Category: African American

Cultural issues encompass all factors of society that influence people’s opinions, beliefs, and choices like public relations, religion, politics, and media to name but a few (IHE, 2015). It is vital to analyze the role of culture issues in society to fathom factors that affect a community. Every community faces complex problems regarding government, healthcare, education, and socialization structures. The ability to understand cultural facets that influence residents’ decisions is imperative in solving social challenges. Over the years, social workers have tried to understand the particular cultural, social, language, and economic nuances of particular societies (Littlechild, 2012). This paper will focus on culture issues in social work and pay attention to modern policy and execution when dealing with African-American families.

Brief History Cultural Incompetence towards African Americans

In America, 63% of the populace are white Americans while the rest are Native American, Asian, Hispanic, African American, or Pacific Islander. By 2012, 13% of American residents identified themselves as African American (Belgrave & Brevard, 2014). Their history in America dates back to the Seventeenth Century when merchants ferried about 10 million Africans across the Atlantic Ocean as slaves. Apart from harsh working conditions in tobacco or cotton plantations, White masters denied these slaves cultural freedom. Slaves had to forgo their culture, hairstyles, religion, dress, ornament, and language among other cultural practices. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln passed a bill that granted all slaves freedom and full American citizenship (Metcalf & Spaulding, 2015). However, the legislature would later pass a series of draconic laws synonymous with the Jim Crow Laws (Boyd, 2008). Resultantly, African Americans continued to face diverse of levels of exclusion from active social, political, and economic systems. In the Nineteenth and Twentieth Century, a high number of civil rights movements became vocal about the plight of African American families (National Association of Social Workers, 2015). Undoubtedly, the cultural issues of American African family systems differ from other ethnic units. To some extent, most American policies did not consider African American’s cultural diversity. Over the years, social workers have expressed how the neglect of African American cultural issues leads to discrimination. Currently, there are diverse social work organizations that emphasize on the ethical duty of co-existing harmoniously regardless of people’s cultural differences. These groups include the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) and International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) among others.

Social Work and the African American Culture

Social work is the epitome expression of humanity. The first social work organization, the Freedmen’s Bureau, started to offer basic assistance to slaves and refugees in 1865 (Stango, n.d). Since then social workers have focused on restoring social justice in America, with an emphasis on minorities’ rights. Over the years, the African American community in the U.S.A has suffered multiple forms of discriminations in political, social, and economic platforms. The family unit is collapsing; 70% of Black American Infants are born to unwed mothers(Stango, n.d). Crime rates are high in the African American community, and 28% of black males will serve a jail term in their lifetime (Stango, n.d). Additionally, unemployment, illiteracy, poverty, ill health, and drug use affect African community more than any other social group.

Behaviour

African American children are likely to suffer from disruptive behaviour disorder than their counterparts from other races (McNeil, Capage, & Bernnett, 2015).Disruptive behaviour may lead to mental illness or affect other family facets. Notably, ethnicity influences how children present symptoms, deal with anger, depression, fear, and their type of defence. Therefore, social workers and psychologists agree that it is important to understand African American culture before assessment and treatment. These children grow up in an environment where they a minority group, low economic status, and family constellation. These vicissitudes of life are causal factors of aggression.

Expression

The African American culture considers individuals who share confidential info or express emotions outsiders as anti-social. From a cultural point of view, personal disclosure is not only embarrassing but also unimaginable. Most African Americans consider it as an expression of weakness to admit that a challenge is so severe to require a psychiatrist. Therefore, social workers must explore other culture-friendly means of assistance, such as family, friends, or religious networks, to assist African Americans.

Family

Though the African American community considers the family unit critical, social workers focused on a deficit-problem-based approach (Rockymore, 2008). The model is contrary to the appropriate strengths-centred- approach. In other words, people concentrate more on the weaknesses rather than strengths of African American families. Despite being less than a fifth of America’s population, Black American children make up 50 percent of foster care populace (Rochymore, 2008). Notably, they are five times more likely to be in out-of-home care than youngsters from other culture groups. Analysts add that black families face numerous challenges, such as domestic violence, drug abuse, and are more likely to enrol in society programs. Family strengths satisfy individual needs while coping with the demands of external systems. Some of the African American family strengths include strong kinship bonds, flexible family roles, strong religion orientation, and strong work, and achievement orientation. Social workers should use all these strengths, in different combination or sequence, to ensure that African American individuals make sound life decisions.

Perception

For many years, a high percentage of America’s population consider African Americans as ‘hard to reach. According to them, the black community is uninterested in education, political, economic, and other opportunities. By contrast, African Americans acknowledge that education is the most successful exit from poverty. Due to post-slavery discrimination, most people are hesitant to attend a meeting in a venue that they might not be welcome on some other occasion, for some other day.

Unlike most social workers, African American clients are crisis-oriented and non-introspective. In other words, the African American culture values environment change more than personal change. They opine that it is hard for individuals to change while the wider community is discriminative and oppressive.

Importance of Cultural Issues

Culture issues are pertinent to promoting national unity. In America, numerous minority groups alert the government of their identity and long histories of discriminations. African Americans, Hispanics, Latinos, Asians and other racial groups have their unique cultural issues (Hawkins, 2015). Undoubtedly, culturally-competent social work can enhance national coherence.

Social workers have the mandate to promote social justice in society. Respect to communities’ cultural issues translates to challenging racial discrimination. Undoubtedly, African American families face widespread discrimination; they deal with oppressive political regimes, unfair administrative structures, and breaches of human rights. Understanding cultural issues helps social workers shun discrimination by race, religion, gender, skin colour, as well as social and economic factors.

Consideration of cultural issues is critical for a social worker’s success. Failure to fathom a client’s diverse culture and family dynamics could hinder or affect the therapeutic process. A social worker may regard a customer’s behaviour as resistant simply due to failure to recognize a clients’ world perspective. By contrast, adequate comprehension of clients’ culture issues may offer an alternative, appropriate approach to solving challenges.

Recommendation to Social Workers

The African American community is one of the many minority groups in America. However, this group has faced numerous cultural discriminations in the past. It is logical to opine that the society has a long way to go to achieve cultural competence. Luckily, social workers have made numerous achievements when it comes to understanding communities’ cultural differences and the effects of social injustices on individuals’ well-being.

The National Association of Social Workers’ (NASW) (2015) code of ethics gives recommendations to social workers on cultural competence. Firstly, they must appreciate the culture and its influence on an individual and society. Secondly, given that all cultures have particular strengths, social workers must recognize and maximize on these strengths. For instance, African-American cultures have strong kinship bonds (Hawkins, 2015). Therefore, issues like child care are communal responsibilities.

Thirdly, social workers must have adequate knowledge of critical issues in their clients’ cultures. Fourthly, they must be competent as they execute policies and offer services that are sensitive to the community’s culture.

Given the critical role of kinship ties in African American society, social workers must focus on family strengths as a channel of helping clients. Overall, nuclear and extended family members assist each other with finances, childcare, housing, emotion support, and more. In some cases, the family system extends to neighbours, friends, church members, and baby sisters. Unlike in past practices, social workers need to affirm the presence and role of the father figure in the family system. Undoubtedly, therapists do not often include the father, especially in child welfare planning process.

According to NASW Code of Ethics, Sec 1.06c social workers must refrain from developing personal relationships with clients (Hawkins, 2015). The regulation acknowledges that transferring personal feelings between social worker and the client may influence the therapeutic process. The primary assumption is that regardless of culture, religion, or race people respond uniformly to interaction. For this reason, cultural bias should not arise between social workers and clients.

