...and Langston Hughes explain our Black History in America. We Wear the Mask poem talk about how Black America is hidden behind America and treated differently. I, too sing America is very similar to We wear the Mask because in that poem he explain how he is treated as an outsider because he is Black. The two poems tell a story about being black in a White Man world and how strong our Black Culture is during The Harlem Renaissance. I, too sing America and We Wear the Mask are two very strong poems that describe our Black face toward White America and how determined the Black Culture was to become a part of America. Our Black Culture was mistreated for many years by White America. White America could not except the fact that Black America is a very strong race that was determined to become a part of America. For many years White America destroyed everything that Black Americans touched like Knowledge, Power, and Freedom. They tried to block the Black Culture out and Discourage our Black Culture but they could not let it go on for that long. The more White America tried to hide our black...
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...publicized as before but it is still alive and well in society. With America being a melting pot of race and ethnicity one would think this issue should not exist. I chose the two poems What it’s like to be a black girl by Patricia Smith and Child of the Americas by Aurora Levins Morales. These two poems are written from a women’s perspective about how racial discrimination is perceived in America. Racism is no longer just a black and white my paper will show how these two pieces showed how cultures are subjected to discrimination. The title of these two poems catch my attention one being I am a black girl and two I am a child of America. I too have faced some challenges that are discussed in these poems. In a country that was founded and built on immigrants society makes a big deal about a person’s race and culture. Why does race matter? Does it make you a better person? Does it make you prettier? Sadly our society has placed into the heads of young women that pretty means lighter skin. That being pretty gives you an easier life. The authors of these two poems are African American and Puerto Rican and they have both faced forms of racial discrimination. In America girls were raised that Caucasian was the accepted race. “It’s dropping food coloring in your eyes to make them blue and suffering their burn in silence (Smith)”. A line for What it’s like to be a black girl is a clear example of how bad this little black girl wanted to be Caucasian. Society places this stigma that you...
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...Black Women in the Media Media is defined as a form of mass communication through the use of radio, television, the Internet, music, film, and etc. Throughout history, American media has not only been used as a form of communication and entertainment, but it has also been utilized to spread stereotypes and hegemonic ideals reinforcing the racial hierarchy that has continued to survive even after the abolition of slavery in the nineteenth century. According to Tilicia L. Mayo, Indiana University communications graduate, images in the media contain the ability to teach many different lessons. Mayo states, “Contemporary films and television shows deliver images that communicate ideologies such as class, standing and position in society” (vi). After the abolition of slavery, White America searched for means of social control through the media since they lacked the power of legal control. Black women, being of the lowest racial and gender classes in America, have repeatedly been stereotyped and victimized through the use of degrading images in contemporary media. The origins of these images can be found in the racist ideologies of the African slave woman created by White Euro-American slave owners. The images of black women in American media have directly affected how black women and other people in society define black womanhood. This influence directly shows how people utilize fictitious and stereotypical images from the media in trying to understand the stereotyped group and...
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...Analysis Walker's Appeal was an desperate cry and plan to awaken others blacks in America to the evils of the so-called Christian whites that were mistreating them. The appeal was actually called Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World. The appeal lifted the veil of injustice and tyranny covered so long by the blacks in America who had became servile and mentally dead. It was an emotionally centered, powerful antislavery pamphlet published by David Walker in September 1829 and sparsely allocated across the South. Although Walker himself was born free, taking the legal rank of his mother, he was deeply troubled by the slave status of his father. His father was born subjected, and enslaved by whites and died before Walker was born. His father’s experience as well as the oppressive hell-like conditions inflicted on by the "so called Christians" as he refers to whites throughout the book, enabled his ideology of blacks in America being the most degraded, wretched and abject set of beings since the world began. Throughout the book Mr. David walker desperately tries to "awaken" the black people of America from the deep emotional and mental sleep brought on by the great evils of the deviated Christians. Mr. Walker exclaims “Can our condition get any worst? can it be more mean and object?"(pg.14.) Within this book he opens my eyes to the suffrage of the people whom which I as a black woman in America share my blood and genetic make-up with. Within this paper I will briefly summarize...
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...to fix but it has being increasing over the years. Brent Staples, author and editorial writer that wrote about black men and how they are viewed differently in our society because of their skin color. In his essay “ Black Men and Public Space, ” his main focus was black people being blamed for everything that happen in our society because of their skin color which created racial inequality in America. Black people are being judged because of the action that have happened the in past and their skin color which created racial inequality. Black people are portrayed differently in our society because of their action in history. Staples himself writes “ I was scarcely noticeable against a backdrop of gang warfare, street knifings, and murders” (Staples, 116). In other words, Staples believes that the causes of black people being portrayed differently in our society is because of their action in history. Most people were against racism before and now. Black people were angry about them being judged easily when they tried to have their voice out there, it resulted in them being judged more by our society. This shows how society doesn’t give voice to the subgroups and judge them easily for what has happened in the past. Black people would rather stay hidden in...
