I am not an expert nor do I claim to truly understand the racial divide in this country. I have spent many nights thinking about and trying to understand why some Caucasian people and African American people do not seem to be able to get along. The following is just my opinion and it is not meant to hurt anyone nor change people’s minds. All I am trying to do is to make people think.
I have always believed that if Caucasian Americans did or does not want African American people here then they have no one to blame but their own ancestors. It was the Caucasian man who invaded Africa and forced the African’s into slavery. Does anyone really think they wanted to leave their homeland and to be forced to work for nothing, and to be beaten into submission? I feel people need to think about what the world would be like if the roles had been reversed. What if the Africans had invaded Europe and forced the Caucasians to be their slaves. What a different world it would be.
I have and do continue to work with many African American people who are no different from me other than the color of their skin; they are hard working people just trying to support their families like me. Many of them just want their children’s lives to be better than theirs. I know that in the African American community crime is high due to a variety of reasons, but that is no reason to neither hate nor fear African American people. Many in the white community need to consider just what it would be like to try and raise a family surrounded by violent crime and injustice.
I want people to think about this: How do we expect people of all races to be productive members of society when the minimum wage is so low? How do we expect to raise good citizens when they are treated so poorly? I can understand why so many people are on welfare, and why they do not try to better their lives. It would be easy to let the government take care of my family and me if all I was going to earn by working was $5.15 per hour. How do we expect people to support their families on so little? Some people working a minimum wage job would still have to find child care for their children, maintain a car with insurance to get to and from work, and provide a home for themselves and their children, with food, water, electricity, etc. We can not expect people to survive and flourish under these circumstances. I know that the government will help provide some help with the above mentioned expenses if and when people work for minimum wage, but it is not enough to give the average person any hope of rising above the poverty level. People of both races need to feel that they have the chance to make a better life for themselves and their families. I believe that if we raise the minimum wage to one that will enable people to raise their families above the poverty level while enabling them to continue their education this will give all people of both races the opportunity to seek a better paying job.
We as a nation need to stop looking at the world and trying to save everyone else. We need to look deep inside ourselves and our nation and save ourselves first. How can we save another country when we cannot even save our own from poverty, crime and racism? I truly believe that if I had to live under the same circumstances as most African American people do today I would give up on myself and allow the government to provide for me. I would also have the feeling that the government owed me because of all that they have put my people through. We need to treat everyone as an equal. I know many people say this but few people actually do it. What is the Caucasian man afraid of? Does he really think that if the African American man was truly an equal that the African American man would try and reverse the roles of society, I do not think that would happen? I feel that if everyone was truly equal and we all treated each other with respect we could accomplish great things. I have and continue to work with many African American people and together we have achieved many things. I have always encouraged employees both African American and Caucasian to work together and to reach for the stars. I believe that everyone, no matter the color of their skin, can and wants to live a better life. I have had many African American employees in a supervisory position and they have been very successful in their jobs. They have had both races working for them and I have never seen a problem that we all could not work out together.
I do not want people to think I am laying all the blame for the racism I see in America today at the feet of the Caucasian people. African American people need to take a stand and aid in the fight as well. I am not sure I understand the reasoning behind African Americans giving up on themselves and just allowing the society around them to run their lives. I do however understand the feeling that no one cares or is willing to help me to succeed.
I think it is time for African American people to take a stand and say to themselves “I will not fail, I will succeed in life.” Now we all can aid in this mission by being supportive and giving the African American people the best possible chance to be successful. We need to begin to trust each other, we need to invest in all of our people and we can start by improving our inner city educational system, and by raising the minimum wage to one that people can see their way out of poverty. Let us stop worrying about the rest of the world, let us worry about ourselves and invest in our own people. Only then can we call ourselves a great nation.
I think that if African American people saw that they could achieve the same things a Caucasian person could, there would be less crime and poverty. We could lower the unwed birth rate, the drop out rate, and the crime rate among African American’s, and I think everyone of all races would see the benefits.
I know that most people blame all the crime in the African American community on drugs and poverty, but why is it like that? African American people are in pain and they are just trying to survive in an unjust world. If we all as one people took the time to listen and help the African American person out of poverty we could most likely lower the crime rate nationwide. Caucasian people are drug addicts as well and you do not see the same amount of crime in our neighborhoods. We are more inclined to help our fellow Caucasian person to recovery than our fellow African American person. This needs to stop!
I have spoken to many young African American men and they do not see much of a future for them in today’s society. I find this truly sad. We as a people and one nation need to work to correct this now before it is too late and we lose more good children to drugs, crime and the street. I think that people in New Orleans need to take the led in ending racism, beginning with improving our education system so that minority's can achieve success and become productive members of society. The people of the African American community need to start taking the responsibility to improve the conditions in their communities and to begin working with people of all races to create a more stable environment for people to raise families and to be a variable member of society. If as a country we do not hold any race of people back we will be able to become the great nation we want to be.
2006-09-21
06:05:26
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11 answers
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asked by
onebighead
1
in
History