The Challenges of Being a Black Man in America

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Recommended: The social construction of race

"Black Lung" is a chronic disease of the lungs mostly associated with coal miners; "Black Magic" is the practice of witchcraft; illegal transactions take place in a a "Black Market"; a "Black Sheep" is a person who does not have the same values or behavior as their family. How does all this pertain to being a black man in America today? These examples indicate that the English language is prejudiced, and the process of learning the language teaches prejudice and passes on racist ideas to children as they learn to communicate. This results is the racist American society which we see today.

However, before dealing with the burden of blackness, let us dive into what race really is. Some believe that race is a biological term, understandably so. People with similar physical appearance, such as eye shape or color, could be assumed to be of the same heritage, but this is not always true. According to the authors of Intercultural Competence, "Contrary to popular notions . . . race is not primarily a biological term; it is a political and societal one that was invented to justify economic and social distinctions. . . . One's 'race' is best understood as a social and legal construction" (32). Since race is not inherent or "naturally ordained" but a social and legal construction, the use of this term is subjective. One's "blackness" or "whiteness" is dependent on how society defines it.

What are white and black anyway? As people of different origins and of different heritages, the average American is a "mutt" (of mixed ancestry). What defines what "race" the average American is or what race you are? The color you turn out to be? Is Stacy, a person who is ninety-five percent "white" and five percent "black," considered black because th...

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...g the meaning to a human being. As the unknown poet said, illustrating how so many others feel: "But in his mind it wasn't lost, the one undeniable fact/That in a land of justice for all, he always would be BLACK."

Works Cited

Bradshaw, York W., Joseph F. Healey, and Rebecca Smith. Sociology for a New Century. Boston: Pine Forge Press, 2001.

DuBois, W.E.B. The Souls of Black Folk. 1903. New York: Bantam, 1989.

Gazzaniga, Michael, and Todd F. Heatherton. Psychological Science. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2003.

Holy Bible: New Living Translation. Wheaton: Tyndale, 1996.

Lustig, Myron W., and Jolene Koester. Intercultural Competence. 4th ed. San Francisco: Allyn and Bacon, 2003.

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary Online

http//www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/thesaurus.

Rottenberg, Annette T. Elements of Argument. 7th ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2003.

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