To sum up, in becoming culturally-relevant, social workers should acquire advanced education and try to apprehend the nature of social diversity (Hall & Lindsey, 2015). What is more, they must analyze past oppressions by race, religion, ethnicity, skin colour, disability, or gender. By examining past social injustices, a social worker is less likely to commit similar atrocities.

Introduction

Being an African American lady from the South who had been brought up by her grandparents. I have been deeply introduced into African American world views since my grandparents followed African American cultural beliefs loyally. As a result, they profoundly impacted the African American worldviews in me and other family members, correspondingly to other African American families who resided in the South. Although there are numerous African-American families in the South, many of them have unrelated worldviews due to their cultural diversity in their ancestral land. Which significantly influences their values, beliefs, attitudes, behaviors and relationships towards their worldviews, irrespective of them being ethnically referred to as African Americans.

Withal, in my developmental family worldview is primarily based on the African and agro-Celtic culture worldviews; since my grandparent were from two different ethnic backgrounds. Therefore, I had to follow their “schemata of interpretation” as they were in one way or another different from other African American families’ worldviews.

Family rules

Since my developmental family was an extended family comprising of many family members like, my grandparents, uncles, aunties, cousins, nephews and other relatives, everybody was subjected to family interdependence rule. Which was one way of creating a strong bond between the extended family members. For instance, when one family member was in a challenging situation others were supposed to help him or her completely recuperate from the situation. Besides we had the main family rule, I am because you are, and since you are, therefore I am.” This made everybody in the family to maintain good relation, since the instilled rule created a solid connection between all family members. This rule also helped us to resolve all our differences creating a profound unity and enduring love to one another.

The other rule in my family was based on harmony and enduring respect to one another despite the location, age, education, or social life status. This enabled family members to remain united even after many of us departed from our developmental family; we still retained the bond. Consequently, my grandparents were also strict on the power of kindness and forgiveness, where we were instructed to forgive everybody. Even in the face of the utmost prejudice and cruelty of our oppressors, we were taught to treat everybody with compassion (Fogle, L. M., & Mendez, J. L.2006).

Roles

Family roles are one of the significant considerations no matter the class you belong; you are supposed to participate in them wholeheartedly. An example, in my family men were given the role to head the family, they were supposed to offer security, economic and financial support in the family unless in the case of a single-parent family. Where woman will assume his family responsibilities.

Moreover, in my family women are given the responsibility to be family decision-makers primarily whatsoever regarding their siblings and other private decisions. Although in case of serious family matters it was my grandparent’s role to make the decision, or the whole family to discuss the issue. Also it was family’s role to ensure that children are taught good morals, family culture and other practices related to our ethnic (Mintz, S. W., & Price, R. 2013).

Myths

In my family we believed that “everywhere you go and what you do, the spirit of your deceased ancestors follows you. Thus when you get good luck in your life the spirits are rewarding you for doing good things to them. Nonetheless, in case you face misfortunes in your life, you must continue apologizing to them since it’s a sign that spirits are not happy with you. Consequently, you were supposed to appease to them by pouring down libation asking for forgiveness and good lucks in your life. Since we believed they had supremacies to grant everything you request for inform of ‘good luck.’

Rituals

These were sequence of activities which involved words, gestures and objects, mostly they were conducted by elders in my community. Since they mainly appealed to traditions and they generally continued to replicate historical precedents. Conversely, in my family we used to celebrate rituals related to rites of passage. Whereby pre-teen and teenage boys and girls used to take traditional lessons to prepare them for adulthood life (Jacobs, C. F., & Kaslow, A. J. 2001).

Birth rituals, these were rituals that we performed after a child is born in my family, where all relatives come together prayed and blessed the baby along with her mother. Mothers and grandmothers were primary sources of information regarding birth rituals and other customs that followed it.

Death rituals, these were funeral traditions rituals which were performed by my community elders after the demise of one of our community members. The primary purpose of this ritual was to chase away the spirit of death in the family and cleanse them in case the deceased died at a tender age. Also, death rituals were used to express our thoughts, beliefs, and feelings about the loss of someone we loved. More so, death rituals aimed at increasing social solidarities and promotion of change in the family and community.

Healing rituals or healing spells; they were performed for emotional, spiritual, or physical healing whenever the family needs help to deal with the aspect of their life. Which they are finding difficult to handle, this ritual was performed by community elders and other conservatives who had traditional skills relating to it.

Communication styles

In my family, we incorporated all modes of communication styles, which includes exchanging information or ideas via speech, writing, and visuals. Also, in my community people momentously mixed languages with African American Vernacular English when communicating among themselves. This Code-switching communication style was also highly adopted in my family too, even though some used dominant communication style without code-switching to any phonics. The main reason why many of my developmental family embraced code-switching communication styles is as a result of language popularity in the South.

Emotional expression

Although in most cases emotional expression mostly occurs without awareness, but in my family we were taught how to control some them effectively without getting hurt or hurting others. Also, our grandparents used to teach us how to manage our feelings and which emotions are suitable for which circumstances. Therefore we developed mechanisms for masking seemingly inappropriate expressions. For instance, in my family, it was a taboo for a man to cry in front of kids, women, or other family members despite the intensity of the emotions. Since it will be seen as a sign of weakness for a person who is supposed to lead others.

More so, parents and grandparents were strictly supposed to control their emotion expressions, especially when they are dealing with children to avoid presentation of undesirable impressions to them.

Family Subsystems

My family’s it subsystems was grouped according to family members age and gender. My grandparents were the family leaders and headed all the family subsystems, and they were supposed to be consulted before any family activity is undertaken. Secondly, other close relatives such as, aunts and uncles were greatly respected as they were second from our grandparents. The third subsystem was the group of my nephews and cousins and other age-mates whom we were almost the same age. In my family we believed that “old age is directly linked with wisdom.’ Withal, respect in the family’s subsystem was granted hierarchically with children being the least in the family subsystem.

Besides, my family subsystem was vital since it was a tool for maintaining respect and also create an everlasting relationship between and within my relatives. Similarly, it helped in regulating information that comes internally or externally. For example, it was the duty of elderly family members within the parental section to the boundary or monitor the information that the siblings receive. Correspondingly Family elderly members also ensured that we (children) do not have access to information that is deemed age-inappropriate or graphic (Bartram, M. H. 1996).

My family interpretation of world view concept

In my family they extremely valued worldviews, since they believed that they have a strong influence and shaping power in their life. They also believed that worldviews unites family thoughts and life. Defining the decent life that must be pursued, conserved, and protected; as it guides thinking, actions and choices of every person who observes them. Per contra, worldviews plays a cardinal role in molding family members and society. This means that worldview serves the evaluation, judging and validating purposes, as well as the provision of psychological reinforcement. Also in my family, worldview is the only thing that bridges the gap between impartial realism outsides our heads and the socially agreed-upon perception of that reality inside our reasoning. Hence to them worldview was like a ‘control box,’ which controls every action that our family member undertakes to ensure that he or she is on the right track.

Which aspect of upbringing do you have in your world view?

As an adult still embrace family rules and emotional expression, since they significantly contribute to how I relate with other people currently. Not only my family members but also other people whom I interact with all the activities I undertake. For instance, the emotional expression has helped me to know how to handle my feelings and to control myself despite being humiliated even when I am on the right track. Additionally, these family rules have helped me to become a morally upright person who is figured as an excellent example in the community.

