African American Issues

With February being black history month and all, I felt that this was a subject worth getting into. I'd like to think that I have a pretty good understanding of my privilege as a straight white man, but I still find that sometimes I take that privilege for granted. I've never had to deal with the struggles that black people have to deal with in America today but I feel that I should at least make a solid effort to get an idea. All too often African Americans are labelled this or that and treated as a monolith without people taking into account the type of individuals each and every one of us is. Here I'm going to try to list off all of the advantages I have. First off, I don't have to worry about people labelling me a "thug". No one would attribute that stereotype to me so right off the bat I don't have to worry about people seeing me in a negative light. Even though stereotypes do come from somewhere based in reality and there are some people that play into them, I feel that it is incredibly unfair to attribute those stereotypes to someone before you even know what kind of a person that they really are. No one has ever crossed the street to avoid crossing paths with me. No one has ever clutched their purse tighter at the sight of me. No one doubts my intelligence, and I feel like that is one of the most offensive things that African Americans have to deal with. Another huge advantage that I have as a white man is that I don't necessarily need to fret over interactions with law enforcement. I think that even though the vast majority of police aren't prejudiced, many of them subconsciously are more wary and more likely to use excessive force when confronted with those of the African American community. Black people have gotten so much flack and have been at such a disadvantage throughout history and I think that is also worth getting into. First off, there's the obvious; slavery. Africans were sold all over the world as property, as commodities. Stripped of their basic human dignity and treated like dirt. Even after slavery was abolished, that just opened the door for decades of discrimination and an upward battle to even get close to the possibility of being treated equally to Caucasians. There was the forming of the KKK, Jim Crow laws, segregation, and many other forms of adversity that have led up to the modern era where, in my opinion, the playing field still isn't completely level. Yet despite all this, I find it incredibly inspiring how much many African Americans have been able to accomplish throughout the years. The Harlem Renaissance, the battle for civil rights, the dawn of Jazz, Rock and Roll and the other musical contributions that we are seeing even to this day just to name a few. Also worth mentioning, in my opinion, is the landmark presidency of Barack Obama as the first African American head of state which is something I honestly wasn't sure that I would see in my lifetime. I think one of the reasons that his presidency was a big deal was that it showed black children all across the country that they can accomplish so much more than they may have thought they could despite the societal disadvantages that they have. I truly believe that modern day African Americans are still at a massive disadvantage. This is because, even though progress has been made, there is a strong residual presence of the racist tendencies of the past that continues to haunt society. I don't know if the playing field will ever be completely equal, since there are centuries of damage to be undone, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try our very hardest to right the wrongs of the past and strive to make society a better place for everyone.