First I want to speak in unambiguous and unequivocal terms: I repudiate all the rappers promoting failure through their rhymes about selling drugs, abusing women, and abandoning their responsibilities as men. You are all lost and a shame upon our people. Your values are decrepit; your values are out of sync with the norms of society. It amazes me how you promote a lifestyle that only leads to incarceration, broken families, and mass ignorance yet the youth still gravitates towards your message like it's the blue print to success. A lot of our men are a shadow of what they should be. A lot our men have failed their women, failed their daughters, failed their sons and most importantly failed themselves. Not all black men are walking zombies …show more content…
My mother once told me that black men have rejected all the white man's ways. Some was necessary to establish a distinct culture; however, some were foolhardy. The black man rejected his dress, his opinion of beauty, his every mannerism, all that were necessary to establish a culture. What was rejected that shouldn't have been was his success. Instead of emulating his devotion to education we created a culture that looks down on the black child that performs well in school; a black child that excels at academics is less likely to have as many friends as his white counterpart that performs on the same level. It is truly a travesty that we aspire to be criminals and "real niggas" more than we aspire to be law-abiding citizens and fathers of our nation. A people lives through their men, my brothers, don't you understand? We need families. We need large families with mothers and fathers. Family is an acronym that means father and mother instructing and loving the youth. Without the father it is just bad grammar. Look at what we have to experience as black men: racial discrimination, experiences in violent ghettos, and the constant defamation of our sex in the media. The black man has to be well versed, not only does he have to be able to navigate the world of ghetto black America he also has to be able to navigate the world of white America. The playing of many roles is something he is accustomed to, he is often in an environment where
The identity of the black man is the most crucial element attacked by black masculinity. Stemming from a limited variety of acceptable self expression, black masculinity emphasizes the need for an overly tough outer appearance while internally suppressing emotions of fear and sadness. These notions are particularly vivid in mainstream hip hop culture. In Byron Hurt’s Hip hop Beyond Beats and Rhymes, Hurt sits down with some of the industries most respected artist who attest that “anything nonhood will dilute [their] toughness.” Nonhood suggesting outwardly signs of affection, comfortability in the uprise of woman, and the dialogue and communication between Black brothers both verbal and nonverbal. These
The abolition of slavery in the United States presented southern African Americans with many new opportunities, including the option of relocation in search of better living conditions. The mass movement of black people from the rural areas of the South to the cities of the North, known as the Black Migration, came in the 1890s when black men and women left the south to settle in cities such as Philadelphia and New York, fleeing from the rise of Jim Crowe Laws and searching for work. This migration of blacks from the South has been an important factor in the formation of the Harlem Renaissance. The period referred to as the Harlem Renaissance, was a flourishing period of artistic and literary creation in African-American culture and
Slavery began in the late 16th century to early 18th century. Africans were brought to American colonies by white masters to come and work on their plantations in the South. They were treated harshly with no payments for all their hard work. In addition, they lived under harsh living conditions, and this led to their resistance against these harsh conditions. The racism towards the African Americans who were slaves was at its extreme as they did not have any rights; no civil nor political rights.
"Black Wall Street" was the name given to Greenwood Avenue of North Tulsa, Oklahoma during the early 1900’s. Because of strict segregation, Blacks were only allowed to shop, spend, and live in a 35 square block area called the Greenwood district. The "circulation of Black dollars" only in the Black community produced a tremendously prosperous Black business district that was admired and envied by the whole country.
