Traditionally, in the black community we tend to not think about things like eating disorders and it is believed by many that they don't happen in our community. The thought, is that we all love our "inherently" thick bodies, and the idea that this "thickness" is something that black women glorify and strive to achieve. Eating Disorders among black girls are so common, yet they are easily dismissed as “white girl stuff” and that can be so destructive and harmful. By: Paige White Since 1951, Germany has paid an estimated $25 billion in reparations to Israeli Holocaust survivors. The issue of reparations for slavery is a divisive one in America. A 2002 opinion poll yielded that 67% of Blacks supported the idea of monetary reparations, yet only 4 percent of whites agreed. If America were to compensate African-Americans for their centuries of unpaid servitude, it would cost over $100 trillion dollars, based on 222,505,049 hours of forced labor between 1619 and 1865, with a compounded interest of 6%. African Americans are owed reparations for over two centuries of forced, unpaid labor, in terrible conditions. This is a satiric blog created by a fellow teenager, so show support!! WE CHALLENGE YOU TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN YOUR COMMUNITY! OUR GOAL IS TO GET YOU AND YOUR PEERS TO SHARE YOUR DREAMS AND ASPIRATIONS FOR YOUR OWN LIVES AND THE WORLD AROUND YOU. HOPEFULLY THESE DREAMS WILL INSPIRE EACH OF YOU, TO SET GOALS AND BEGIN TAKING THE STEPS TO HELP YOU REACH THEM. Historically Black Colleges/Universities (HBCUs) educate African American students better than Predominately White Institutions (PWIs). A Historically Black College or University, according to the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, defines a HBCU as, "any historically Black college or university that was established prior to 1964, whose principal mission was, and is, the education of Black Americans, and that is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association determined by the Secretary of Education." Until 1954, which brought about the U.S. Supreme Court decision, Brown vs. Board of Education, which ended "separate but equal" school systems, HBCUs were the only option for Blacks interested in attending college. The first HBCU, Cheyney University, in Pennsylvania, was founded by a Quaker Philanthropist in 1837, 28 years before the end of slavery. Today, there are over 100 Historically Black Colleges/Universities scattered across the United Sates, most, in rural or urban areas in former slave states. HBCUs offer culture, a rich history, and rigorous academic programs. A Predominately White Institution is any institution of higher learning that is composed of 50% or more non-minority students. Predominately white institutions make up 97% of the universities in this country.
Although today’s HBCUs represent just three percent of the nation’s institutions of higher learning, they graduate nearly 20 percent of African Americans who earn undergraduate degrees. In addition, the institutions graduate more than 50 percent of African American professionals and public school teachers. HBCUs hold a unique legacy to the specific needs of young African American minds. They continue to demonstrate the most effective ability to graduate African American students poised to be competitive in the corporate, research, academic, governmental and military arenas. North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro, North Carolina, a historically Black university, consistently graduates more Black engineers than any other University in the US. The supportive atmospheres of these colleges improve a student's ability to reach higher levels of academic achievement. Studies have shown that 9 out of 10 colleges with African-American graduates who pursue a PhD are attending HBCUs. Due to their history, HBCUs provide a strong sense of community and raise ethnic and racial awareness in students. Going to an HBCU makes a statement. Students feel empowered by attending a university that has a history of fighting for African-American' rights to higher education. Many Black students benefit from being around fellow students and professors who share their cultural experience to varying extents. Students have come to know that they can only find a good distribution of such individuals at a historically Black college or university. Classes and extracurricular activities are designed to speak directly to the African-American experience and are often only available at HBCUs or may provide the most benefits at a historically Black college or university. Black students tend to be academically, culturally, and economically incompatible with the PWI model of education. The PWI model caters to individuals who academically meet white-created standards, like high grade point averages and standardized test scores. It caters to students who have culturally assimilated into mainstream society, and who possess the financial resources to pay for the rising costs of education. Essentially, most students who do not identify with the doctrine of the dominant model of living in the United States, which most minority students do not, will struggle at Predominately White Institutions. Many African American students perceive PWIs as hostile, unsupportive, and unwelcoming. One way that hostility manifests itself at Predominately White Institutions, is through peer culture. When fellow students display negative attitudes about the presence of Blacks, the result is an unfriendly environment for Black students to reside and learn. Faculty can also aid in the development of a hostile atmosphere for Black students at PWIs. Some professors and other college employees have elitist attitudes toward education and do not consider Black students apart of this group. The lack of African American professors and staff may result in a Black student feeling isolated and ostracized. At PWIs, Black students also face ignorance about Black culture. The curriculum, teaching styles, student services, campus, and extracurricular activities are usually geared toward white students. For example, when Black students read history books, the information is usually derived from a monocultural perspective, and reflects the opinions of the dominant culture, which in this case is white. Historically Black Colleges/Universities were created for the sole purpose of educating Black students, who at the time could be educated nowhere else. With a keen and unparalleled understanding of Black life and socioeconomic culture, HBCUs are able to provide an education that Predominately White Institutions cannot match. With the lack of programs and opportunities geared toward African American students, paired with the minimal quantity of African American faculty, it is difficult for Black students to prosper emotionally and academically at Predominately White Institutions. Thurgood Marshall, Oprah Winfrey, Martin Luther King Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, and Spike Lee all have something in common; they all attended Historically Black Colleges/Universities. Over the years, HBCUs have created a legacy of Black excellence, they nurture students while still preparing students for the challenges that they will face in the real world. Racism; it’s an ugly thing and from the time we are young we are taught that we shouldn't practice this; we learn what it has looked like in the past, and are told to speak out against it if we ever see it. However, how are you to fight against something when you don’t truly know your enemy. In elementary school we are taught that segregation is an aspect of racism and because segregation is outlawed racism doesn’t really exist anymore, we are taught that because we can all sit in a classroom black and white alike and learn from the same teacher and the same text book that equality is widespread and abundant. This is not the case. Especially in recent times we can see the blatant disregard for life based on race. I did not learn what racism truly was until I was in the 10th grade, in my AP U.S. History class and once I did it changed my perception of the world around me drastically.
