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Racism in modern day towards african americans
The effects of racial stereotypes
Police brutality among African Americans
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Harriet Tubman once said, I had reasoned this out in my mind, there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other. Throughout history the African American culture has constantly been fighting for rights and equality. But in doing so has been denied it. With this happening more and more over the years it seems to have caused them more than just physical pain when violence is added to the equation. It has caused PTSD. The African American community suffers from PTSD due to Racism, what is considered as today’s “lynchings”, and Police Brutality. Racism is a key aspect that causes PTSD in black people. It doesn’t help that there have been multiple instances with the police shooting unarmed …show more content…
It’s when “black people are hit hard by incidents that recall the country’s history of institutionalized racism.” (npr.org/CWB-Cheryl Corley). Meaning when a person of color personally has racism influenced on them or watches someone else of color have racism influenced on them, it causes black people to become more defensive and on edge because they start to believe that every person that has anything to do with that particular race, company, situation… will all act the same way towards them as they did to the other person of color. The Tulsa Race riot of 1921 is a perfect example of this. White people attacked black people because of a situation that was said happened between Dick Rowland an African American man and Sarah Page, a white woman. Dick Rowland was accused of attempting to rape or did rape Sarah Page in an elevator. Due to white people believing this story they felt officers were not doing their job correctly by just doing an investigation on the matter. The day after the shots were fired at Rowlands court date where Rowland was attempted to be assassinated, but he was protected by cops barricading him. White people took it in their own hands and decided to teach black people a lesson by destroying their booming businesses and destroying
The fear of losing one’s body, steals energy and time from an African American’s life. Britt Bennett author of the article, “ A Generation Waking up” discusses defining features in his life when he realized how easily his black body could be taken away from. He elaborates on the vulnerability of the black body, and attempts to answer the most important question “how to live free in a black body?”. Black people hold a constant fear of losing their bodies. However trying to figure out how to control that fear and prevent it from taking over one’s life is difficult to do (Bennett). To be black in American society is to live in constant fear of disembodiment. A defining feature of black life is that one’s body can be taken away very easily, and with little consequence. Every time the police guns down an unarmed man and no one is held accountable, this feature becomes a reality. Possession of one’s body is a life long war for black people. Violence stems from the fear of disembodiment. Some African Americans respond violently out of fear, this is a reason as to why so many African American men are incarcerated yearly. This fear of losing one’s body steals energy, time and
Earlier in the semester we watched a video over Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome by Dr. Joy DeGruy. This video was inspiring for people to look at what has happened in our history and society. This has been a major social injustice to African-Americans for so long, and it is now time that it needs to be confronted. People are often confused about why some people get upset about the way African-Americans react to some things, it is because they never had the opportunity to heal from their pain in history. In the article “Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome,” it is talked about how racism is, “a serious illness that has been allowed to fester for 400 years without proper attention” (Leary, Hammond, and Davis, “Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome”). This is
From the very beginning of time African Americans have been a culture of resistance. That is resistance from slavery, resistance from torture, and resistance from wrongdoing. Families were torn apart, women were raped, and children were tortured. In an article by Atlanta Blackst they list some of the ways African American slaves were tortures, and it’s horrifying. Some slaves were burned alive, lynched by meat hooks, castrated, and even Mutated. This is the easy part, as after being tortured they had many years of psychological suffering. They didn’t have family to turn to because they were most dead or sold to another slave
...ontinued the cycle of structural and environmental violence. Years after slavery ended African American communities continue to be subjugated by White folk into structures that are not allowing them to flourish. African American families should be allowed to call the South home while having access to all the resources they would otherwise have access to in urban communities, as it is their basic civil and human rights to do so. However, with the injustices they face it is wonderful that the familial bonds keeps the communities stabilized and know that they can count on each other whether they are blood or fictive kin.
In the past, it is true that African American have suffered injustice, however, today there are still some wounds that needs healing from harsh treatment blacks people experience from whites people back during the civil right movement. Now, some whites are in positions where they are able to use their authority and demand unnecessary respect from minorities in certain situations, just so they could be in control. “In any case, white people, who had robbed black people of their liberty and who profited by this theft every hour that they lived, had no moral ground on which to stand” (Baldwin, 2000, p31). For instance, threatening to fire or suspend someone for not allowing them to be in control is the same attitude people had back then. Because of this, some blacks feel that they need to respond in any way possible to make their point. In other words, the attitude that some blacks have express at some point could be aggressive at time.
Trauma is an incident that leads to a great suffering of body or mind. It is a severe torture to the body and breaks the body’s natural equilibrium. It is defined as an emotional wound causing a psychological injury. American Psychological Association, defined trauma as an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, rape or natural disaster. Immediately after the event, shock and denial are typical. Longer term reactions include unpredictable emotions, flashbacks and strained relationships. J. Laplanche and J. B. Pontalis assert, “Trauma is an event in the subject life defined by its intensity by the subject’s incapacity to respond adequately to it, and by the upheaval and long lasting effects that it brings about in the psychical organization” (qtd. by Hwangbo 1).
The African American race suffered one of the hardest times in American history from slavery to the Jim Crow era. They were treated like second class citizens just because they had a different color of skin. They lived most of their lives being completely segregated from the rest of their community and were beaten or killed for no reason. They fought hard to make changes and risked their lives, and even still today they continue to fight racism, but they have come a long way since the Jim Crow era and will continue to fight on.