Further, I don’t have the aspect of believing in rituals, although they sometimes enhance our sense of meaning in our lives as well as connecting our current families to our longer experience. I greatly criticize ritualistic behavior and acts accompanied by them. Since these acts are superficial and worthless to our modern families and societies. Presently changes have developed new symbols and values that are more constructive than traditional rituals, to me some aspects, like death and healing rituals are pastime, and they should be abandoned since the society has developed better ways of solving such issues`.

References

1. Jacobs, C. F., & Kaslow, A. J. (2001). The Spiritual Churches of New Orleans: Origins, Beliefs, and Rituals of an African-American Religion. Univ. of Tennessee Press.
2. Bartram, M. H. (1996). Clarifying subsystem boundaries in grandfamilies. Contemporary Family Therapy, 18(2), 267-277.
3. Mintz, S. W., & Price, R. (2013). The birth of African-American culture. In African-American Religion (pp. 46-62). Routledge.
4. Hecht, M. L., Collier, M. J., & Ribeau, S. A. (1993). African American communication: Ethnic identity and cultural interpretation. Sage Publications, Inc.
5. Fogle, L. M., & Mendez, J. L. (2006). Assessing the play beliefs of African American mothers with preschool children. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 21(4), 507-518.
6. Julian, T. W., McKenry, P. C., & McKelvey, M. W. (1994). Cultural variations in parenting: perceptions of Caucasian, African-American, Hispanic, and Asian-American parents. Family Relations, 30-37.
7. Landrine, H., & Klonoff, E. A. (1994). The African American acculturation scale: Development, reliability, and validity. Journal of Black Psychology, 20(2), 104-127.

Introduction

In the history of America, various scholars, poets, journalists, politicians, writers, and public speakers have tried to deliver their thoughts, idea, and point of views regarding black race. In reality, history of America is complete of black isolation and violation that women, men, children, and young have faced under cruel survival conditions. Black race was the major cause behind each dominant black personality who has raised his or her voice for the community of black race. Many authors, in this regard, have also delivered their knowledge and truth about black history in America with the sole purpose to awaken the world about the issues black race has been encountering since date. In the start of the 19th century, many female authors like Alice Walker, Sojourner truth, and bell hooks, particularly have tried their best to speak for the black community.

In a broader sense, it would not be wrong to say that history of America has paved the way for black women authors to write truths of their life and, therefore, black suppression became the source of writing for many black women authors. Therefore, the major purpose of this paper is to talk about some of the writings and speeches delivered through black women authors and the main focus of this paper will be on major points of Sojourner Truth. Secondly, this paper will pick points of other authors such as bell hooks and Alice Walker as a support.

Sojourner Truth

Talking about the personality of Sojourner Truth, it would not be wrong to say that the author has tried to reveals about one of the harsh reality that was not stem from the black racism, but within the practice of racism over women especially. The first idea that can be observed in public speech of Sojourner is linked with the fact that the author has tried to shed light on the discrimination that was and still in practice in black community. In other words, Sojourner reveals that black men got their freedoms and they got what was required for suitable survival of a person, but no one talked about black women’s right.

For Sojourner, black women and their equal rights were remained a question even for the black men. In this regard, as Sojourner wrote in the speech “There is a great stir about coloured men getting their rights, but not a word about the coloured women; and if coloured men get their rights, and not coloured women theirs, you see the coloured men will be masters over the women, and it will be just as bad as it was before (Truth, 1867).”

The above mentioned claim clearly talks about the difference that remained between black genders over the issue of their rights. Black men tried for their rights and they got, but black women were suppressed enough to even talk about their basic rights. The above statement also shows that Sojourner as an author was significantly influenced by the African American racism and that is why Sojourner wrote the speech with the sole purpose to address black women’s equal rights issue. In other sense, it would not be wrong to say that Sojourner got influenced through black racism and become one of the authors among African American women of the time.

In addition, another point that needs focus and that shows the level of influence gained by Sojourner as an African American Author claims that “I want women to have their rights. In the courts women have no right, no voice; nobody speaks for them. I wish woman to have her voice there among the pettifoggers. If it is not a fit place for women, it is unfit for men to be there (Truth, 1867).” Through this claim it becomes clear that being black Sojourner have gained influence as an African American women author and that Sojourner shows the highest level of his creativity expressed by Sojourner in American culture.

Third point within the writing of Sojourner over which it would not be wrong to say that readers can get affect and value the writing claims “I suppose I am kept here because something remains for me to do; I suppose I am yet to help to break the chain. I have done a great deal of work; as much as a man, but did not get so much pay. I used to work in the field and bind grain, keeping up with the cradler; but men doing no more, got twice as much pay; so with the German women.” Through this claims it becomes apparent that Sojourner’s writing directly affects readers and one can value the writing because of the way Sojourner has express the idea of humanity and equality deeply embedded within the personality of Sojourner and over which one can assume about the way American culture has influenced black women as authors and shaped their writing style that is mainly focusing on the idea of black suppression and black segregation as well.

Truth has also delivered her speech named “Ain’t I a Woman?” in which she has shed light on the cruelty of history on the black women. Truth is one of the African American women authors who also gained influence by the black American culture. She tried to show her sense of creativity and equality in her writing, showing the fact that being black and women offered a unique way of expressing ideas as an American author. Truth also tried to become the voice for the black women’s rights and, thus, her writing was influenced by the sense of being black. Truth in her speech claims “Why children, if you have woman’s right, give it to her and you will feel better. You will have your own rights, and they won’t be so much trouble (Truth, pp-178).”

Through the above mentioned claim it becomes clearer that Truth has gained a significant influence through the black nightmare that not only caused the women authors of American culture to face depressed and suppressed conditions of life, but it becomes the lifestyle for black women to wait for their rights even behind their black men. The claim also shows the equality idea triggered the intention of Truth over which she has tried to claim about the limited life boundary available to black women both by their black men and white’s constitution as well.

Furthermore, as being black American author, another point to note is that truth’s work appeared as a slogan to readers against the brutality and violation against black community, certainly black women American author. In other words, for any reader, writing of Truth appears like a way of expressing the suppressed conditions of life, black women have encountered in their lives and over which no one ever care about the feelings and expressions of black women and that black women in past kept their feelings and emotions within their body and mind and never tried to reveal to public just because black women authors in America never got the equal right even as authors as of black men and that is the harsh reality of being black American author. For instance, Truth states in her speech named “Ain’t I a Woman?” that “I am a woman’s rights. I have as much muscles as any man, and do as much work as any man (Truth, pp-178).”

At another point, Truth’s writing also depict the influence of being black woman author in American culture. For example, as she claims “I cannot read the book, but I can read the people(Truth, pp-177).” Through this claim again it becomes apparent that Truth gained significant influenced as being black women over which she clearly states that her writing is mainly based on the understanding of people and the way society treats black community and not any kind of a literature to gain influence.

Truth also gained influence as being black and her writing also triggers intentions of readers so that they can appreciate her writings in a way black women never gained before. In her essay, “What time of night it is,” truth tries to write about the way black men gained their rights but women never gained equal rights as being black as she claims “I come forth to speak ’bout Woman’s Rights, and want to throw in my little mite, to keep the scales a-movin’.”

At another point, truth also showed influence of being black women author such as she claims in her speech that “The women want their rights as Esther.” It shows that Truth’s writing is solely based on her sense of being black and reader can value her work by her understanding of the American culture at the time. She also claims “I wanted to tell you a mite about Woman’s Rights, and so I came out and said so.” This claims also shows that being black had has a significant influence on black American women authors.

However, through her essay “Black Revolutionary Women,”bell hooks utilized her writing as an black American author with the intention to show women not only suppressed by their black men in homely and social aspects of their lives, but women were not even allowed to reveal their ability to read and write. However, with the passage of time many black women tried to use their pen to write something deeply linked with their souls and the way black women have been encountering and surviving under cruel and limited conditions of life.