In “Bring Back Flogging”, Jeff Jacoby addresses the problems within America 's criminal justice system. He gives many reasons why imprisonment simply does not work, and suggests that corporal punishment should be used as an alternative. Published in the Boston Globe, a newspaper well known for being liberal, Jacoby provides a conservative view and directs his argument towards those who strongly support imprisonment and view corporal punishment to be highly barbaric and inhumane. However, in order to shed light on our current situation, Jacoby discusses the dangers that we face though our criminal justice system a nd shows concern that imprisonment is doing more harm than good. In effect, Jacoby looks to the past for solutions, and
The Black youth is over represented at every stage in the United States juvenile justice system. Ten years ago, Black youth were more than two times more likely to have a delinquency case before the juvenile court than white youth. Dr. Shook and Dr. Goodkind examined three possible avenues to prove if black youth, are more likely to be detained than similarly situated white youth. “Three possible avenues have begun to be examined—the first is related to youths’ attitude and character as assessed by justice system personnel, the second is related to judgments about adequate parental supervision and/or school and work involvement, and the third is related to what some have called ‘‘justice by geography.’’ To conclude Dr. Shook’s and Goodkind findings, Black youth are treated
My idea of slavery is, that it is one of the blackest, the wickedest things everywhere in the world. When you tell them the truth, they whip you to make you lie. I have taken more lashes for this, than for any other thing, because I would not lie.One day I set the table, and forgot to put on the carving-fork - the knife was there. I went to the table to put it on a plate. My master said, - "Where is the fork?" I told him "I forgot it." He says, - "You d - d black b - , I'll forget you!" - at the same time hitting me on the head with the carving knife. The blood spurted out - you can see. (Here the woman removed her turban and showed a circular cicatrices denuded of hair, about an inch in diameter, on the top of her head.) My mistress took me into the kitchen and put on camphor, but she could not stop the bleeding. A doctor was sent for. He came but asked no questions. I was frequently punished with raw hides - was hit with tongs and poker and anything. I used when I went out, to look up at the sky, and say, "Blessed Lord, oh, do take me out of this!" It seemed to me I could not bear another lick. I can't forget it. I sometimes dream that I am pursued, and when I wake, I am scared almost to death.{Benjamin Drew was a Boston abolitionist who
In the beginning Locke tells us about “the tide of Negro migration”. During this time in a movement known as the Great Migration, thousand of African Americans also known as Negros left their homes in the South and moved North toward the beach line of big cities in search of employment and a new beginning. They left the South because of racial violence such as the Ku Klux Klan and economic discrimination not able to obtain work. Their migration was an expression of their changing attitudes toward themselves as Locke said best From The New Negro, and has been described as "something like a spiritual emancipation." Many African Americans moved to Harlem, a neighborhood located in
When I survey the landscape in black America, it does not take long for me to recognize the massive impression of a vehement struggle of a collective group of people to simply keep their head above water. The problem in the black community is that it is where every ill of this nation is felt first. It is the place in which much of the economic devastation is felt and absorbed in order to relieve some of the pressure off of this nation’s more affluent citizens.
Remember that black guy that walked by you the other day on your way to work? The one you assumed was a “thug” and sold drugs? He could have been in medical school law school, or any other type of educational institution, trying to educate himself and make the best of his life. So why did you think of him as a “thug”? This is the image society portrays. Society portrays every young black male as a low-life, selling drugs, killing others, with no education. Trayvon Martin could have been a doctor or an astronaut for all we
The United States developed the official poverty measures in 1960. It was developed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, who had declared a war on poverty during the Civil Rights era. (The Path of Power- The years of Lyndon B. Johnson, (Caro, 16). The poverty rate of African Americans has been declining for many years. The Census Bureau releases two reports every year that describe who is poor in the United States based on cash resources. There is also the supplemental poverty measure (SPM) which takes account for the cash resources and non cash benefits from government programs aimed at low income families. (www.Census.gov/People and household). In 2012 there were over 46.5 million people in poverty and of those numbers 10 million were African
During my early years of school, I remember being taught white accomplishments and wondering if blacks and other people of color had made any significant contributions to today's world. I noticed that television consist of all white people. Throughout my research paper I hope to cover certain aspects of African American heritage. Aspects such as blacks making up the largest minority group in the United States, although Mexican-Americans are rapidly changing that. The contributions blacks have provided to our country are immeasurable. Unfortunately though rather than recognizing these contributions, white America would rather focus on oppressing and degrading these people. As a consequence American
Throughout history, blacks have been treated the poorest out of all races. Although everyone under God is to be treated equal, whites thought of themselves as being the superior race. In 1619 a Dutch ship brought 20 slaves to America and it took nearly 240 years for slavery to end in 1865(Ronald, , para. 3).These helpless slaves were taken to America and put to work growing anything from cotton to tobacco. Slaves had absolutely no rights. They were simply property of their “Massa’.” Being disrespectful to a white man could get a Negro killed and they just accepted the facts of the matter. The south was the most notorious in its treatment of slaves and slaves would run away. It was a big risk, but a slave that made it to a
“The Book of Negroes is a master piece, daring and impressive in its geographic, historical and human reach, convincing in its narrative art and detail, necessary for imagining the real beyond the traces left by history.” I completely agree with The Globe and Mail’s interpretation of this story. One could almost see the desolate conditions of the slave boats and feel the pain of every person brought into slavery. Lawrence Hill created a compelling story that depicts the hard ships, emotional turmoil and bravery when he wrote The Book of Negroes.
Ans. We know this story takes place in Chicago because in the second line of the first verse, it says “On a cold and gray Chicago Mornin’”. We also can interpret from reading this song that most of this story takes place in the ghetto. A ghetto is a part of a city, especially a slum area, occupied by minority groups in most cases. I believe that the weather in this story is cold and snowy night. “As the snow flies On a cold and rainy Chicago Mornin’”- This is the evidence from the text that suggests that it’s winter. We can also estimate the year this story takes place by looking at the following evidence - This song keeps repeating “In the Ghetto” and ghettos don’t really exist anymore, they were mostly common around World War II, so I am guessing this story takes place around that time.