No one will deny that the ink is barely dry on the pages documenting the dark period of U.S. history surrounding slavery and leading up to the battle for civil rights.
Also it would be ignorant to pretend that prejudice no longer exists. Unfortunately racism to some degree is something that will never go away; it is part of life, has been forever and will always be.
However it seems that modern day Black Americans have made racism a constant and undying theme in their culture. It is the central topic in much of the music, media and expressed in everyday life.
I don’t think that Black Americans today can continue to compare their lives to those in the past. Blacks today are no more discriminated against in the U.S. than Mexicans, Asians, Jews, Middle Easterns or any other ethnicity.
Because of current events Mexicans are probably the most openly discriminated against people in the U.S. today. The economic gap between the average Mexican immigrant family and average White American family is far greater than that of an average Black family and White family.
But Mexican media is not saturated with the same negative messages and attitudes, suggesting that “the man” is keeping them down.
Recently the descendants of Black slaves have filed class action lawsuits for reparations from their ancestor’s enslavement. This is an example of how the oppressed mentality is being persisted.
Asian slaves and indentured servants were brought to the U.S. as well. They died on ships; they were worked to death suffered the same atrocities as black slave. Many were still working on the west coast railroads long after black slaves had been freed.
But the great grandchildren of those Asians are not suing for reparations. Where their descendants have moved on it seems that Blacks cannot.
If anyone deserves reparations it is Native Americans. The land that the slaves worked was taken through the outright destruction of these peoples.
Entire tribes were simply wiped out of existence and those that survived have watched the remains of their culture slowing fade away.
To this day they still live on reservations many in a level of poverty that most, even the poorest, Americans cannot imagine.
Blacks today should be proud of their racial progress. It was hard fought and justly earned. Unlike other cultures — including Native Americans — Black Americans have been completely integrated into U.S. culture and are not seen as foreigners by fellow Americans or outsiders.
The continued argument of inequality seems to have little foundation. Blacks dominate U.S. sports not to mention music and entertainment some of the highest paid careers in the World.
You must admit that it is hard to make the argument driving around in a Bentley and wearing $20K dentures. I think once you reach a certain tax bracket you can no longer claim you are being oppressed.
But even at these levels of success the notion of racial inequality is preached. It is almost as if Black people don’t want to accept that they are no longer at the top of the racial hit list.
This prevalent negative theme has very damaging consequences on the Black community as a whole and is major factor on its continued alienation. It has spawned a culture of self-imposed segregation.
Blacks are the only racial group that have their own national TV channel and do not speak a foreign language. They go to great lengths to separate themselves from everyone else in American society.
BET (Black Entertainment Television) goes to the extreme to have special version of TV commercials remade using black actors.
The key group that is singling Blacks out and making them a target is themselves. Discrimination does exist but the level of discrimination against Black Americans is at or even below the norm that all of us must deal with.
Ultimately you are what you believe you are. Blacks today live the life they have because their forefathers fought and rose above overwhelming oppression. Never forget their sacrifice but there is a difference between remembering the past and wallowing in it.
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