Hooks writing shows her work value as being black American authors because she also got the chance to express her feelings and she put emphasis on the black women writers who never get the chance to write for their self-pleasure and peace they had been searching both in their homes and in society. Therefore, it would not be wrong to say that being black has influenced the way black American women author has tried their best to write something that is touchy and that has a soul in it. Black men gained their rights, but black women never gained their equal rights and this is what all black American women author had tried to show to their readers so far.

Alice Walker in her speech “In Search of our mother’s garden” clearly shows the way being black has affected her writing. For instance, at one moment Walker claims that “how the creativity of black women was kept alive, year after year, and century after century, when for most of the years black people have been in America, it was a punishable crime for a black person to read or write? (Walker, pp-11183) This question-based claim of Walker clearly shows that she has gained influenced being black women as an American author and that black authors never got a chance to express their creative ideas especially when it comes about to reveal others about the harsh reality of life as being black among others, as an American author.

References

1. hooks, b. (n.d.). black looks chapter 6 Reconstructing Black Masculinity.
2. Truth, S. (1853). What Time of Night It Is. Retrieved from www.historyisaweapon.com: https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/sojournertruthtimeofnight.html
3. Truth, S. (1867). Keeping the Thing Going While Things Are Stirring. Retrieved from www.pacifict.com: http://www.pacifict.com/ron/Sojourner.html
4. Truth, S. (2017). Ain’t I A Woman? Retrieved from www.nps.gov: https://www.nps.gov/articles/sojourner-truth.htm
5. Walker, A. (n.d.). In Search of Our Mother’s Gardens,’ p. 1180-1188.

“Treat others the way you want to be treated”(Lee 2), a saying that has been used since sometime after the creation of the bible, and dubbed the “Golden Rule”. When we think about what it means, we picture ourselves treating someone with kindness and respect so they will treat us the same. Pretty simple right? So why is it that this ancient saying has been ignored repeatedly throughout several periods of history, and even today when it comes down to what we teach in our public education system? If we followed the Golden Rule then we would learn just as much African American history as we do about Caucasians. With that being said, “how does teaching a more in-depth course of African American history impact the lives of all students?”

Too often, students’ first exposure to Black History occurs through the study of slavery and the Civil War. They hear about African American activists that did a lot to change history, but it’s the same five names. Often, native Africans are portrayed in schools as savage, barbaric people. Those who came to the Americas were “lucky” because they were saved from savage, unstable, poverty-stricken Africa. But, while supposedly being the “lucky ones,” they were being brutally beaten and forced into slavery. The reality is, that thousands of years of Black history existed before contact with Europe, but teachers don’t know enough about the history of African civilizations to teach their students adequately.

Furthermore, black history is part of everyday life and deserves the be taught in its entirety. “Black history isn’t about a blemish in history as this [a student] understood it to be” (qt. In Gillmore 11), a quote by President of the Ontario Black History Society, Nikki Clarke. Most North American students associate African, or black, history with slavery. And while teachers may be the first to introduce students to the subject, the real concern is the fact that for some strange reason, the department of education believes that slavery, brutality, and racism are the perfect topics to use when teaching black history.

Racism is everywhere today and more importantly, because of this lack of education, not only does this affect our African American students, our Caucasian students look like bad guys because they just don’t know. Students who don’t know anyone of African heritage may ignore black history altogether. And the problem isn’t just general ignorance of this nation’s history of racism, it’s also about the willingness of many Americans to ignore this history. It’s their willingness to only see America one way, to only see Americans of color as subtext, simple addition to a story mostly about rich and powerful, land-owning white men.

In addition, February was only declared Black History Month in the United States in 1976 (Black History Month 1). So not only does that make the tradition only forty-nine years old, but it’s held in the shortest month of the year and overshadowed by popular dates such as Valentine’s Day, Groundhog Day, the Super Bowl, and Rihanna’s Birthday. Happy early birthday queen.

It is the job of schools to teach children both factually correct information and how to think for themselves. Black history is needed to give students both the correct facts about African Americans and teach them to think properly about the contributions of African Americans both historically and currently. Teaching black history in schools helps students who have little or no interaction with African Americans to develop an accurate understanding of African Americans in the United States.

“Math and science teachers also have a breadth of material to explore, from the biographies and contributions of black scientists and mathematicians to those of black people who made modern-day comforts possible through their work in aeronautics and the computer technology” (Dillard 6). African Americans in history were not just “victims” or “slaves”, they were inventors, engineers, scientists, authors, and so much more. More importantly, they were people and deserve to be recognized for their accomplishments because frankly without some of their inventions of America would look a lot different. “Students deserve opportunities to examine black literature, art, innovations, and customs that have helped shape the culture of the United States—and the world” (Dillard 3).

We all know that black history neither began nor ended with slavery but since day one, the only part of African American history that is actually explained thoroughly is the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in the colonies. How does that make sense? It’s basically the equivalent of reading the first ten pages of a book before putting it back on the shelf, but in today’s education, we read those same ten pages over and over again while new books are being written.

According to the Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, African Americans are 10% more likely to experience serious psychological distress (Nami 2). Due to unmet needs and other social barriers, like the lack of education, resources, or every opportunity, African Americans are more likely to experience the listed mental health issues:

• Depression
• Low-self esteem
• Low self-efficacy

A mixed study was designed for this particular problem. was conducted for this study. First, 20 African Americans Students were participants randomly assigned to a treatment group and a control group. The treatment group (ten participants) watched a Black history documentary for six weeks and filled out pretest and posttest measures on racial identity, self-esteem, self-efficacy, and depression. The control group (ten participants) completed the pretest and posttest but did not watch the videos. Later on, half of the treatment group participants continued with the study after six weeks to answer questions about whether the documentary impacted their racial identity, self-esteem, self-efficacy, and depression in the form of multiple case studies (Stubbins 3).

The result of the analysis found that the Black history documentary did not impact participants of the treatment groups’ racial identity, self-esteem, self-efficacy, and depression, in fact, the results indicated that both groups had similar levels of self-esteem, self-efficacy, and depression scores. However, studies found that several of the participants left desiring more knowledge of Black history (Stubbins 4). They were more aware of the importance of supporting the Black community and wanted to learn about the continuity of African American identity development, higher self-esteem, higher self-efficacy, and mixed emotions, due to watching the Black history documentary.

“[In conclusion] Watching Black history documentaries can improve young African Americans’ racial identity, self-efficacy, and self-esteem from high poverty areas. However, the impact of the participants’ racial identity, self-efficacy, and self-esteem could not be quantified to the extent to which these variables were impacted” (Stubbins 6).

Double consciousness is a reoccurring theme seen throughout almost all African American literature. Coined by W. E. B. Dubois, one of the most famous writers of the Reconstruction era, the idea of Double consciousness stems from the perception of the world not only as seen through the eyes of black individuals, but also white people’s perception of the black community. This concept as explained by Dubois is a way to see yourself “through the revelation of the other world” (Dubois 689), meaning that a black individual is always looking at themselves through the eyes of the white world. He mentions that to the “other world” (Dubois 688) he is a “problem” (Dubois 689), although this problem is one that is never addressed. This is important to the idea of double consciousness because it sets the tone for how white individuals view the black community. The concept of “two-ness” is important as well because it defines the perspectives that African Americans view the world, through personal identity and through race. This understanding of the world through two identities resonates throughout the entirety of the Reconstruction period and the Harlem Renaissance. Double consciousness repeats itself in every kind of literary work, including works such as the novel Passing by Nella Larsen, as well as Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem, “We Wear the Mask”.