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...Phillip Mose AFS 102 Rahwa Meharena African American woman as you all know have it the worst in this country that we live in. The United States of America has downgraded blacks in general from when the first African slaves were force into the North American colony of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619 to social inequality today. At the same rate, so did females, blacks harsher than whites. Females faced sexism everywhere they went. Females were portrayed to be just housewives sitting at home watching the kids and cooking dinner. As it’s bluntly known, due to the fact that black women had to fight for both racism and sexism, black woman in America have it worse. For a long time America had fought within each other due to the fact that we are all racist. All in a sense that no matter how civil we get there will always be a dispute between races, class, and overall social stratification. America is at this point where people are put into a system that ranks them from the top to the bottom. With that being said, with all the commotion of equality and inequality our country still shows love and peace to all. It might not be the love and peace we want but it’s enough to where if it’s done right, people from the lower class have a chance to live the American Dream. La June Montgomery Tabron is an African American woman who is a CEO of The Kellogg Foundation, she states, "In so many ways, my own journey illustrates the power and impact of what is possible with the right conditions.”...
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...Running Head: BLACK AND WHITE PRIVILEGE IN AMERICA 1 Black and White Privilege in America Jacki Barnes Davenport University Diversity in Society – SOSC201 Professor Narketta Sparkman October 21, 2012 Black and White Privilege in America There are many definitions of “white Privilege” in text books, media, and on the internet, but all of those definitions include one common thread: It allows white persons advantages over non-whites and it is a form of social privilege. According to Akbar (Koppelman, 2011, p. 44), white privilege originated with the arrival of the white man in America. He states that, “They began to effectively eliminate any contradiction to the imposed redefinition of reality that they dictated.” White privilege has been referred to as rightness of white, meaning that white is normal and any deviation from that is abnormal (Koppelman & Goodhart, 2011, p. 189). It offers economic benefits as well as cultural benefits. Being white means you will most likely be paid a higher salary, receive promotions, and have loans approved. In classrooms, anything that happened prior to white people arriving in America is referred to as prehistory (2011, p. 191). Because of white privilege, there are many things that white people take for granted that people of color have no access to. For example, whites can choose to purchase a home in an area they can afford and want to live in. Researchers at Dartmouth, the University of Georgia...
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...the oppression of the minority race in America, and their fight to achieve freedom. The focus of this essay is to analyze poems by two different poets during the Harlem Renaissance period, describing the role played by each author in this period. The poems to be analyzed are If We Must Die by Claude McKay and Let America be America Again by Langston Hughes. These two poems pass different messages and show the different wishes of the two poets. McKay and Hughes each contributed to the Harlem Renaissance poetry in varying ways. Hughes was a well-known artist who wrote essays, short stories, poems, and children’s books. He used his poetry to celebrate the African American community and tried to capture the life of the African Americans in his work. His major focus is on dreams, and he gives suggestions of what happens when dreams are ignored and postponed. He, therefore, played a role in airing the dreams of the black Americans who lived in Harlem, and how these dreams were shattered (Bloom, 2004). His poetry is a way of showing that the black Americans had dreams, which if they did not come true would lead to social unrest. Some people consider his poetry as a warning of what might occur if the hopes and dreams of the black American for equity did not come to pass. On the other hand, McKay also contributed to the Harlem Renaissance by writing poems that showed the anger felt by the African Americans for not being treated equally as the white Americans...
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...An America of white sings louder the the rest. This is a rough interpretation of how Langston Hughes and african American writer took the meaning of the I Hear America Singing by Walt Whitman. Langston Hughes decided to write a rebuttal to the poem in which he name I, Too. This poem challenge Whitman's poem basically saying you forgot the Black from your poem. Langston almost puts it as a revised edition or a part that went missing for the original publishing. I, Too was a big statement piece for the African American community and publically reaching out and saying there is a problem in America and it needs to be solve. All men are equal and that what all the founding fathers agreed on yet still Blacks were looked at as lesser. There are two big points made in both Whitman's I Hear America singing, and Hughes I, Too. First is Whitman's poem I Hear America Singing, this is a power piece of the American pride. This displays the hard work all American endure and the struggle they had to go through. It was what makes the America such a great nation. In Whitman's poem it says, " The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam, The mason singing his as he makes ready for work. " (lines 5-6). This continues showing examples in which white men pride themselves...
