So, I just finished watching both sections of Eyes on the Prize, all I can think about is the violence against people that we saw. It was violence against children, and one would think that adults would know better. And then, in the second portion it was violence against people just because they were different colors. In the words of the little girl in the first portion: "It's not fair."
Why does the world have to operate on this level? I find myself feeling that a lot of the racial problems this country has and is experiencing has to do with the fact that we have separated ourselves into different categories. We have African Americans, Latin Americans, Mexican Americans, German Americans, and regular Americans. I don't know about anyone else, but when I hear 'American' I immediately think of a white man.
I personally feel that we may have more success if we got rid of the differentials between Americans. Why do we have to separate black Americans with white Americans. Why can't we all just be American? I believe that once we get rid of the differential language between different groups of American citizens that we will be one step closer to a more equal society.
We learned that 'separate but equal' does not exist. It doesn't work, separate is inherently unequal. So, why do we still separate ourselves according to the color of our skin, or our backgrounds?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
I hear exactly what you're saying; we do need to think of ourselves as Americans first and foremost. However, I think we need to be tolerant and understanding of the fact that people want to hold on to their heritages. I am all in favor of everyone in America learning to speak English, but I don't think we can ask people to forget their homelands entirely. Part of what makes America great is its diversity of people and cultures. There has to be a way to celebrate our common American thread while respecting and recognizing the importance of remembering where each of our families came from.
ReplyDeleteAlright, total blathering here, but I have a comment to make. First I agree that the distinction between "Americans" is absurd but also for a personal reason. Story goes like this: My mom is a white lady, green eyes, blonde hair, the works. Dad is a greenhorn. He was born in Cape Verde and so is dark in skin tone, think brownish gold, dark brown eyes and what my sister calls half-rican brown dense but still wavey hair. My sister and I are a slammed at high speeds crosses between the two. (See my profile photo) This has lead me to an interesting discovery. While I was in the Army, for some reason, I became very quickly a part of the "brothas" and this was one of the most intersting experiences of my life having grown up in Bridgewater when it was still primarilty a white, working class, farm town. Here is why. My battle-buddy Cory, an African American by skin association, was entertaining my thought process one night when I asked him why it is okay for one black guy to call another black guy a "Nigga". His answer was that it was a term that they adopted from their roots and have turned from a negative to a positive in which conveys an ethinic closness or brotherhood of sorts. So this prompted me to ask what he designated himself to be, racially speaking. His answer was that he was African American. (This is where it gets intersting.) I laughed and said me too. Looking at me he laughed and said I was a little to pale for that designation. So I asked the question, what makes you an African American? He stated that because his ancestry came from Africa that this made him African American. So I told him mine did too. My father being born Cape Verde grew up in Senegal Africa and came here in a poultry plane in his early teens. His response was that this was not the same. So I said that, to clarify, he was claiming African decent from a liniage that stretched back what 200 to 500 years? He agreed and so I told him that I am first generation American born on my father's side and so that, you think would be a closer relation than a few centuries right. This made him laugh and although I did not become identified as anyones "Nigga" I did manage to make a connection on a human level with someone about the fact that our labels are rediculous and inacurately designate anything more than a pigmentation.Just a story I thought I bring up.
ReplyDelete