Many times racism is confused with discrimination or prejudice. Prejudice is an irrational dislike of a person or group of people based on a stereotype and discrimination is when prejudice is acted on. However, racism describes patterns of discrimination that are institutionalized as “normal” throughout an entire culture. Racism is based on the ideological belief that one race is better than another, at this point it’s not just one person, but an entire population operating in a social structure that makes it difficult for a person not to discriminate. One of the main reasons racism today is so dangerous is because it’s inherent and because of that we are blind to it. When most people think of racism in their mind they see ‘white only’ signs and ‘colored’ drinking fountains and this may have been the blatant outright racism of the 1950’s however, it’s 2014 and just as times are changing and evolving, racism is right along side it. Today racism is sly and covert, voter-ID laws, the unequal distribution of wealth, lack of job opportunities, disproportionate education systems, and ineffective government programs. These are all ways society continues the systematic oppression of minorities. New forms of racism also include the denial of racism altogether, the belief that reverse racism is real, and the denial and blindness of white privilege. When people deny racism it dismisses and invalidates peoples’ claims of racism so injustice carries on unscathed. Colorblindness is something that many people are practicing today, this is the total disregard for the color of someones skin or their race. This sounds okay on the surface but ultimately causes more harm than it does good. If we were all equal in society then maybe colorblindness wouldn’t be such a bad thing but, colorblindness negates the cultural values and life experiences for people of color. The thinking is that if the color of the skin is ignored then it can’t be racism and if everyone does this then racism will disappear and what this argument fails to realize is that there are few people that are intentionally racist, most prejudices are unconscious and we don’t even know that we have them. Colorblindness is ultimately more hurtful than racism itself because what it’s saying is that you think being a person of color is so bad you have to picture us as people of no color in order to give us an equal opportunity, where at least the color of my skin is at least acknowledged in an institution of racism. Many who are unaware of what racism truly is will advocate the validity of reverse racism, which does not and cannot exist. Reverse racism is essentially when a race that is neither oppressed or put at a disadvantage cries racism at ‘injustices’. Systems of racism are developed over time and are put into place by a race in a position of power, therefore it’s not possible to experience racism when the political and social systems put into place have always been in the interest of your race. This perpetuates racism because people believe that minorities and majorities are equally subjected to racism, therefor everyone should just stop complaining. Reverse racism increases racism against minorities by encouraging people to believe that there really is no racism against minorities because in this mindset racism is simply two sides of the same coin when it’s not. White privilege is unearned power conferred systematically, it is granted to those who resemble the people who dominate the powerful positions in our institutions. White privileges include: access to resources not available to those of other races, white history being taught as a core class while the history of a minority is not even offered as an elective, being able to speak out and fight against injustices without fear of the repercussions of your actions, and just simply because institutions in place cater to the needs of white people more readily than they ever have towards people of color. White privilege furthers the institution of racism because most white people are unaware that they possess these advantages and when they use them it says that they are okay with the fact that the privileges given to them aid in the preservation of the systematic oppression of colored people and as long as no one speaks out against it the cycle will continue on. I went through 15 years of my life without truly understanding a concept that has such a strong effect on my life. I remember the moment so clearly, it was another long day in APUSH but I was just happy that we were done discussing WWII and moving on to something else. That something else happened to be the 1950’s and the Civil Rights Movement, one of the first things my teacher told us before we began the unit was “I need you all to understand two things before we begin this unit, 1. Racism does not happen towards white people and 2. What racism really is is an institution designed to keep a race oppressed”, and after he said that everything I thought to be true about race and racism changed. It never occurred to me that this was a systematic institution with rhyme, reason, and an agenda, up until then I never really thought about race or racism like most people the topic made me uncomfortable and I avoided it at all costs. After my enlightenment it’s as if the world became a much worse place and I started to question people and things I previously wouldn’t have thought about. It’s as if something within me awakened and yielded an awareness of not only the institution of racism in the world around me but my place in that institution. I began to question my own actions, whether or not I was helping the situation or fueling the fire and it became more and more important to me to assess my surrounding and reassess the people I surrounded my self with. My recognition