningful experiences at HBCUs, compared to black graduates from everywhere else.” (Busteed) Here we can assume what Busteed analyzed from the survey was that despite the fact that HBCUs seem to have challenges, for instance one that wasn’t mention regarding how PWIs receive a substation amount of funding as compared to HBCUs. In the face of all this the black students that do attend HBCUs are still confident and graduate quite successful. Moreover, approximately 33% of African American students receiving their PhDs

“The United States imprisons a larger percentage of its black population than South Africa did at the height of apartheid. In Washington, D.C., our nation’s capitol, it is estimated that three out of four young black men (and nearly all those in the poorest neighborhoods) can expect to serve time in prison” (Alexander, 2012). The numbers tell the story better than words can: black people are more likely to go to prison than any other race in the United States, shown by the fact that more than 60% of the prison population is composed of people of color (The Sentencing Project, 2016). These statistics can be traced back to several different cause, including the Era of Jim Crow and the War on Drugs, both of which led to higher policing in minority areas.

As stated in Webster's II Dictionary, a woman is defined to be an adult female human. In today's society being an African American woman is a rigid task to live up to. It means to reside to what their ancestors have left behind, which means to be stronger than ever. Rosa Parks was strong, Harriet Tubman was also strong, and Jezebel was even stronger. So what exactly does it mean to be a woman? It means to stand up for what is right, even if that means sacrifice, it means to be strong whether it be physically, emotionally, or mentally. African American women are perceived to be the backbone of the family, meaning that even though the male may support the family financially, that the women have the emotional and mental part in the bag.

There is a large racial disparity with unjust arrests in America. African Americans are discriminated and racially profiled more than any other race within the criminal justice system (Slate, 2015). The main goals of the criminal justice system are to prevent and control crime and to achieve justice (Crime&Justice International, 1997). However, according to the ‘American Progress’, “people of color, particularly African Americans and Latinos are unfairly targeted by the police and face harsher prison sentences compared to other races, particularly white Americans (American Progress, 2015). Although the criminal justice is to provide equal justice to all of its citizens, African Americans tend to not receive the same justice. Specifically, African

Most history books today do not contain the complete and true history of African Americans. If they must include African American history, most of the significant events and people are briefly explained or not included. African Americans have reached a time where they attain the power to act and make decisions at their own accord. African Americans possessed strength to survive generations of suffering from slavery, going against the odds of the social structure by constructing their own institutions despite limited rights they endured, and contributing to the making of America that helped open doors to their freedom. However, African Americans are still fighting for equality today because racism is engraved in the foundation of the country. Although, African Americans have acquired many freedoms such as being able to vote, being able to eat in the same restaurant as a Caucasian person, as well as attain the same careers and same salaries as a Caucasian person. From the previous examples, one can claim that African Americans have come a long way but, still have a long way to go. The centuries of undergoing brutality to set African Americans back has resulted in many African Americans to suffer from mental illness. To summarize, history books lead on the misconception that the history of African Americans started from slavery. However, that is not the case, due to the fact that African Americans held great status