Struggles come in all shapes and sizes; it identifies the strength of a person. Josh Ellis stated “Lamar seemed to [imply] that some of the responsibility for preventing killings…lay with black people themselves” as he speaks from personal experience after being in a gang (Eells 44). The white supremacy has struggled to keep restrictions on African Americans since the Jim Crow laws; they suppress by keeping them weak minded and killing them off. This may be considered a weak tactic, but it is no different than the “mistakes” of African American killing each other. But it does not take that experience to know that African Americans contribute to their own crisis. They are responsible for their own actions, which mostly result in revenge; not realizing that this do not make them equal, it just adds to the sad news of America. This country is based on wrong doings and consequences leaving the minority leaders to try and make a difference for generations to come. “But… I’m no mortal man, maybe I’m just another nigga” entering into the society where only judgement prevail to the cycle of life (Poem 1 22). Its takes knowledge in order to have courage to step outside the box and lead a movement toward change. “… I learned/…respect/ If I respect you, we unify and stop the enemy from killing us” (Poem 1 17 and
The history of the African-American struggle against the forces of racism and oppression is a long and complex one. It dates back to when the first groups of Africans were forced to the Americas against their will. A tragedy most aptly described when Malcolm X proclaimed, “We didn’t land on Plymouth Rock; the rock was landed on us (X, Malcolm). Since that point in history, over four hundred years ago, Black people in the United States have been fighting to escape the holds of White supremacy. Leaders such as Frederick Douglas, W. E. B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, and many others each fought to win back the dignity and pride that had been stripped of their black brothers and sisters at the hands of racial inequality. This fight has continued on for centuries, and has employed many different methods in the quest for equality. One method in particular, stands alone as notorious in its advocacy for Black pride and power: Black Nationalism.
The former experiences of African American injustices are shameful American events. Unfair treatment triggers Black Americans to
The country that I now deeply love, and even get a little teary eyed when I sing the National Anthem, did not used to be so welcoming to me and people like me. Before my time there were laws against African-Americans living a normal life. A normal life many before me fought for. Life in the 1950’s was not the easiest for African-Americans. Many Whites still saw African-Americans as an inferior race. This meant many simple everyday task were that much harder for Africans-Americans. Housing Segregation, discrimination in courts, discrimination in public places prevented many African Americans from living the American Dream. All of these examples are only the tip of the ice berg. Going out to eat, shopping, even just going for a Sunday afternoon stroll in the park was nearly impossible. Living was hard for African-Americans as well as trying to work. Many men tried to get work but could not because even though slavery was gone segregation as well as discrimination was thriving. Many African-American men may have been well qualified for a job but would be over looked merely for the fact the color of their skin was two shades too dark. In spite of the double standard in society African-Americans were allowed to fight in American wars. While African-American men were struggling to get simple jobs even hard labor jobs nobody wanted Uncle Sam had no problem sending them to the front lines to fight for their country. African- Americans were allowed to fight in the Army and lay their lives on the line for a country that could not even stand to have little white children and little black children sit in the same class room. While African-Americans were allowed to fight in the Army they were not allowed to be in a same platoon as White men. T...
When Afro-American’s came to America in hopes of having a better and easier way of life, and after they arrived it was a totally opposite of what they expected. The following are a couple events that took place in different locations for the fight for freedom and right. The first is Bloody Sunday; which took place in Selma, Alabama. This particular event was the march of black activists from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. Thomas-Samuel (1996) stated that “In 1965, Alabama state troopers and local deputies stopped and clubbed black activists as they marched peacefully….” (para. 1). These people just wanted to make a point by marching from one city to another and they got beating just for it. Next is the fight for...
Colorism is a form of discrimination based on the color of someone’s skin tone. Colorism has the greatest impact on the African American culture and community. It is sad that we have to face discrimination within our own ethnic group, Along with every other ethnic group in the United States. Colorism has been passed down generation after generation. It is dated all the way back to the slavery dates. The idea of light skin being better than dark skin has been deeply rooted in our culture. We see colorism in our everyday life on social network, in our workplace, school, and relationship. We don’t even recognize it because we are unfamiliar of the word colorism and its meaning. So we ignore the fact that people are being treated different in their own race because of the shade of their skin. People are taught colorism growing up informally and don’t realize the effect it has on our culture, because we see it as normal and we were brainwashed to think that. Colorism is an issue amongst African Americans that is slowly tearing down the culture as it has been for centuries and still is today.
“People, including police officers, hold strong implicit associations between blacks, and probably Hispanics, and weapons, crime and aggression," said Jack Glaser. Police brutality statistics show that African Americans are three times more likely to be murdered by cops than any other race. Racial disparity in the United States is a coherent reason for the increase of criminal injustice in the United States. Whenever you hear about an African American being killed by the United States police, you never see All Lives Matter supporters protesting.
For decades, African Americans have been on a racial discrimination and extremely deadly roller coaster ride for justice and equality. In this new day and age, racial tendencies and prejudice has improved since the 1700-1800s,however, they are slowly going back to certain old ways with voting laws and restaurants having the option to serve blacks or not. It all began with the start of slavery around 1619. The start of the New World, the settlers needed resources England and other countries had, which started the Triangle Trade. The New England settlers manufactured and shipped rum to West Africa; West Africa traded slaves to the West Indies for molasses and money . From the very beginning, they treated African Americans like an object or animals instead of another human being with feelings and emotions. Women that were pregnant gave birth to children already classified as slaves. After the American Revolution, people in the north started to realize the oppression and treatment of blacks to how the British was treating them. In 1787, the Northwest Territory made slavery illegal and the US Constitution states that congress could no longer ban the trade of slaves until 1808 (Brunner). However, since the invention of the cotton gin, the increase for labor on the field increased the demand for slave workers. Soon the South went thru an economic crisis with the soil, tobacco, and cash crops with dropped the prices of slaves and increased slave labor even more. To ensure that the slaves do not start a rebellion, congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act in 1793 that made it a federal crime to assist a slave in escaping (Black History Milestones). This is the first of many Acts that is applied to only African-Americans and the start of many ...