PLEASE READ! Racism is an issue that affects everyone, but the discussion of this topic seems to typically attract only the opinionated or oppressed. Nelson Mandela was a voice against apartheid and visionary for what the future of South Africa could and should be. This video Big Debate on Racism takes into account the socioeconomic and daily discord among of three main races of South Africans. Many who speak during the debate highlight the problems of racial injustice in South Africa that stem from apartheid. Some feel that blacks are being systematically oppressed more than white Afrikaans and coloreds (Multi-Cultural). Others feel that current oppressive measures attack the whole and should not be limited to the majority black race of South Africans... Lets bring this home for a second. America, the melting pot, is a place where opportunity is equal no matter race, gender or belief....RIGHT!! Legal slavery ended in this country almost a CENTURY-AND-A-HALF ago...yet the majority race still controls the wealth, politics, the happenings of the school districts, the filtration of media content, and priority placed on local regional and national emergencies within on our communities....And all that our Black children can do is apply for a scholarship or loan on the premise that remaining apart of a scholarly fight will ensure a comfortable life. Well, either that or you take your chances with a microphone, and sports equipment....But how often are we successful with education, music, and sports as a Black community? We do quite well...I go to a Historically Black university where many of us go forth to excel academically, succeed professionally, and positively impact the community!! So why does it feel like there is a ceiling in our silver lining? Well, because overcoming generations of systematic oppression is much easier said than done, especially when it is still integrated into our society in ways that dont even feel like racism anymore. I am currently an engineering intern in Charlotte, NC. I am sharing a housing suite with an international college student from a PWI. After sharing about our respective internship programs he asked a question that broke open a great conversion about the American truth. Beginning each moring in suburban Charlotte and he takes public transportation to work. Before crossing into Charlottes Uptown financial district, he notes to me a sense of poverty heavily associated with the Black race. Why is this so? he asked...I didnt have a short answer for him. I asked him his knowledge of Americas founding, oppression of Native Americans, Blacks, women, the Civil War, the role of black men in the military, the Civil Rights movement, the struggle of blacks in sports music and academic establishments, the creation of HIV/AIDS, the creation of crack cocaine and its political entrance to our communities, the crabs in a barrel theory, the undertone of disgust felt when President Obama succeeds,the divorce rate among black couples, the desegregation and policy driven re-segregation of county school systems, and the politics/economics surrounding public transportation in major metropolitan areas ...and I told him...thats why Black people seem to be on the outskirts of Uptown. Its a confusing mess that started even before that Articles of Confederation were signed. OF COURSE we have come a long way as a black community...But life nowadays , scientifically and otherwise, is about sustainability! How do we sustain the success and comfort we have created within the Black community while continuing to face the glass box that is todays oppression? How do we truly become apart of Americas political and economic conversations without feeling unequal or unheard?...Not so simple, but a start: Education. Family. Run to it. Run to them. Nothing brings more peace and hope than the intellect acquired through honest devotion to study and the morality and religious focus taught by great parenting. Nobodys perfect, but working toward these two goals will only help the black, white, South African...ANY community. Politics, power, money...wont work! Watch the video. Love your family. Find your passion. Make the world a better place to be. https://youtube/watch?v=jpLFdtSNwpU
Posted on: Sun, 08 Jun 2014 20:20:07 +0000
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