In Passing, Larsen uses Dubois’s concept of double consciousness to show Irene Redfield’s perception of herself as well as the others around her, particularly Clare, and how double consciousness can help form racial identity. Irene clearly identifies as a black woman, although she is able to pass as white due to her outwards appearance that is often mistaken for “Italian, a Spaniard, a Mexican, or a gipsy” (Larsen 1085). The nature of passing itself is double-edged, as Irene even mentions that in regards to passing the black community “disprove of it and at the same time condone it … we shy away from it with an odd kind of revulsion, but we protect it” (Larsen 1107). This explains the internalized struggle of the two identities white supremacy forced black individuals to adapt. On one hand, African Americans are proud of their racial identity, however, without passing, black citizens could not freely utilize the privileged life in America. Double consciousness affects Irene through her own view of herself and her journey to understand the conflict between race and identity.

The most important way Irene explores this internalized conflict is through her relationship with Clare. Since she has an overwhelmingly strong belief in the idea of racial responsibility, it leads her to struggle to comprehend the consequences that arise from the nature of Clare’s permanent passing. The idea of double consciousness is what constrains Irene into living within the bounds of the white perception of identity and functionality as a woman, but it also constantly reminds her of her racial heritage not only in respect to identity but also the law. Similar to what Dubois wrote, Irene is exhibiting a literal version of the “other world” perception of her. She is constantly looking at herself “through the eyes of others” (Dubois 689) and experiencing the concept of “two-ness”.

In Paul Dunbar’s poem “We Wear the Mask” the notion of double consciousness is presented by expressing the idea of the Veil, or “the mask”, which is the effect that double consciousness has on black identity. Dunbar refers to this concept as “the mask” and uses it to show how black citizens took advantage of the white population’s perception of blackness. In the second stanza, Dunbar mentions that the world should not be able to constantly scrutinize the black community by focusing on the misfortunes perpetuated by white supremacy and racial prejudice. He concludes the stanza by exclaiming “Nay, let them only see us while/ We wear the mask!” (Dunbar 906) which effectively tells the audience that black individuals have the power to utilize the veil formed by double consciousness to their advantage. By being able to shift and switch their perception of the world around them to fit into what white America expects, black citizens are able to shield one side of their “two-ness”. Dunbar is expressing that by shifting their consciousness, black people are able to remain safe because their true identity remains unseen by white oppressors.

While the idea of double consciousness is not expressed exactly the same way across the board, it is evident that many black writers and artists used this concept in order to display what a two-sided or doubled identity meant to them. In Larsen’s Passing, double consciousness allowed for the exploration of racial identity through the internalized confusion involving race and identity. In Dunbar’s “We Wear the Mask”, double consciousness is what allows black citizens to shield and spare themselves from direct ridicule and mistreatment. While all of these use double consciousness in different ways, these texts express the root of Dubois’s concept of double consciousness, identifying oneself through both your own idea of the self as well as the perception of others.

African American History

The history of African-Americans begins with slavery, as white European settlers first brought Africans to the continent to serve as slaves. The destiny of slaves in the United States would divide the nation during the Civil War. In addition, after the war, the racist legacy of slavery would continue, inspiring movements of fighting, including the Underground Railroad, the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Selma to Montgomery March. Through it all, black leaders and writers would occur and help shape the character and identity of a nation.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. was born on the 15th on January 1929. His birth name is Michael Luther King Jr. but later changed his name to Martin. Martin Luther King Jr. grew up to become a minister. Mr. Martin graduated from a segregated high school in Georgia when he was only 15 years old. Later, in his career Luther enrolled in graduate studies at Boston University and receiving his doctorate in 1955. In Boston he met Coretta Scott and later married her and they both birthed two sons and two daughters. Mr. King was always a strong worker for civil rights for members of his race. During this time Mr. King was a member of the executive committee of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). “In December of 1955 he accepted the leadership of the first great Negro nonviolent demonstration of contemporary times in the U.S., the bus boycott. This boycott lasted 382 days. In late December 1956 after the Supreme Court of the U.S. had declared unconstitutional the laws requiring segregation on buses, Negroes and whites rode the buses as equals. During these days of boycott, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested, his home was bombed, he was subjected to personal abuse, but t the same time he emerged as a Negro leader of the first rank.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had been arrested 29 times just because he had a dream that one day ALL men would be equal, he had a dream that former slaves and slave owners would sit and eat together, he had a dream that his four little children would one day live in a nation where they will NOT be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character, he had a dream that down in Alabama little black boys and little black girls would join hands with white girls and white boys. Dr. Martin had a dream that one day we will be free at last! Dr. King gave us hope. Dr. King gave us hope that one day whites wouldn’t look at us like we’re disgusting and or filthy or abandoned property. Dr. King gave us hope that one day when we’re walking on the sidewalk we wouldn’t have to walk on the road when a white person walks by. Dr. King gave us hope that one day we would drink out of the same drinking fountains as the whites, Dr. King gave us hope that one day we wouldn’t have to sit up on the balcony just to watch a movie at the cinema, Dr. King gave us hope that one day we would be able to smile at a white person and not being lynched for being “inappropriate”. Dr. King also gave us hope that one day we would wake up and everything will be alright. Even though we still have a long way to go, without Mr. Martin’s bravery and dedication to demand for us African American Individuals to be treated like the people, we will still be trying to prove our existence. Sadly, on the evening of April 4, 1968 while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, he was assassinated by a white man. Martin’s entourage rushed him to the hospital where he died. He was only 39 years young. Although Dr. King isn’t alive to see how far we’ve come as a community, I hope he knows that without his bravery we would all still be cowering down to the dominant race.

Claudette Colvin

Some mistake Rosa Parks as the first woman to refuse to give up her seat to a white, but a girl named Claudette Colvin was the first. In March 1955, nine months BEFORE Rosa Parks disobeyed segregation laws by refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, 15-year-old Claudette Colvin did the exact same thing. Claudette Colvin was born on the 5th of September in 1939, she was born and raised in Montgomery, Alabama and attended Booker T. Washington High School.

“On March 2, 1955, it started out a normal day, Claudette and 13 other students walked downtown Montgomery and boarded the city bus on Dexter Avenue, exactly across the street from Dr. Martin Luther King’s church. As the bus continued, more white passengers got on the bus. For this white lady to have a seat, four students would have to more because a white person wasn’t allowed to sit across from a colored person. The bus driver asked for the four seat my friends and I were sitting in but only three of us got up. I remained seated. Harriet Tubman’s hands were pushing down on one and shoulder and Sojourner Truth’s hand was pushing down on the other shoulder”. One thing that Claudette said when the police dragged her off the city bus was “I paid my fare, it’s my constitutional right!” if it wasn’t for the legends like Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Claudette wouldn’t have had the courage to stand up for what she believed in and for that she’s one of the most respected African American woman in the black community.

