In “Jay-Z: The Criminal Justice System Stalks Black People Like Meek Mill”, published by The New York Times, Jay-Z persuades his audience that a change in the criminal justice system should be called for. He effectively uses a logical flow of ideas, examples, good word choice, and literary devices to achieve his goal.…
Cruse opens the text with then contemporarily profound ideals concerning the ‘new’ Negro intellectual class that emerged out of the late 1950s and 1960s. In his discussion around the Negro spokesperson, I found myself considering the idea of Black representationalism—the avant-garde context of Cruse’s ‘spokesperson.’ His depiction of true America were bone-chilling as he analyzes the country in its totality in efforts to capitalize on the Negro’s function within in. Cruse speaks very highly of Harlem. At times, his thoughts seems to be guided through a bias, but as he spoke more of the section within the Manhattan borough, I conjured up the image of the utopia described. Cruse provides the vision for group Black economics, the vision of unity. Emerging in between the high-rises and co-ops of Harlem is a world separate from that of America. I was able to dissolve the thoughts of biases from Cruse as I noted several cases in which he, too, spoke of Harlem’s downfalls. His personal anecdotes provides the reader with full truths that employ historical contexts throughout the novel. Cruse uses his narrative of the city’s highs and lows to articulate the reality of double consciousness and introduces what…
Invisible Yet Strong “Black America’s Invisible Crisis” is an Essence article written by Lois Beckett that talks about a woman named Aireana and her family who were diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In 2013, after riding along with her family in their car, someone on the outside started shooting at them. Aireana and her husband got shot, but her two kids were unharmed in the back seat. As Aireana was bleeding from the neck and mouth, she didn’t want her kids to think that she was going to die. She crawled out the car as she hear her kids screaming from the back seat yelling out, “My mom’s dying!”…
Ta-Nehisi really sets the tone of his article in his subheading. Coates writes, “Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of Jim Crow. Sixty years of separate but equal. Thirty-five years of racist housing policy. Until we reckon with our compounding moral debts, America will never be whole.” Coates chooses this opportune moment in today’s world to jumpstart a truthful discussion of all the terrible acts inflicted on black people throughout america's history. During the years of slavery black people were held captivate and used as free labor, not to mention all the evil acts that were done to blacks, such as sexual assault and abuse , Instruments of Torture, Whipping, shackling, lynching, burning and castration. The united states of america was built by africans at no monetary cost. In today’s economy every african american should be a millionaire. Just think about working from the early morning to the late evening every single day in bondage getting physically and mentally…
have it and that such a power structure in our society exist. When defining white male…
He felt the administration valued compliance more than self-discovery. They cared nothing for the wellbeing and development of the minds for African American childrens because to them, blacks would forever be stuck in the endless cycle of failure alongside ignorance. Coates felt the school system, a place for learning and growth, were not in favor for blacks. The result of the poor education quality from schools led black children to be disengaged from schools on account of being unsuccessful and more involved with the criminal justice system , “Fully 60 percent of all young black men who drop out of school will go to jail” (Coates,…
Over time have been enjoying Ta-Nehisi Coates’s writings. Not because he is a Black American but how excellent his essays and blog are in the world that is jammed with skilled critics who are led by ego and their awareness of certain ideas. He had a lot of hardships growing up in the streets of Baltimore. He had to do all he could to avoid all the evil that was served by the world to him. This has made him talk freely without fear of the various facts that need to be understood by the people and the government. As it has always been known that one’s experience shapes his future positively or negatively, Coates life as a youth has made him humble but slightly rebellious.…
Ta-Nehisi Coates, like James Baldwin, attacks racism by attacking the concept of race itself. He says “I have not spent my time studying the problem of ‘race’— ‘race’ itself is just a restatement and retrenchment of the problem” (115). And yet Coates takes pride in—revels in—black American culture in a way Baldwin never really did. Baldwin was a true outsider: a black, gay, American expatriate. Coates, while realizing that black culture is entirely a product of subjugation, violence, and segregation, has not extricated himself so completely from American society that he refuses to acknowledge and celebrate the particulars of his culture as he sees it. Whereas Baldwin can occasionally seem removed and impartial, almost habitually casting a critical eye at even the people and traditions nearest him, Coates writes without qualms and with something like a religious fervor (though neither man is religious) about hip-hop, historically black colleges, and Malcolm X—while simultaneously developing a philosophy (“race is the child of racism, not the father” [7]) that is at least partially at odds with each. He remains conscious of the contradiction though, ultimately straddling the two viewpoints masterfully. Clearly, he’s comfortable with ambiguity. The last paragraph acknowledges this central divide by acknowledging the impossibility of transcending so thoroughly acculturated a notion as race, while presenting a more optimistic vision of a potential path for his son—not a way out, but a step forward. “Struggle for your grandmother and grandfather, for your name. But do not struggle for the Dreamers. Hope for them. Pray for them, if you are so moved. But do not pin your struggle on their conversion. The Dreamers will have to learn to struggle themselves” (151).…
