Sylvester1
Jon’nae Sylvester
Professor Soliman
Africana Studies
October 6, 2020
BLM And Education
To be black or not to be: that is the question. I didn't choose to be black but I
must take on the hardships and responsibilities of it. When the phrase black lives matter
began being circulated through the media some of the world was able to witness the
hardships that we faced however there were many who claimed it wasn’t real. “All lives
matter” soon came about as a counter protest by those too ignorant to understand the
meaning of the message we were trying to convey. In this essay, I will dissect the phrase
Black lives matter and my own personal experiences being black in America.
To begin, we start with the first atrocity commited. Africans were stolen from their
conutries and forced to be in America, their sole purpose was to be free labor. Slavery, one
of the most tragic events in world history, lasted for more than 200 years. With it, became
this widespread ideology that black indivuals were inferior to white people. To justify
everything Europeans did, they made biased scientific research showing that the african brain
was smaller and most related to the monkey.
Even after the end of slavery, Oppression still lingered, “Separate but equal”
became its new name. The circumstances between the two were never infact equal. This sparked
outrage and started the civil right movement. All over the country individuals were
Sylvester2
demanding their basic human rights to be respected. It helped us come far but as a
country, we still have far to go.
Today, Schools are more segregated than in the 1950s, when it was legal for it to
be. A 2017 study showed in New Orleans,LA, there are six public schools who have a student
body less than 80% African American. Personally, I don't seem to understand why people
can’t just accept the fact that we have suffered and we still are. Sure there are laws
against it but in reality it isn’ t set in practice. This can be seen in the media with the
killing of innocent unarmed blacks.
There is a large racial gap with everything. Black mothers have a higher maternity
fatality rate than every other race. The average number of black people in poverty is
higher than the national average. There were many laws that assigned much harsher
sentences for using or possessing crack, for example, compared to cocaine. Finally, when
black people are convicted, they are about 20% more likely to be sentenced to jail time,
and typically see sentences 20% longer than those for whites who were convicted of
similar crimes, this according to the United States Sentencing Committee.​ ​We make only
15% of the U.S population but make 58% of the prison population and that correlates to
not being able to find a job, housing , or receive government assistance. This also inhibits
their right to vote, an American right, by keeping most blacks out of the polls they can
control the government.
We wouldn’t have to even be protesting that black lives matter if we had been
seen as human, if we wouldn’t have been taken and forced to work for individuals who
beat and raped us, or if they really did matter today. There is a lot of confusion with the
phrase Black lives matter. I can tell you the phrase is not trying to downgrade any other
Sylvester3
races struggle and its not to say that other lives don't.We are trying to say black lives
matter too, there is an implied “too” at the end. Many would like to ignore or act like
racism and discrimination does not exist. As well as think it has been eradicated.
Donald Trump, the current president of the U.S, is sponsored by the KKK. When
white people occupy most positions of decision-making power, people of color have a
difficult time​ getting a fair shake, let alone getting ahead.
They won't acknowledge their part in it but are quick to say our faults. For example, we
are accused of self segregation but one must also look at redlining and white flight. It
isn’t that we segregate ourselves but where we go are the only places those in power
allow us to be.
For this we revolt, what the Black Lives Matter movement is trying to
accomplish isn’t something new. Our need for equality has been expressed numerous
times. These systems that keep us anchored will exist no longer.There are many days we
wish history could be rewritten,even though it can’t we hope to change the future. was
quite upset but in the end I am very happy he won because his arrogance has exposed
how the U.S hasn’t changed. His views and opinions are racist and he is such a bigot. In
spite of this many Americans support him. Since his election, hate crimes have been on the
rise. White supremacists have been emboldened. Anti-immigrant propaganda has intensified.
So one can see how this country hasn’t progressed and that there isn’t as much equality
as many would like to believe it has.
We condemn these awful examples of prejudice and bias and hate, but systemic
racism is something different. It’s less about violence or burning crosses than it is about
everyday decisions made by people who may not even think of themselves as racist. As
Sylvester4
sociologist Eduardo Bonilla-Silva has ​said​, "The main problem nowadays is not the folks
with the hoods, but the folks dressed in suits."Systemic racism persists in our schools,
offices, court system, police departments, and almost everywhere.Whites control everything.
When white people occupy most positions of decision-making power, people of color have
a difficult time​ getting a fair shake, let alone getting ahead.
They won't acknowledge their part in it but are quick to say our faults. For example, we
are accused of self segregation but one must also look at redlining and white flight. It
isn’t that we segregate ourselves but where we go are the only places those in power
allow us to be.
For this we revolt, what the Black Lives Matter movement is trying to accomplish
isn’t something new. Our need for equality has been expressed numerous times. These
systems that keep us anchored will exist no longer.There are many days we wish history
could be rewritten, even though it can’t we hope to change the future.