Emmett Till

Emmett Louis Till was an African American boy who was lynched at the age of after being accused of offending a white woman in a grocery store. Emmett Till was born on the 25th of July 1941. He attended an all-black McCosh Grammar School, he was not prepared for the harsh level of segregation he was about to encounter later in his early life. In August 1955, Emmett walked into “Roy Bryant’s” country store to buy some bubblegum. Roy Bryant’s wife, Carolyn Bryant was working in the store at the time and spent no more than one minute with Till alone in the store before others heard Emmett whistle at Carolyn. It was stated by Emmett’s family that he had a lisp and that he did NOT whistle. Roy Bryant and his half-brother J.W. Milam abducted Till and tortured him to death. The two men were indicted and tried in September 1955. On the stand, Carolyn had asserted that Till had grabbed her and verbally threatened her. She also said that this 14-year-old boy said that he had “done something” with other white women before. Carolyn claimed she was “scared to death”. After deliberating for just over an hour, the ALL white, all male jury announced that these two white men who openly abducted a 14-year-old, beat him, brutally dragged him to the bank of the Tallahatchie River, shot him in the head, tied him with a barbed wire to a large metal fan and shoved his mutilated body into the water, were not-guilty. Moses Wright reported Emmett’s disappearance to the local police department and three day later, his body was pulled out of the river. His face was damaged beyond recognition, the only way they knew it was him was by the ring on his finger that was engraved with his father’s initials. The authorities wanted to bury the body swiftly, but Emmett’s mother disagreed. Emmett’s mother wanted to have an open casket funeral so people could see what those disgusting men did to this young man. Sixty-Two years later Carolyn Bryant came in for an interview with Timothy Tyson and admits that she lied on Emmett Till. She confessed that Emmett did NOT grab her, he did NOT make any sexual comments towards her and that he did NOT whistle at her. Emmett Till was only 14 and was accused of acts that he did not commit, and it cost him his life. Emmett Till might not have lived to defend his name to the public or to tell his mom he didn’t do it, but I hope he knows that the African American community loves, appreciates, and respects the brutal beating you took for us.

Long Way to Go

As you can tell African Americans have come along way. With the help of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Claudette Colvin, Emmett Till, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Medgar Evers, Jackie Robinson, Thurgood Marshall, Rosa Parks, Eldridge Cleaver, Kunta Kinte, Ella Baker, and many more we as African Americans can say “We Are Free at Last”. Although we have a long way to go, I’m glad we’re not were we used to be.

In the 20th century, Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. played a significant role in their society. Both men were leaders of the civil rights movement seeking justice in a corrupted world. Without these two heroic human beings, who knows how corrupt our country will still be? Malcolm X’s Oxford Union debate and “A Letter From Birmingham” by Martin Luther King Jr. display how passionate both men were about the civil rights movement and how racism was being dealt with. While dissecting both documents through the bitzer method, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. cleverly explained their views to a specific audience. However, I believe that Malcolm’s views were more effective in the end.

At a young age, Malcolm X experienced many tragedies throughout his life. Just at the age 6, Malcolm’s father (Earl Little) was hit by a car and seriously wounded. Many say that Earl Little was brutally beaten to death, then later ran over by white supremacists; which the incident was ruled an accident. Not long after Malcolm X father’s death, his mother (Louise Little) started to experience a nervous breakdown. Louise Little had to be shipped down to a mental institution, splitting Malcolm into now a parentless family. Without any parents, Malcolm was forced to stay with his neighbors. Staying with his neighbors changed his character and personality causing him to be sent to a juvenile detention home in Mason, Michigan. As time continued, Malcolm began doing devious things such as robbing stores. At age nineteen, he started hanging around with the wrong people which quickly led to trouble with the law. He was allegedly arrested multiple times for theft and burglary and was sentenced to state prison in 1946. While in prison, Malcolm X started to settle down and began focusing on his education and history. Studying the dictionary, non-fiction books, and the horrific history of slavery in the library prison had a huge impact on Malcolm X’s life; leading to Malcolm X’s Oxford Union Debate in 1964.

In Malcolm X’s Oxford Debate, Malcolm presents to his audience a variety of reasons why we must stand up to our political and religious views strategically. Us African Americans must fight for our liberty because the justice we seek for is not given. Malcolm X displays his first argument with exigence. He needs the audience to have a sense of understanding where specific actions were allowed for white men without any consequences but is seen as a retaliation when committed by an African American. Malcolm X begins to utilize logical reasons by notifying the audience that it is never acceptable to let anyone treat you less than a human that you are. Displaying a sign of weakness will have the enemy dictate the future of your life as proven in the society.

Malcolm X then goes to present an argument that our country the United States (U.S.) do not follow our own policies. In the debate, Malcolm states “Anytime you live in a society supposedly based upon law and it does not enforce its own laws because the color of a man’s skin happens to be wrong, then I say those people are justified to resort to any means necessary to bring about justice when the government can’t give them justice.” He uses South Africa as example where they utilize their beliefs in extremism as a community, as where the U.S. proclaims integration amongst another, but teaches segregation. Malcolm does not only present to his audience the importance of racism causing the problems in our country, yet he refers those people as the “devil” or “sinners”.

As we continue to analyze Malcolm X’s Union Debate, we must observe the audience Malcolm is speaking to. At Oxford University located in the United Kingdom, Malcolm had to appeal to many white students, elderly males, and very few females. His strategic and intelligent plan to bring the countries past and values in his speech was brilliant; leading to applauses throughout his whole debate at one of the world’s top universities. As Malcolm began explaining the country’s history, he brought up one the Founding Fathers of the United States named Patrick Henry. Patrick Henry was an American Revolutionist known for his famous quote “Give me liberty, or give me death”, which was stated by Malcolm X to inform his audience the significance of Americans many years ago, and the discouraged Americans in Malcolm’s time. This shows that Malcolm X is willing to fight for liberty, whether it costs his life or not. To relate to the audience, Malcolm X used a quote from William Shakespeare, (a famous English poet) “Whether it is nobler in the mind of man to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of trouble, and by opposing, end them?” which notified the audience that we must stand tall in our political and religious beliefs.

As we get to end of Malcolm X’s speech, we see a variety of constraints displayed in the debate. In the Malcolm X speech, we see his audience being dominant males. Throughout his debate, he emphasizes “African American men” and “White men”. There was not anything said about children, or the few females in attendance of his speech. Although there may have not been any children present at the speech, women during this time of era had little to no civil rights. Malcolm X targeted mainly males, where Martin Luther King Jr. targeted every race and culture.

In Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter From Birmingham”, one of his main arguments he tried to get his audience to understand was racial equality. Martin Luther King targeted Whites, African Americans, males, females, and any race or gender who believed in equality for all the people. He was responding back to the eight white clergymen who criticized him for protesting segregation in Birmingham, Alabama. At the end of the letter, Martin stated “Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.” With this being said, Martin Luther King Jr. still believed in protesting segregation in a peaceful manner even in jail. In the letter, Martin Luther King Jr. also states “I hope that circumstances will soon make it possible for me to meet each of you, not as an integrationist or a civil rights leader, but as a fellow clergyman and a Christian brother.”, informing us readers that he hoped to find freedom, civil obedience, and justice in a world which unfortunately lacked all of those qualities.

Although Dr. Martin Luther King presented his ideas very cleverly and sought racial equality for all American citizens, Malcolm X beliefs in the old saying “Give me liberty or give me death” is more influential. Martin Luther King Jr. is very educated African American man, but he lacked the knowledge of knowing that segregation itself is violence. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were both very passionate about equality and believed in the same goals to a certain extinct. Both not just living and experiencing the worst of America, but also visualizing the future of African Americans and many other cultures with no civil rights. Trying to gain civil rights peacefully was almost never an option. As hard as African Americans tried to protest non-violently, many whites seen this opportunity to derail African Americans whether it took their lives or not. Not agreeing to any violence, however, Malcolm X beliefs in standing tall and not letting anyone walk over you not matter how horrific the situation was more effective in his era.

Works Cited

1. King, Martin Luther Jr. “Letter From Birmingham Jail”. A world of Ideas: Essential Readings for College Writers. Ed. Jacobus, Lee A. 9th Ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2010. Print.
2. Malcolm X. Oxford Union Debate. 3 December 1964. Video.

