African American Racial Discrimination

Through the time there has been much racial discrimination happening in our society either because of the way someone looks, the way someone talks and even the because of their skin color. In the years 1600’s many African-Americans were being used as slaves in Africa. Men worked as farm laborers they had to harvest the crops and plant them. The women worked in the houses of the slave owners they took care of the children, made food for the family and also worked on farming. However, none of these African-Americans were paid for what they had worked for which made their living conditions very bad. On July 19, 2013, President Barack Obama gave a speech to the world on race. In that speech, Obama gives examples on how race has been affecting
our environment and our society. President Obama uses shameful, confrontational as his tones in order to make it clear to the people around the world that people should not be judged by their skin color but by their personalities. He says we really need to dig deep in ourselves and see if we are not the ones judging people based on their skin color but by the way they act.

Obama opens up his speech with a shameful tone. He starts off by giving the example of Trayvon Martin’s death. He then goes on to state that he could have been in the same situation that Trayvon Martin was, also says that Trayvon could have been one of his own kids. In the second paragraph, Obama states “There are very few African-American men who haven't had the experience of walking across the street and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars. There are very few African-Americans who haven't had the experience of getting on an elevator and a woman clutching her purse nervously and holding her breath until she had a chance to get off. That happens often.” (Obama). The purpose of this quote was to show the stereotypes that are given to African-Americans by Americans. The tone shameful is shown in this quote because these are things that only happen to black males these things would never happen to a white male. Just because the person has black skin doesn't mean that they have to be treated differently than a white person. The president gives an example of when a white female is on an elevator and a black male comes in the elevator, the white female feels threatened holding her purse tightly until she gets off. This shows the tone of shameful because it makes no sense why the women would feel threatened by the black male thinking that he is going to steal her purse and beat her when a white male can go in the elevator with the same lady and steal her purse and beat her, but just because that guy is white she is not worried about getting her purse stolen or her getting beaten because they are the same skin color. This is an issue because why do people feel like they are not safe near a black person why do they feel safer with a white male. The President express the central idea to not judge someone by their skin color or by their appearances but by the way they act.

Reading further in the speech, the president’s tone is still shameful but also a disappointment.
In the president's speech in the fifth paragraph, he states “And so the fact that sometimes that's unacknowledged adds to the frustration. And the fact that a lot of African-American boys are painted with a broad brush and the excuse is given, well, there are these statistics out there that show that African-American boys are more violent -- using that as an excuse to then see sons treated differently causes pain.” (Obama). When the author says “And the fact that a lot of African-American boys are painted with a broad brush” his meaning is that African-American men are painted as the bad people in our society because of their skin color and because of their tragedies in the past, this is why people say that African-Americans are more violent than other men because society has painted the faces of these fellow black men as the ones that will steal from you kill you and hurt you. This is wrong because any men are able to hurt someone and steal from someone but because their skin color is not black they are not pictured as bad people. Also, shows how people are more frightened by black males than by white males because they say they are more “violent”. This makes no sense because any person of any color skin can be as violent as a black male not just because you are not black you are not
violent. While reading throughout the end of president Obama's speech, his tone changes to confrontational.
In the sixth paragraph of the speech, Obama states “Am I judging people as much as I can, based on not the color of their skin, but the content of their character?” (Obama). In this quote, the president is saying that we should think deep inside of ourselves and think about how we treat people differently because of their skin color. He wants us to really think about how we would act in a situation where you're in an elevator and a black man gets in, would you feel threatened because the person is black and because of the stereotypes that have been given to them. He wants us to really think and tell ourselves if we are not judging them by their skin color but by their personality. The tone is now confrontational because it is showing how the president is treating these situations with an aggressive point of view by telling us to ask ourselves and see if we are not the ones that are judging these Africans-Americans by their skin color but by their personality. If people keep judging people by their skin color this will keep being an issue because the idea of race will keep happening because people are not being judged by their
personalities.

In the end, President Barack Obama wants us to know that it is wrong to judge people by their skin colors but to judge people by their personality and the way they really are.