Hardships in Identity
There are many reasons why African Americans have had difficult time achieving equality; the most notorious events that are factors of their inequality can be trace back to the past five or six centuries. As a result of these events, people brought from Africa have lost their culture identity and/or heritage; as Alain Locke gives a brief explanation on how did they lost their heritage "There is one great historical reason; incidentally one that, tragically enough, explains much about the Negro. Slavery is the answer. Slavery not only physically transplanted the Negro, it cut him off sharply from his cultural roots "(ALAIN LOCKE) When their "cultural roots" where "cut off" different aspects of the Negro culture where affected, which include but are not limited to family life, religion, music and/or Art. But despite all the endeavors African Americans have always been fighting for dignity and justice, over the centuries the situation with equality have improved and African Americans have been able to maintain certain sense of their cultural identity in the aspects mention before which are family life, religion, music and/or Art. One of the events that damaged the Negro Culture in the aspect of Music and art is when they were brought to America. According to an article wrote for black history month by the constitutional right foundation "In the mid-1500s, European mariners started bringing black Africans to America as slaves. This forced migration
African-Americans have always been labeled as a minority and will be for many, many decades to come. People of African descent have always been ranked lower than the white race in regards to finance, literacy, and success. The period of the American enslavement of Africans lasted for approximately two hundred and fifty years. During this time, they were denied payment for their brutal labor and forbidden from learning to read or write, leaving them severely illiterate. The ramifications of inhibition expanded while their “master” only progressed at the expense of the slaves’ labor. Caucasians built their fortune and educated their children as African-Americans were pushed farther away from that goal every single day. Once slaves were freed in 1865, there was a better life expected, blacks had “rights” now. They had been “taken care of” for all their lives, and now they are in the economic and educational attempting to make a living. Another brutal oppression came forth. “But their social position deteriorated when post Civil War Reconstruction ended and the Southern states began to pass “Jim Crow” laws, which required the segregation of blacks from whites in schools, public transportation, restaurants, and other public places” (Pollard 5). A new man made obstacle was placed on the course to success for African Americans. It was difficult to equivalently compete through the
The United States is a immigrant country, which faces varieties of problems. The African American problem is one of the most serious one. Racial segregation is a deep-rooted social problem, which reflects in every field in the United States. For example, education, labor market and criminal justice system. In the aspect of education, most of black children were not permitted to enter the school, because the white children studied there. In the aspect of labor market, the black people 's average wages were lower than the whites. They did the manual work. In the aspect of criminal justice system, the blacks were easily in jail. Badly, their sentences were also more serious than the whites. In general, the blacks live in the bottom of the American society. Martin Luther King delivered the famous speech I Have a Dream, ' ' I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. ' ' (1) However, it was difficult for African American to get the freedom. The 1776 Declaration of Independence announced that everyone are equal and freedom.But black slavery still occurred in the southern states of America. Then the Civil War broke out, African American kept struggling for land and political rights.
In America, the lives of Africans did not get any easier. Once the demand for labor began increasing dramatically, more and more Africans were imported to America. Originally, white people and black people worked together in the plantations. As a result of the increase in Africans in these British colonies, less white people took jobs on plantations. Eventually, enslavement became based on race. Numerous slave codes were developed, which included denying slaves the right to be out past sunset and denying slaves the right to meet in groups of three or more. These Africans forced to live enslaved in America were treated as if they were inferior to white people. It is discouraging to think about the fact that this country, though it was long ago, once accepted this kind of social injustice.
I do believe that any obstacle or disadvantage can turn into something good. I know this because people learn from their mistakes. Some people give up or lose hope when they are encountering an obstacle. Anything can be make up by thinking or a wise decision.
African Americans, among their families, and their communities find themselves in an unceasing battle for survival in a world that has previously, and to this day, brought many hardships and sufferings. Although America has succeeded in abolishing slavery, there are still aspects of racism and economic segregation that occur within residential areas. This being said, many individuals of the African American race become primary targets and victims to devastating economic and social disadvantages. The articles, "Survival and Death in New Orleans: An Empirical Look at the Human Impact of Katrina" written by Patrick Sharkey and "African American Men and the Prison Industrial Complex" by Earl Smith and Angela J. Hattery similarly bring attention to the social injustices that African Americans are forced to endure while offering two different scenarios; the predominantly black communities affected by Hurricane Katrina and mass incarceration of African American men for the selling and abuse of illicit drugs.
Throughout the passage many of the Africans go through a developmental situation which goes onto a very physical and mental note to develop defense mechanisms for survival. Some of the most difficult and most used mechanisms of defense that the Africans were put through was the act of starvation, being a hard-working slave, that was treated terribly and had no breaks, and the living environments and environment exposure. Documents A, B, D, F and G will help further explain the hardships African slaves faced, and how the Africans handled the hardships that they faced throughout.