The U.S. has often been termed ‘the melting pot’ as it is a blend of cultures. Many different people from different locations, with different cultures, different values, and different lifestyles are proud to call this country home. While many people and cultures enter this country to make a better life for themselves, sometimes new cultures are introduced in ways people never expected. During the 17th and 18th centuries, many African people were brought to the U.S. to be slaves. While many settlers may have merely been looking for people to do their work, African Americans have deeply influenced U.S. culture. Three areas that have deep influence by African Americans are music, dance, and cuisine.

African Americans have brought new styles and influences of music to the U.S. Slaves had practices of singing away their sorrows to make themselves feel better. While this began as tradition, in the late 1800s and early 1900s African American singers such as W.C. Handy and “Ma” Rainey managed to harness this type of music and ready it for performance. They created the style of the blues. Another common music style taken from African roots is jazz. Unlike the blues, white musicians were the first to observe and produce this kind of music. By the 1920s and 30s, African Americans had inserted themselves into this music style. In addition to bringing new music to the U.S., famous African American musicians have made their mark on U.S. culture. One such person is Aretha Franklin, a famous singer. Franklin created well renowned music, blending styles such as gospel, jazz, blues, rock ‘n’ roll, and R&B. In fact, she was known as the ‘Queen of Soul’. Her music was very popular, and Franklin used her far reaching art to push for equality. Even today, many people recognize her lasting impact and aspire to be like her.

Another large contribution to U.S. culture by African Americans came in dance. Like music, dancing was a tradition among slaves. They danced for special occasions and while working, meaning that these dances often focused on foot movement. The first dance that became popular with white people was called the Cakewalk. However, their influence did not stop there. African Americans also introduced many well-known dances such as the Charleston, the Jitterbug, and the Twist. Like in music, there were many well-known African American dancers who made large contributions to U.S. culture. Katherine Dunham was one of these people. She was one of the first dancers to make ethnic and folk dances a major part of her choreography. While she made many contributions to U.S. culture, one of her major contributions was the Dunham Technique. This is a way to teach dance that focuses on African, African American, Caribbean, and traditional ballet dances. This technique is so important that it continues to be used today.

Cuisine was another area that was deeply impacted by African Americans. As slaves, they were rarely given many resources to eat. The few resources they were given were often low-quality. Therefore, they were forced to be creative. This creativity paid off, as they created many dishes that still remain widely popular. These dishes include biscuits, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, grits, and fried ice cream. Popular dishes are not the only way cuisine was impacted by African Americans. These people brought over new food items and ingredients from Africa such as kola nuts, okra, watermelon, black-eyed peas, and coffee.

Even though settlers may not have been aware of the impact African Americans were going to have on U.S. culture, these impacts are still great. Without African Americans, we may not have as easily achieved music styles such as jazz and blues, dances such as the Charleston, or some of our favorite food dishes such as macaroni and cheese. In addition, well known people such as Aretha Franklin and Katherine Dunham contributed lasting impacts that will not be forgotten anytime soon. In the meantime, the U.S. continues to be a melting pot where African Americans and other people can share their culture.

Unveiling Racial Dynamics in ‘Get Out

In 2017, ten years after Obama’s presidency, director Jordan Peele released his physiological horror film ‘Get Out’. In the film the audience witnesses a society where white people desire to take control of African American’s bodies through implanting a piece of their mind into theirs, resulting from white liberals’ belief that African American’s bodies are superior, while their own minds are superior. The film follows the story of the main character, Chris Washington, who is about to meet his girlfriend Rose Armitage’s white liberal family for the first time. Upon its release the film ‘Get Out’ has been critiqued for its representation of white liberals and how they interact with African Americans. In the beginning of the film, Rose’s family is overly welcoming and friendly upon meeting Chris to which most would recognize as a common practice or stereotype of white liberals when dealing with people from a different race. Chris notices this oddly accommodating behavior as off putting, but assumes that this is Rose’s family’s way of dealing with the fact that their daughter is dating an African American. Does the film ‘Get Out’ offer a successful representation of white liberals, or is it perpetuating a negative stereotype in regards to their treatment of and interactions with African Americans.

White Liberals and Their Influence on African American Separation

White liberals have the power to separate African Americans from not only whites, but amongst themselves as well. In addition to the awkward attempts of the liberals trying to ingratiate Chris, the Armitages display this power or control that they have. The most prevalent scenes that show the separation amongst the African Americans in the film is Chris’s interactions with Georgina, Walter, and Logan. These three play the ‘African American’ help, Georgina and Walter working for the Armitages and Logan working for a separate white liberal associated with the Armitages. When Chris eventually ends up approaching all three of these people throughout the film, he is under the assumption that they will provide him with some form of peace of mind in what is essentially an environment consisting of only white people. Unfortunately for Chris, in every interaction he has with one of them something goes wrong in the sense that there is something off about how they respond to Chris. For example, in the film, Georgina insists that the Armitages treat her and Walter like family, and Walter’s comment on how lovely Chris’s girlfriend is, raises a lot of questions for Chris. The worst interaction being with Logan, who Chris not only confides that he is glad to be around him and is more comfortable with him being at the Armitages home since they are basically the only African Americans there, to which Logan betrays this sentiment by magnifying Chris’s anxiety and telling the other white guests what Chris said to him. The confusion that Chris is feeling from these interactions is in part because of the mismatch of what Chris sees, fellow African Americans, to what he hears when they speak. In a sense at first viewing this, one would think they are acting white when in actuality it is the opposite. The Armitages have taken over their bodies by implanting white people’s brains in place of a piece of their own, meaning that the white person and the African American’s whose body they are inhabiting are, to some extent, coexisting. In turn that means that the person Chris is speaking to, who visually we see as an African American male, is in actuality a white person controlling their body who is unable to ‘act’ black whenever Chris tries to have a conversation.

Post-Racial America: A Critical Examination in ‘Get Out

In the film white liberals take part in perpetuating the concept of post racial America or the theoretical environment in which America is free from racial preference, discrimination, and prejudice. To start off with, the film ‘Get Out’ shows Rose, a young white woman, scrolling through pictures, examining the torsos of African American athletes on her laptop. To most, this would be viewed as completely normal for a relatively young girl to be looking at pictures of guys she’s attracted to, but in this case director Jordan Peele wanted to reveal to the audience who Rose really is, that she is the equivalent of a plantation owner in modern times.

The way Rose studies the bodies of African Americans prior to bringing them home to her parents is comparable to that of a buyer at a slave market. All of this is a comment on the re-emergence of white supremacy in America in recent times. It ridicules the racism that still lies behind the smile of white liberals in so called ‘post racial’ America. ‘Get Out’ is a film that shows the continuing impact that slavery has had on African American’s lives. It goes on to argue that present day race relations are heavily influenced by past myths that were used to justify slavery. A common and heavily used myth is that black people were never fully human and therefore didn’t warrant the same treatment as white people. Even after slavery’s abolishment, it was still continued by other means such as mass incarceration, forced labor, and being deprived of the same privileges as white people. The term ‘post racial’ America really came into play after the election of our first African American president. This is shown in the film when Rose introduces Chris to her white liberal family. The family fits the stereotype of a white family living in ‘post racial’ America as well as a plantation trope. The Armitage family fits this trope by having African American ‘help’ who seem to be off, but are represented as being like family all while Dean Armitage tries to ease Chris’s worries through his statement about loving African Americans and that he “would have voted for Obama a third time”, if possible. Eventually Chris realizes that their excessive friendliness and fondness of African Americans is fake and that they are really just out to control him and take his body. The film overall isn’t meant to be an attack on white liberals, but to simply show that ‘post racial’ America is a myth that has historically conditioned the preconceptions of race and blackness.

