Success Of Black Youth Essay

These issues of social control all work singularly and in tandem with each other to create a system where the young boys in Oakland mostly become self-fulfilled prophecies of criminals, drop outs, or gang members. Even I, despite my white

Music and society have always been closely related. For years now music has been apart of people’s everyday lives all around the world. Having so many different genres out there, it makes it easy to be appealing to so many different ethnic backgrounds. However, one type of genre in particular has seemed to grab the attention of a younger generation. Rap music has undoubtedly had its utmost impact on African American youth, since many of the performers themselves are African American. An overtly masculine culture dominates rap music and creates gender stereotypes that become abundantly popular to the youthful audience. Three constant themes that are found within the rap culture are encouragement of violence, the misogynistic representation of women, an extreme hatred of homophobia. Each theme plays a detrimental role in the process of defining black masculinity as well as shaping the values, morals, and beliefs that its younger audience adopts after tuning into this “gangster lifestyle”.

Even at their youngest stages of life, African American males are being told that they’re just following a path to jail from birth. Even figures that as a child you’d look up to are telling young black males that they can’t succeed in this world. The vice-principal of the Rosa Parks School when talking about a young African American male said “That one has a jail-cell with his name on it”. Education institutions are the ones who hold the power to decide and construct who has access to opportunities and resources needed to advance in our capitalist society. The system is setting up African Americans for failure from the start. “The racial bias in the punishing systems of the school reflects the practices of the criminal justice system. Black youth are caught up in the net of juvenile justice system at a rate of two to four times that of white youth”. The profiling starts at a young age as well, planning their future for them. In conclusion, Education Institutions are the ones who hold power in this world. They are the building blocks of the future, as they shape young lives. With institutional racism putting some races ahead of others, however, a majority of students are stunted in their path to adulthood, leading to racial issues and divides that would otherwise not

The life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination… the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land (qtd. in W.T.L. 235).

Over the years there has been a significant decrease in the percentage of African American male success in higher education. Not only does this effect society as a whole, but more importantly this effects the African- American community as well. The high percentage of uneducated African- American males will result in increased crime rate, shortened life span and overall hard life. However this epidemic can be stopped by looking at the contributing factors of why there is a decrease in African-American male success in higher education and how to change it. Throughout the paper I will be addressing the issues as to why there are not more black men in higher education, by looking at the contributing factors such as environmental

A Broader Problem that plagues Black males are not totally the responsibility of the public schools, but are a responsibility of society as a whole (Delpit, 1995). We can say, however, that the public schools do play a major role in addressing the problems of Black male students. The educational experiences and the support services afforded Black male students could play an

Many Americans today embrace the culture of hip-hop. Since hip-hop became mainstream its influence has surrounded most Americans. People engage in social issues from the hip-hop culture In his recent work, How Hip-Hop Holds Blacks Back, John H. McWhorter have offered harsh critiques of hip-hop for delaying and marring the success of black people. McWhorter asserts hip-hop music “celebrates a ghetto life of unending violence and criminality(10).” He believes hip-hop contributes to the stereotype nearly all Americans maintain in regard to black people. Reflecting on harsh song lyrics McWhorter attempts to strengthen his argument. McWhorter acknowledges not all hip-hop promotes violence in people. He concedes “not all hip-hop is belligerent

It is clear that our country 's criminal justice system is the new Jim Crow; with a huge majority of felons being African American, it is obvious that people of color have it harder when it comes to crime sentences. We must acknowledge that mass incarceration and the Jim Crow era are greatly similar. Minstrel shows, which showed black men to be lazy, dumb, and clownish, once justified the oppression of african americans. Many now believe that gangsta rap does just the same and is the modern day minstrel show, by portraying blacks to be drug dealers, angry, and violent men. Though many people believe that gangsta rap reinforces these stereotypes, it’s important for one to realize that this form of expression is not a modern day version of blackface performances.

African American boys are doubly displaced among society. Ann Arnett Ferguson says, “they are not seen as childlike but adultified; as black males they are denied the masculine dispensation constituting white males as being “naturally naughty” and are discerned as willfully bad”(page 80). These African American boys are thought of being two things, either a criminal or an endangered species. They are not allowed to be naughty by nature according to society, but rather there naughtiness is a sign of vicious, inherent, insubordinate behavior. African americans are seen as endangered victims, which makes them criminals. Ferguson states, “It is their own maladaptive and inappropriate behavior that causes African americans to self-destruct”(page 82). There are two versions of childhood that are contradictory to each other. A real child would be seen as a “little plants” ready to grow up accordingly which is what white men were like to educators. On the other hand the African American boys were seen as children who are powerful, self centered, and have an agenda of their own. These black boys are seen as adults from such a young age, they don’t have time to be young and grow up because others make it seem like they are already fully grown. This drives them in the path to do bad things and make bad decisions.

Black Liberation Theology can be defined as the relationship that blacks have with god in their struggle to end oppression. It sees god as a god of history and the liberator of the oppressed from bondage. Black Liberation theology views God and Christianity as a gospel relevant to blacks who struggle daily under the oppression of whites. Because of slavery, blacks concept of God was totally different from the masters who enslaved them. White Christians saw god as more of a spiritual savior, the reflection of God for blacks came in the struggle for freedom by blacks. Although the term black liberation theology is a fairly new, becoming popular in the early 1960’s with Black Theology and Black Power, a book written by James H. Cone, its

However, Wacquant brings the term “inner city” to light, breaking down its meaning: “black and poor.” Living in Chicago gives one an exemplary example of the term “inner city” meaning “poor, black ghettos.” The references to “inner city” schools being synonymous with “poor quality” and “mostly African American” are damaging to urban terminology and creating a predetermined perspective of those who call the “inner city” home. The “hypersegregation” of the city of Chicago is a topic within itself, but the institution of segregation is, without question, existent here. In addition, “inner city” is becoming a label which implies unavoidable incarceration.

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.

As Charon explains this, “we are socialized to accept our own place in society (Charon, 2013).” This could be interpreted to mean that low-income neighborhoods should produce low-income families, college educated parents should encourage secondary education, or that those who disobey the law must stay at the bottom of society. To again analyze data, African-Americans youth are more likely to commit crimes due to stereotyping and self-worth (as cited in Cohen, Garcia, Apfel, & Master, 2006). These minority youth are succumbing to a failure to understand their worth, which requires a different solution that prison rehabilitation programs. Charon states that, “most who try do not succeed, not because of lack of effort or intelligence alone, but because real opportunity is denied by factors related to...minority positions (Charon, 2013).” With more minorities becoming convicted of crimes, the feeling of entrapment within the bottom rungs of society increases, and the cycle of the criminal justice system

“That one has a jail-cell with his name on it”, (Ferguson 1). A quote this powerful lays a foundation of the stories shared within the book Bad Boys.  This book allows us to see how the public school system is shaping black masculinity, and the affect it brings on these young boys.Yet, in the book The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace, it tells us about  Robert’s struggle from poverty, the streets of Newark, and his education at Yale. These two books give us a powerful message. One that allows us to see the underlying triumphs Black men face. With poverty, biases, prejudices, and many more obstacles thrown in their path, they will always be set to prove themselves. The odds are constantly against them, as they are seen and viewed as

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