Social injustice is any form of hate, prejudice, or discrimination towards any group of people. Social Injustice can be towards any person regarding their race, religion, or gender. People often have prejudice against Black people as being poor or gang affiliated drug dealers. This is social injustice even though many African American are not what is stereotyped about them but they still face the consequences of discrimination and prejudices everyday. Unjust shootings, fatal chokings, beatings and rough treatment have all contributed to the present problem of social injustice against African Americans in the United States. In the past and recent history African Americans have experienced many social
Many would argue that the experience of enslavement, segregation, and discrimination continues to limit the life chances and opportunities for African
Over the years, the African American race has greatly evolved from having a lack of individual freedom to having their own sense of individuality. There have been many different events in America that has played some part in the evolution of the black race. After the Civil War, most of the races in America were seen to have separate freedom, but as the years progress African Americans were one of the many to stand up and obtain their individuality. In the process of obtaining individual freedom, there were many events that played important roles in this particular process. The African American race was seen to evolve during slavery, Civil Rights, and modern day. Each of these significant times, African Americans’ went from the struggle to becoming successful in the end.
After watching this film, I realized that I could have easily been like anyone else that is facing criminal charges. I’m not an African-American, but because I am a black man, I am automatically placed in that category. The film reminded me a lot about my family, even though we came to this country searching for a better life. However, like most immigrants and refugees, we ran into several speed bumps along the way. Seven of us made it to this country: my father, step mother, uncle, older step sister, older step brother, younger step brother, and me. My older step brother and I are the only ones that have never faced any criminal charges or jail time. When we came to this country in 2000, I was 5 years old and we lived in an apartment complex filled with several other refugee families. It wasn’t the most pleasant place to live, but I felt comfortable because I was around my support group and family. My father and step mother would get into domestic disputes frequently which then led to several police visits. The disputes eventually led to both of them serving several months in jail, which in my opinion, helped lead my siblings to going to jail in their future. My father would then go on to being in and out of jail until he was eventually sentenced to prison for a gun charge. Keith Huff stated “It’s a curse. And where I come from, the neighborhood I come from, most everybody gets locked up. And I mean everybody” (Prison State). That’s why I feel like I could have been
African-American Race has faced many challenges over the years. These challenges that African-Americans face have yet, to be overpowered. African-Americans do not have the same equal opportunity as other races. African-American faces the highest rates among the measured sex, race, origin and age. Black women are more than twice as likely as white girls to become pregnant before they leave adolescence. A most African-American man is incarcerated. These three challenges is something that African-Americans face on daily basis.
During pre-colonial African kinship and inheritance, it provided the bases of organization of many African American communities. African American men were recognized for the purpose of inheritance. They also inherited their clan names based on their accomplishments, as well as other things when one decease. Land was not owned in many parts of Africa during the pre-colonial period. It was yet held and distributed by African American men. Access to the land by women depended on their obligations or duties within the gendered division of labor. Agriculture was the job of many African women. Men believed in having several wives that would all work together as farm workers and do whatever duties necessary as required.
Since the birth of the United States of America, African Americans have struggled for society to hear them and treat them as equals. In the 1800s, they fought for equality through the Civil War. Another big time period where African American strove for equality was The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, which effectively changed crucial aspects of the nation and made great strides in the rights of African Americans in the United States.
Abstract: Since the Transatlantic Slave Trade, African Americans have been dependent upon those of fairer complexions to educate them about the culture and history of their own people. Unfortunately, the trip over to the Americas caused them to lose touch with several parts of their being; native tongues, culture/heritage and most of all their self-righteous. Somewhere along the way they forgot that they are creators of every major practice; from metallurgy to agriculture; practices that essentially influenced the entire world. The Transatlantic Slave Trade essentially and effectively brainwashed a group of people. It caused people of the African diaspora to lose sight of who they really are; installing negative and inferior perception of their ancestry, while also installing white superiority through their mindsets. African Americans innately depended on white people for every part of their life, even later slavery. In regards to education, African Americans depended on white Americans to build infrastructures for the education of black people. This unfortunately continued the cycle of white dependency. While African Americans thought they were enhancing their knowledge, all they were doing was becoming more equipped servants to their white
The African American experience is one that is quite different from other racial/ ethnic groups. The majority of the first African American came over, unwillingly, on ships from various African countries. They were brought to America by white, European settlers to be used as slaves in an order to plant and harvest their crops and make money for the white man. This racial group was treated as if they were property and not people. However, with the ending of the American Civil War, African Americans gained freedom, freedom that not all white American were quite ready to handle. After gaining their freedom came the need for education, jobs and suffrage rights. Now in America this racial group has come a long way, having elected its first African American present for two terms, yet still there are many issues that are very prevalent. This racial group has been fighting their way to equality since the birth of this nation. African Americans have experienced an array of conflict, violence, stereotypes, prejudice acts, and discrimination against them throughout their history in America.