The Myth of White Liberal Benevolence

The long-standing belief that white liberals can do no wrong in the eyes of the law is represented in ‘Get Out’. Chris’s close friend Rod, who is also African American, was suspicious of Chris going to meet the Armitages. Towards the end of the film, it turns out Rod’s feelings were correct instead of being what was thought of as far more pessimistic than necessary. A scene that shows the belief that white liberals can do no wrong is when Rod goes to the police about his suspicions on the Armitage family. Although he was being completely serious, his claims went against the presumption of ‘white liberal goodness’, even though Rod was talking to people of color about his concerns regarding Chris. In the end Rod decides on rescuing Chris himself after his defeat handed to him by law enforcement. Even though him and Chris are back together again, society’s view of white liberals still hasn’t changed and they still will have to face that fact together. In ‘Get Out’, Jordan Peele explores race, specifically in regards to post racial liberalism in America. In the film, the attitudes of white liberals towards African Americans are closely shown to demonstrate the relationship between the two races in modern society. A recurring theme shown by this relationship is that many liberals believe themselves that racism is a thing of the past, when it in fact still very prevalent today. The film shows all of this by putting a major emphasis on the fascination on African Americans that the Armitages and their primarily white guests have with African American culture through their interaction with Chris. These interactions show the romanticization of blackness by the liberals as an object to collect rather than a cultural identity on equal standing as their own. Although the film illustrates the romanticization of African Americans, it also reinforces the struggles they face as well. The struggle being trying to navigate through a larger racial dynamic where white liberals either glorify or vilify African Americans. This treatment shown in the film clearly dictated by Chris’s identity and in general affects African American’s view of themselves.

Racial Stereotypes and White Liberalism: A Critical Analysis

Every interaction that Chris experiences, he always feels some sort of discomfort which creates an uneasiness, the opposite effect that the Armitages are trying to have on Chris. From his arrival to the Armitages Chris is skeptical of their overly friendly behavior towards him. In general, these interactions seem incredibly unnatural and forced. They over-do their acceptance of African American culture, further alienating African Americans by establishing the differences between white liberals and African Americans rather than actually making them feel welcomed. Chris is constantly reminded that he is a different race through a series of conversations and microaggressions. One example from the film is when a white couple visiting the Armitages asks Chris about gold and makes the assumption that he likes Tiger Woods. This assumption demonstrates how the ignorance of microaggressions furthers the stereotypical way African American’s are characterized. Another example seen later in the film is when another white couple visiting the Armitages comments that black is ‘in fashion’, making it evident that Chris’s body is something to be attained due to his physical attributes.

The representation of white liberals in ‘Get Out’ is perpetuating a stereotype based on their relations with African Americans. It is problematic because while the film shows in depth the issue of race relations between white liberals and African Americans, overall, that is not what the entirety of what the population is actually like. The texts all have a stance of that white people are trying to understand black culture, but are prevented from doing so by their ignorance. ‘Get Out’ definitely showed this through multiple scenes where the Armitages would try to act or speak more like Chris, when they themselves were not only fulfilling their own stereotype, but perpetuating Chris’s as well that he acts and speaks any differently from them based on the color of his skin. Overall, the three main points, white liberals have the power to separate African Americans, are perpetuating the concept of post racial America, and can do no wrong in the eyes of the law from the text are all shown in the film, but to what extent of accuracy are these points shown? The representation in this film isn’t completely inaccurate, but could go on to cause even more tension between the two populations based off of the stereotypes presented.

Public Perception and Criticism of ‘Get Out’s’ Racial Commentary

Jordan Peele’s film ‘Get Out’ amassed a lot of criticism post its release in 2017. Of the multitude of criticism, the film received the aspect on the representation of white liberals in the film and whether or not this representation was problematic or not was questioned by critics. A lot of the representation that came along with the white liberals involved how they treated and acted towards the African Americans. Through the liberals fulfilling their stereotypes that they are associated with, causing separation amongst race, continuing post racial America, and being above the law, the viewer is able to determine whether or not this is true and even how it relates back to them and their lives. ‘Get Out’ had a diverse viewership and depending on which population you related to in the film, determined their judgement on the accuracy of the white liberals’ representation.

Spike Lee films are in essence about the experiences of African Americans in urban communities. Spike Lee is an American director, writer, producer, and actor. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York which probably explains why a large majority of his films take place there. He often dives into racial tensions and exposes the day-to-day realities of different cultures, showing the raw violence and hatred that many people are too isolated to see. His films tackle subjects such as racism, sex, and cultural nuance. ‘Do the Right Thing’ presents a day in the life of a racially tense neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. The film ‘Malcolm X’ follows the life of the slain African-American Civil Rights Leader, and ‘She’s Gotta Have It’ explores the life of an African-American woman fighting for sexual freedom.

The city of New York is more than a setting in Spike Lee’s films, it is a character as well. After the Great Migration, African Americans started to create a black urban culture that would exert enormous influence. And it is where he chooses to tell his stories.

The costumes in ‘Malcolm X’ were based on how African-Americans dressed in the 50/60’s. When Malcolm is a young man he wears a zoot suit with vibrant colors, but after Malcolm joins the nation of Islam, he wears a regular black and white suit. This could symbolize the change in Malcolm’s attitude as he transforms from Malcolm Little to Malcolm X. In ‘Do the Right Thing’ the costume palette of the characters is loud and the clothes are minimal, reflecting and highlighting the sweltering heat. In ‘She’s Gotta Have It’ costume was used to showcase a character’s personality, like when we see a shot of Mars Blackmon’s Air Jordans, it lets the audience know that he’s an immature character.

The colors grey, black, and blue is predominantly seen in the film ‘Malcolm X’. The color use speaks to the time period of the film as opinions ranged from White supremacy to Back to Africa and a multitude of ideas in-between. Spike Lee’s use of in ‘Do the Right Thing’ lighting demonstrates an awareness of the oppression experienced by the entire neighborhood. Inside is a haven against the oppressive mood and heat outside; the sunlight is muted. However, the mood can still be felt, as long shadows are cast into the interiors. Outside, the sunlight casts an orange, hazy glare over everything in the neighborhood. The sun is an omnipresent object in the film, and everything and everyone is affected by the light and heat it radiates. Most of ‘She’s Gotta Have It’ is shot mostly in black and white, but it has a vibrant birthday sequence in color. The use of color in the birthday sequence highlighted the exaggerated tone of the sequence.

In ‘Do the Right Thing’ there are many Dutch angle shots that mirror the instability in the neighborhood where racial tensions are threating to boil over. ‘Malcolm X’ has Spike Lee’s trademark double dolly shot this is when Malcolm is about to speak for the last time. The shot gives a very gloomy feel, and as though Malcolm is being pulled to his death. ‘She’s Gotta Have It’ and ‘Do the Right Thing’ have a shot in a documentary style to them. They both have sequences that have characters break the fourth wall by talking to or acknowledging the audience. Sometimes his films have archival footage or photos as well, a video of Rodney King being attacked by the police is at the beginning of ‘Malcolm X’, and a photo of Martin Luther King, Jr and Malcolm X shaking hands is shown at the end of ‘Do the Right Thing’.

Spike Lee showcases the experiences of African-Americans in urban areas like New York. This can be seen in his films ‘Do the Right Thing’, ‘She’s Gotta Have It’, and ‘Malcolm X’.