Having attended a predominantly White school in the South for most of my middle and high school years, the idea of attending a HBCU excited every bone in my body. My school was also very Republican and very racist. Throughout high school and middle school, I had the conclusion decided in my mind that the oppression of the Black race was the "White man's fault"; I had come to the conclusion in my mind that we were oppressed because the White race had little respect and expectations of us outside the fields of sports and music. However, now in my second year of attending a predominantly Black school, I must admit that it is just as much "there" fault as it is "ours" . Why do we as a race entertain and make comedy out of things that we truly should not find funny? Wouldn't Kat Williams be just as hilarious if he did not use the "n" word in his comedy skits? Why do we put down our fellow sisters when they dare to wear their beautiful kinks or gorgeous afros rather than the mainstream relaxed look? Why do my Black friends from White schools condemn me for going to an HBCU? I just want to yell at them "HELLO..You are BLACK too..why are you putting down your own race like that?" Who cares who is lighter than who? In reality, does skin color make someone any more beautiful or smarter than another? No, it does not. Have we brought ourselves down because of failure to embrace our true selves and the tendency to entertain what we shoud not? Is it really the "White man's" fault?
Commentary by: Sascha Betts
While reading your post and understanding your viewpoint, it is evident that you believe everyone should hold accountability for their own actions, as do I, and as you’ve stated, there comes a time when the fault is strictly one sided, and it shouldn't be. In the case of “the white man” being to blame for all African American setbacks, I too believe that some African Americans tend to overlook the way that they behave in order to put the blame on someone else. I do not give credit to White Americans for enslaving Blacks, but due to the time progression, many of the problems that persist within the black community did not start and finish with whites. There have been times when I’ve heard whites use the term Nigga during conversation with blacks as if it were a proper noun. Do we accept this? Some do, so to cut the word out of an act, or to discontinue using the term altogether for that matter is almost too much to ask for, especially when it is being used by people whose ancestors once used the word in a derogatory manner. I understood the points you made and can honestly agree with you on many of them. I enjoyed your take on the issue, but some evidence/studies/statistics could have been incorporated to create a more fact based argument rather than opinion based. Are you appealing to logic (logos) here? I like the fact that you posed questions, most rhetorical, but for some the answer to them would have made your argument more sound.
12 comments:
I completely agree! Loved the post. To a certain extent it could be our insecurities. We might laugh at the that girl with the Afro because she can "rock" that Afro and we can't. She might have the option of going natural when we don't. Some people laugh at ignorance. Its a shame... Great topic
I agree with you in terms of having to be held accountable for our actions. Many times it is easier to push the blame on someone else and/or the opposing race (whites) as a means to justify our shortcomings. If our race as a whole would uplift one another, instead of always critiquing each other or being so quick to put one down, then we too could get ahead. I often wonder if at times African Americans take a step back and watch how the members of the white race always "stick together!" We are not as successful as a whole race because we are divided. Our ancestors were able to accomplish those ideas deemed “impossible” by fighting alongside each other and it is up to us to continue on in the same direction.
Your choice of topic was very relative. The fact that as a race African Americans are often the ones who are putting down their own people, instead of lifting them up and empowering them is a disturbing fact. We tend to put the blame on the "white man" but we need to reexamine the situation and look how we constantly damage our own race. On the contrary, there should of been a little more evidence, not just personal experience, but include other forms of evidence.
-C.W.
I agree with your post. It is not only the white man’s fault. As African Americans we sometimes play the victim. It’s like we go to the store and the white salesclerk is rude, we quickly say it’s because she ‘s racist when in fact she could have just had a bad day. It’s time for us as a race to not live by the stereotypes and build up our race together.
-shanika simmons
I enjoyed reading your argument, but my experience attending Spelman has had the opposite impact on my view of this issue. It is unfair to blame the failures of African-Americans solely on themselves. Think of articles we read in ADW like "Fact-Making and Feminism." It is important to see the imapact that history has had on the way Black people live today. Issues ilke poverty, unemployment and illiteracy are ultimately more devastating than comedians using the "n" word. These bigger issues have larger impacts on the amount of African-American children that will be able to attend college and be upwardly mobile citizens. These issues are often indirectly related to the prejudice and red tape Black people have dealt with in the past and in the present.It is irresponsible to blame the problems among Blacks petty conflicts within the race like hair and skin color. There are bigger ideas that we should be trying to fix in order to uplift the Black race.
When reading these posts, I became a little confused as to what the real issue is here. Are we talking about the oppression of African American’s in the corporate world or are we talking about individual African American’s self-esteem? The arguments about the word “nigga” and African American hair is an issue of African American’s holding each other down in a superficial way, but where is the connection to how that holds us down as a race in Corporate America? I did not see that in the initial argument, nor did I see this concern brought up in the second. Both arguments could have gone a lot deeper into this issue. The first argument by Jordone Branch started off strong stating the real issues that I believe the African American race does have, however she lost I feel the true argument into going into petty and trivial examples of words and hair. How about African Americans not supporting other African American businesses or African Americans not standing up for the rights of African Americans instead leaving it to white lawyers to pick up the fight and then possibly jumping on the bandwagon later. I feel there could have been better arguments made.
When discussing the oppression of the Black race, it is important to reflect back on the days of slavery. Although many do not like to often refer back to slavery when speaking of the 21st century oppression of the Black race, it is important to refer to. After slavery was abolished and after the Jim Crow Laws and desegregation in schools the Black race still today's faces oppression. The are oppressed because the rich white male is at the center of government controlling. With the study of economics in mind, with power comes control. If the "white man" has majority of the power thus having majority of the control they will play a bigger role in the oppression of the Black race. When analyzing why Black people oppressed themselves, it must be taken into account the brain washing that blacks received during slavery. Blacks were told that they were better than another slave because of their skin color. We oppress one another because we still posse that slave mentality. We oppress one another because we are afraid to see another succeed. We oppress one another because we have adapted to the mainstream life and when we see others reaching back to the roots of Africa with their "Afros" and gorgeous attire; we are not able to appreciate this because in school, we are not taught to appreciate the beauty of our own heritage. We are not taught this appreciation in school because it is the "white man" who controls the education system.
By: Raavin R Evans
Are we talking about blacks failure to embrace our natural states or are we talking about bigger issues here? Everyone keeps referring to hair and the word "nigga". I do not see any real arguments about what black people are doing to hold themselves back. I doubt someone saying that my hair is too nappy to wear natural is going to hold me back in anything besides self-confidence.
Verge'N said...
I completely agree! Loved the post. To a certain extent it could be our insecurities. We might laugh at the that girl with the Afro because she can "rock" that Afro and we can't. She might have the option of going natural when we don't. Some people laugh at ignorance. Its a shame... Great topic
September 2, 2009 7:19 AM
-Jasmine S.
(just figured i claim my comment)
I loved this topic and it is completely relevant to society today. There comes a time in life where Black people must stop blaming whites for the ways their lives turned out. There are many opportunities out here for everyone and in order to take advantage of them, people must have some sort of self-drive and motivation. As far as the natural hair situation, I completely agree because everyone has their own choice about how they want to wear their hair. It should not be an issue if a girl with so called "nappy" hair does not want to get a perm and use harmful chemicals. We should not try to hide our ethnicity by conforming to the white race in regards to getting perms to straighten our hair in order to look more like them. Black people need to stop putting their own race, but instead uplift it.
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