Fear of a Black President

The Underrepresented, the Unappreciated and the Misunderstood
We live in a world that revolves around racism. Every single person we encounter comes with a set of predispositions based solely on race that society has constructed. In his article “Fear of a Black President”, Ta-Nehisi Coates discusses how America conveys the false idea that racism is extinct simply because our president is Black. But how could racism be over when Americans constantly use racialization to marginalize one another? The harsh reality is that every race faces some form of discrimination and unless we acknowledge this; racism will remain inevitable in American society.
One group that constantly faces racial persecution is African Americans. A recent incident which rekindled the racial controversy was the death of Treyvon Martin. Treyvon was a young African American boy who was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, a Hispanic-White, who perceived Martin as a threat. But this leaves one question, what made him a threat? Was it his black skin hidden by a hoodie that made him look dangerous? Sadly, Treyvon was killed because of social stereotypes placed upon African Americans. Americans have stated that “racism no longer exists.” Unfortunately, racism still exists and is very strong in our communities, people of color suffer from many disadvantages because of the racism of others. Racism brings upon the belief that Black people are not hard working, and so come with the stereotype that they would not be good employees, thus making it harder for them to find a job and climb the social ladder leading to a better life – all this because of what other people are judging based solely on their skin color. Racism is far from extinct. In Rex E. Huppkee’s article in the Chicago Times entitled “Saying ‘racism is over’ is the new saying you have 'a black friend'” he quotes a man who states that “People who believe the Progressive storyline that America is a racist society believe it because they want to believe it, even though racist attitudes, now reserved to the lower classes and uneducated, no longer have any power or influence in American society." This is absolutely false, racism is still prominent in our society. If this were true, why would the Bureau of Prisons report that 40% of prisoners are African American? That percentage is a very large number, and it really cannot be blamed on their race alone. Black people do not just happen to end up in jail more frequently, or end up there at a higher rate because they are more “violent”; they end up in prison more often because we cluster most African Americans together into small ghetto communities. The crime rates in these urban communities are very high and generally the only way to progress in that type of society is by partaking in crime yourself, there is almost no alternative because the education systems in those areas are very low quality and so a chance at a better life is crippled greatly without the correct amount of support for these communities. How can someone say that racism does not have power over American society when African Americans are basically designed to be put into the prison system from birth?
Racism is not limited to African Americans. Racism is very alive in the Hispanic community as well and is very much on the rise with talk of immigration reform in the works. In a CNN Article, national news desk editor, Nick Valencia speaks on behalf of his experience with racism where he was standing in a large festival with a group of people from Mexico City and a white woman blatantly came up to them screaming “Why don't you go back home to Mexico before you ruin this country like you ruined your own!" This kind of action is not unusual, but actually very common in many White neighborhoods when a Latino is present. Though many are not nearly as vocal with their racism, the social atmosphere of hatred is still present. The distaste for Hispanic people runs deep in American veins, we reside in a country where the state of Arizona was allowed to pass a bill making it okay to have its police offers check anyone’s immigration status if they have “reasonable suspicion”, meaning any person who has brown skin and looks as though they might have recently crossed the border. This exemplifies the struggle Hispanics must go through in this country to even attempt to live the “American Dream” and have hopes of making themselves a valued member of society. We live in a constant cycle of oppression where those who are viewed as lesser because of their skin color are stuck in de facto communities where education is not valued as highly as in the upper class communities and so it is the social norm to stick people of color in debunked jobs and so they are given a predetermined status of success. This results in a lack of social mobility and so colored communities become stuck in the same social cycle as they have always been put in, there is no way out except for the very few people who go the extra mile and ensure that they receive a higher education and leave this dangerous cycle of static movement. Hispanics are working the jobs that nobody else wants for extremely little pay, and so ironically, these people are the support beams of the American economy and yet they are blamed for destroying it. Hispanics are notoriously underpaid and underrepresented, and so we must learn to accept the struggle that comes with our skin color and heritage. We must learn that the racism directed towards us is very powerful and people will most likely judge us from the moment they see us based solely on the stereotypes that come with being brown. But even though our communities face a concentrated amount of social stigma, people of color must also understand that we are not the only ones who are subject to stereotyping due to our skin color. Though not nearly as dangerous and oppressing, White people face quite a lot of racial prejudice as well. There is a negative stigma that all racism stems from White Americans towards other races, but there is actually a growing belief that the White population is no longer the majority and so they face the oppression of a minority group. In a CNN Article, “Are whites racially oppressed?” John Blake illuminates the ideal that the White man is just as oppressed as Hispanics and Blacks, although I personally find many of the ideals written in this article absolutely absurd, it does highlight a valid notion. Whites, though usually seen as the people who are the discriminators, are also very discriminated against as well. Most people of color blame ALL white people for our struggles in life and our socioeconomic status and so as described by, Brazilian educator and philosopher, Pablo Freire, “the oppressed [become] the oppressors”, and by having the people of color become the oppressors ourselves we also become just as judgmental and prejudice as the people who have oppressed us. This social stigma stems from the mindset that White Americans are born privileged and that they do not have to work for a dime of their money. It comes with the ideal that they view minorities as inferior beings. But like every other stereotype in the world, though it does hold true for some, it definitely does not apply to all. People of color must come to terms with the fact that White people are stereotyped against as well, and though these stereotypes do not come with nearly the same severity as the stereotypes that come with being Hispanic or Black, they are still present. White stereotypes are not nearly as severe because, realistically, a White man will not lose the opportunity at his dream job for being White. A White man does not have to worry about going down the streets of Beverly Hills and having someone yell “You don’t work for anything you have!” This just does not happen. Although the racism people of color face is incomparable, it does not give us an excuse to persecute Whites.
Racism is far from dead, and though we have made strides towards equality, we have not achieved it just yet. We, as Americans, have achieved the election of a Black president, but we have yet to achieve full racial blindness. It should make no difference if someone is brown, black, white, yellow or any other color of the rainbow, everyone should receive the same opportunities and social equality. We, as people of color, have strived for a better life and have lost countless opportunities towards it because of the amount of melanin in our skin and the biases that come along with having that skin color. The Black community is underrepresented despite all their efforts they put forth in their strive for greatness. The Hispanic community is underappreciated for their low paying jobs that grind their fingers to the bone. And the White community is misunderstood for the fact that they are all seen as the enemy when many of them can be avid supporters of pro-equality. Our country has come a very long way from the days of slavery and segregation, but the journey is not over. We have not achieved equality and I will not consider our people of color equal until our skin color and last names does NOT define our power.