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...1863, a law which would see the release of all slaves in America. * Belief that the slaves should be freed was a key factor in sparking the American civil war. 1861: The American Civil War begins at fort Sumter. * Fought between the United States of America, who opposed slavery, and the Confederate States of America, a new nation established by seven slave states in the south. * Not the only reason for the civil war, slavery was a key issue being fought over. 1865: The 13th amendment is passed, permanently outlawing slavery. * Shortly after the surrender of all confederate forces, ending the civil war. 1866: The civil rights act is passed by Congress. * The first to define US citizenship as well as state that all citizens were protected by the law. * It is expected that the act was passed, despite being vetoed repeatedly by President Andrew Johnson, in order to protect the rights of African-Americans. 1870: The 15th amendment is passed, giving the black man the right to vote. 1875: A bi-racial senate and House of Representatives passes the civil rights act. * Designed to protect all Americans in their access to accommodations and facilities such as restaurants. * Never enforced and was deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme court in 1883 1896: The Supreme Court introduces a “separate but equal” doctrine. This allows for the expansion of racial segregation across America. 1915: The film “birth of a nation” glorifies the KKK and...
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...-The general public was getting impatient with the gradual process of peaceful protest, which set the stage for a more militant group like the Black Panthers to grow as an organization. -The Black Panther Party was founded in Oakland, California, by founders Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. The Panthers supported the Black Power movement, which focused on racial dignity and self-reliance. -“The Black Panther Party grew throughout the late 1960s, and eventually had chapters all around the country. As racial tension increased around the country, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) blamed the Black Panthers for riots and other incidents of violence” (The Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th Edition). -In the twentieth century, thousands of Puerto...
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...Within America, oppression of people of color has been integrated within society since the founding of the colonies. Within America, this means that policy changes have been put into place since the Civil Rights Movement to try to change how people of color are treated within America, but this appears to not be enough. The types of policies that could be put into place to further the objective of racially unifying America would be racial bias training, profiling prevention and cultural competency training. This is because many of the issues that are being felt within the communities of people of color are founded in a lack of understanding or bias that individuals have with others that are different. The issue is that with this type of policy...
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...have no choice or acknowledge it when it is convenient; without that knowledge I find it difficult to fully make the most of life. Through the readings from the semester and class discussions I have come to the conclusion that White ethnics choose to either assert their ethnicities thickly or thinly, or they chose to incorporate it into their lives symbolically. Blacks on the other side of the spectrum lack choice in their racial identity because their race is visible and so it is assigned to them. Asians have both the ability to choose to assert their specific ethnicities but they are racially assigned. The issue with racial and ethnic construction is that it is born of social construction-what others believe of your race to be true. This can make the identity construction process much more difficult depending upon your racial or ethnic background. Regardless, I find this to be an important part of the identity construction journey. How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something but to be someone. These words were spoken by the infamous French fashion designer, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel. In America today, these words could not ring truer in the subject of identity. “Who am I?”, “Where do I come from?” All questions of self reflection which undoubtedly each individual asks themselves on a daily basis. These questions are not elaborate in structure but hold a great deal of weight to them and...
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...escort the black students inside. Eisenhower was the president...
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...The Black Panther Party “Us living as we do upside-down And the new word to have is revolution People don't even want to hear the preacher spill or spiel Because God's whole card has been thoroughly piqued And America is now blood and tears instead of milk and honey ……………..America was a bastard And a rapist known as freedom, free-DOOM Democracy, liberty, and justice were revolutionary code names………. WHO WILL SURVIVE IN AMERICA? WHO WILL SURVIVE IN AMERICA? WHO WILL SURVIVE IN AMERICA? WHO WILL SURVIVE IN AMERICA?” - Gil Scott Heron Freedom or free-doom is the pejorative option that confronts many group and individuals in this society such as The Black Panther Party. For centuries, exploitation and socio- economic decay of certain ethnic group has continually been indigenous tool of European colonialism with present day society reflecting this same ideology. The economic substructure often illustrate important core concepts within society, the mean of production is ultimate detriment of all of aspect and all its populous dynamics. The capitalistic nature of American society in juxtaposition to the exploitative mean of production is unsatisfactory for many and truly beneficial for some. Many individuals being exploited believed this to be self-evident, with labor and taxation being the oppressors mean of production. To truly understand to political organization of a party one understand its economic intention. The way in which history has unfolded has been purely...
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