African Americans

The discrimination towards African Americans has been out of control and there needs to be a stop to it. I am a young African American woman here to talk about identity, diversity, and justice for African Americans. I know that I can't change the way people think or act but I would like to inform people about the struggles African Americans go through.

According to the article “ New Museum Celebrates, Honos African American  History” by Rep. John Lewis,published 09/19/2016,He says that black men and women built this country through hard labor, sacrifice, and suffering. They built it through creativity and ingenuity, willpower and faith. They have fought in every war and defended democracy, although they could not vote. They did this because they believed in something greater than themselves. They had faith and an ability to make a way out of no way.” This article gives a great example of what experiences African American people have gone through they sacrificed and suffered so much to build this country and yet people still choose to make us feel less than others which I will never understand. From what I understand Black people don't see themselves as what other people say about them.  They see themselves as strong individuals, intelligent, creative, powerful, unique, and Queens and Kings. Some people don't understand the thing about being black you are constantly feeling like you're not pretty/ handsome enough, or like their something wrong with just because you're black, but yes we may feel this way now but what the people who say these things don't realize is that this only makes us stronger. We talk all these hateful comments and brush them off and get back up again, which is known as strength.

Some people don't have knowledge that not every black person is African American. When you're talking about a whole race you would say Black people but if you are talking about a specific race, then you would say African American or Africans e.t.c. In the article Race and Ethnicity by Margaret Simms (published February 8, 2019) she says that “ Today, some people view black and African American interchangeably. But many have strong opinions that African Americans are too restrictive for the current Us population. But recent immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean have different combinations of history and experiences, so some have argued that the term Black is more inclusive of the collective experience of the US population. About 10 of the 46.8 million black people in the united states are foreign-born. I think that's is gives a similar example of how African Americans are different from other black races. African Americans are challenged with so many things but compared to other black people in other countries we also have a lot of successes we have free education as for other black people they might not have that which is a disadvantage to them.  

African Americans are challenged with many things every day. In the article “Key Finding on Americans View of Race In 2019” by Anna Brown (published April 9, 2019)  she talks about the challenges that black people face and how they get Vdiscriminated, for example she says “About six-in-ten black adults or more, compared with fewer than half of whites, say that blacks are treated less fairly than whites in hiring, pay and promotions; when applying for a loan or mortgage; in stores or restaurants; when voting in elections; and when seeking medical treatment.” this gives a outstanding vision on how black people are discriminated and what kind of challenges they face on a daily basis. A lot of people chose to make an assumption that African Americans are a threat to society, and that they are not to be trusted. I think this goes hand and hand with stereotyping because people chose to make false accusations about African Americans. In the article “ Micheal’s essay: Assumptions Made About Black People Can Be Harmful, Even Deadly, published  May 20, 2018 in the article he says “ We've all heard the stories. The doctor driving his Mercedes through a rich part of town is pulled over by the police. It's called Driving While Black. Or the woman in the Toronto department store being shadowed by the security guy; it's called Shopping While Black.t is hard for white parents to comprehend the deep-rooted concerns of black parents, as their children roam the world. Most white parents don't have to give their children "the talk"; a detailed explanation of what to do when stopped by police. And think about the impact of a young black high school student in this country, watching the videos of how some blacks are treated. We all make assumptions about people every day of our lives. Most are anodyne, frivolous even. But sometimes, assumptions can bring a world of hurt to others when we see, not the human being, but the stereotype.” I think this is a great example of how people make an assumption, they think that just cause we’re black we are automatically suspicious or a threat to society. I think that this is an example of how negative stereotyping affects African Americans.

It's hard to accept the fact that there are just some people who aren't going to like me just because I'm Black, or see me as a threat. I think the community could change the racism and the stereotyping, like I mention before I know I can't change everyone's mind and the way they think but we can change their actions. I think the community and I could join a protest to fight for justice for African Americans. We could join the Black Lives Matter Movement and help get justice for all the families who lost someone due to police brutality or someone who was being treated unfair etc. All it takes is one step at a time to make a change.