In spite of this, he does not embody the generalized definition of activism in which most believe a sort of protest must be ensued. Coates does, however, represent activism in the same way Baldwin did—by utilizing his writing as a “moral force” for the social movement. Both authors give moral reasoning for these movements to continue forward, just like how MLK maintained the moral foundation of the Civil Rights era. Essentially, their work ensures the moral argument for equal rights stays alive despite the constant backlash. More importantly, the two share a common writing style, not grammatically, but conceptually. The two writers demonstrate an almost identical “forensic, analytical, cold-eyed stare down of white moral innocence.” Like Baldwin, Coates continues to see an unfolding of racism and discrimination specifically within America. Thus, he extends rather than replicates the ideals of Baldwin while itemizing the struggles of African Americans. By speaking, publishing, and creating, Coates is able to not only impact his audience, but articulate the battles of the movement through different means. In recent times, he has created a new series of the Black Panther comic book, been a visiting professor at MIT, developed the foundations for a feature film with Michael B. Jordan, and framed a television series based off of Martin Luther King. Some may say his actions do not represent activism, however, all of these projects have progressed and illustrated the need for political, economic, and social reform for African Americans—which is the main premise of activism. Therefore, Coates is an activist of today without the need to protest, simply due to his empowering and stimulating pieces that push others to join the…
The bill to prohibit the use of racial profiling is known as the “The End Racial Profiling Act” as introduced by Benjamin L. Cardin. Cardin widely addresses the deceptive practice of racial profiling by law enforcement on five levels. First, it visibly defines the racially prejudiced practice of racial profiling by law enforcement at all levels. Second, it generates a federal prohibition against racial profiling. Thirdly, it mandates data collection so we can completely assess the factual degree of the problem. Fourth, it provides funding for the reinstruction of law enforcement officials on how to stop and avoid the use of racial profiling. Fifth and finally, it holds law enforcement agencies that continue to use racial profiling…
Racial Profiling is the biggest complaint in the black community, and one of the primary reasons why African Americans are put behind bars at a very fast rate. There could be a young sophisticated black male walking down the street , and because of his height, skin color, attire, and hair he could be stopped and searched. Sometimes the police may mistakenly identify a person as someone else and charge the person , and the individual may spend years behind bars until found innocent. "Blacks in Cleveland received one and a half times (1.53) their proportional share of traffic tickets, while whites received slightly less than two-thirds (0.60) of their share, another minorities received eight per-cent more than their proportional share of tickets (1.08)" (Dunn 971) The quote is saying that African American are pulled over for tickets more than white people. This quote show that cops pull people because they see black skin. A lot of times when a person is found innocent the government do not give them anything to make up for the time that was lost, but instead they throw them back into the world with nothing but confusion.…
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.…
In the book Between the world and Me, Coates talks about a variety of different ideas and concepts. The one that was the most powerful message in the novel is what he has to say about racism. Coates believes that racism gave birth to race and not the other way around. He backs this statement by saying that White people only think they are white because it gives them their power and privilege. He goes on to explain that White people don’t think they are racist. They see just differences in wealth, education and treatment by police. He states that racism actually is the rejection of the black body.…
In the beginning Locke tells us about “the tide of Negro migration”. During this time in a movement known as the Great Migration, thousand of African Americans also known as Negros left their homes in the South and moved North toward the beach line of big cities in search of employment and a new beginning. They left the South because of racial violence such as the Ku Klux Klan and economic discrimination not able to obtain work. Their migration was an expression of their changing attitudes toward themselves as Locke said best From The New Negro, and has been described as "something like a spiritual emancipation." Many African Americans moved to Harlem, a neighborhood located in Manhattan. Back in the day Harlem became the world’s largest black community; also home to a diverse mix of cultures. Having extraordinary outbreak of inspired movement revealed their unique culture and encouraged them to discover their heritage; and becoming "the New Negro,” Also known as “New Negro Movement,” it was later named the Harlem Renaissance.…
Injustice means lack of fairness or justice. I honestly think that injustice mean same to the definition, but I think that it means lack of equality of people or treated people based on their appearances unfairly. I also think it is violation of the rights of other people. In this world, there is injustice such as racism. People make stereotypes about people based on their culture. Such as Asian people are always smart, black people are always getting in trouble, or women are weak. Racism is kind of similar to stereotypes, however it is mostly different. Racism is poor treatment of or violence against people because of their race. That is what I think injustice…