Being Black in America

As I sit here and think about what it is to be Black in America. I realize how there are so many factors that affect African American people daily. One of the most damaging forces tearing at young black people in America today is the popular culture's image of what an "authentic" black person is supposed to look like and how that person is supposed to act. People assume all black males where raised in a single parent home. People assume that if you are a black male, that you sale drugs or you are really great in some type of sport. If you are a black female, they assume you will have kids by different men, referred to as “baby daddy” or they may not even know who the fathers of their children are. This same society expects African Americans’ to be uneducated, and having a lack of knowledge of their government or their surroundings in life.
However, if another African American points out that this so-called culture is defeatist and damaging, because it leads to high drop-out rates, record black-on-black murder statistics and a record number of out-of-wedlock births is dismissed as a prude and a censor. Anyone questioning lyrics that glorify violence and make it cool to treat women as sex toys is told that the words reflect the reality of black life, and that they are "acting white." They are called lame or frowned upon because they do not delight in the same type of life style.
I am here to state that we are not who they say we are. All black men and women do not sell drugs or live on welfare. All black men and women, do not rob, steal or murder from their neighbors. All black men and women do not play sports and we do not all have children, without the means to take care of them. I am not what they say I am. I am better then what they ever expected. We are better than what they could ever imagine, being black in America could be.
For example, take a moment and turn the television channel on VH-1, MTV, or BET and you will notice hip-hop music