of my lack of knowledge about racism has only helped me in the sense that I am better able to educate myself on such a relevant subject. It’s far easier to confront your adversary when you understand their motives and the way they work. Cultural appropriation is the practice of one culture adopting the traditions of another culture. In most instances, cultural appropriation occurs when a dominant group takes elements of a minority’s culture. The dominant group often has little to no understanding of the minority’s history, experiences, and traditions. Due to these facts, socially aware people tend to frown upon this phenomenon. Who Owns Culture? Appropriation and Authenticity in American Law, defined cultural appropriation as follows: “Taking intellectual property, traditional knowledge, cultural expressions, or artifacts from someone else's culture without permission. This can include unauthorized use of another culture's dance, dress, music, language, folklore, cuisine, traditional medicine, religious symbols, etc. It's most likely to be harmful when the source community is a minority group that has been oppressed or exploited in other ways or when the object of appropriation is particularly sensitive, e.g. sacred objects.” In the United States, cultural appropriation almost always involves members of the dominant culture, which is white, “borrowing” from the cultures of minority groups. African Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans and indigenous peoples generally tend to be groups targeted for cultural appropriation. Black music and dance, Native American fashions, decorations and cultural symbols, and Asian martial arts and dress have all fallen prey to cultural appropriation. The author of There are many examples of cultural appropriation throughout history. In the 1950’s for example, white musicians borrowed the musical style of their black counterparts. Because African Americans weren’t widely accepted in U.S. society at that time, record executives chose to have white recording artists replicate the sound of black musicians. This exemplifies the negative effects of cultural appropriation, as white executives never gave blacks the credit for originating these musical stylings. The result of this can be seen today, as musical forms such as rock-n-roll are largely associated with whites in spite of the fact that black musicians were pioneers of the art form. This move also had financial consequences, as many of the black musicians who helped pave the way for rock-n-roll’s success never saw a dime for their contributions to the music form. Cultural appropriation in America is still prominent, there are many examples of it in society today. Musicians such as Madonna, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, and Iggy Azalea have all been accused of cultural appropriation. Madonna, for instance, popularized the form of personal expression known as voguing, which began in black and Latino sects of the gay community. Madonna has also used Latin America as a backdrop in a music video and appeared in attire with roots in Asia, as has Gwen Stefani who faced criticism for her fixation on Harajuku culture from Japan. When singer Katy Perry performed as a geisha at the American Music Awards in November 2013, she described it as homage to Asian culture. Asian Americans disagreed with this assessment, declaring her performance “yellowface.” The Wall Street Journal’s Jeff Yang said that her performance did not celebrate Asian culture but misrepresented it entirely. He found it particularly problematic that Perry dressed as a geisha to perform the song “Unconditonally” about a woman who pledges to love her man no matter what. “The thing is, while a bucket of toner can strip the geisha makeup off of Perry’s face, nothing can remove the demeaning and harmful iconography of the lotus blossom from the West’s perception of Asian women — a stereotype that presents them as servile, passive,” Yang wrote, “and as Perry would have it, ‘unconditional’ worshippers of their men, willing to pay any price and weather any kind of abuse in order to keep him happy.” In 2013, Miley Cyrus became the pop star most associated with cultural appropriation. During recorded and live performances, the former child star began to “twerk”, a dance style with roots in African-American culture. Writer Hadley Freeman of The Guardian particularly took issue with Cyrus’ “twerking” at the MTV Video Music Awards in August 2013. “On stage as well as in her video she used the tedious trope of having black women as her backing singers, there only to be fondled by her and to admire her wiggling derriere,” Freeman pointed out. “Cyrus is explicitly imitating crunk music videos and the sort of hip-hop she finds so edgy – she has said, bless her, that she feels she is Lil' Kim inside and she loves ‘hood music’ – and the effect was not of a homage but of a minstrel show, with a young wealthy woman from the South doing a garish imitation of black music and reducing black dancers to background fodder and black women to exaggerated sex objects.” At the 2014 hip-hop awards Iggy Azalea, a white “hip-hop” artist from Australia, won “hip-hop album of the year” over many black artists, including Kendrick Lamar and Drake. This is where cultural appropriation gets tricky, because you cannot say that she shouldn’t be awarded because she is white, but hip-hop originated in the black community and she is taking the art form as her own and is being awarded for something that she did not create. She is imitating black artists, she is echoing the sounds of another culture but she is the one being given the credit. To simplify it even further, it can be compared to if you stood in the mirror, and your reflection won People’s magazine Sexiest Man/Woman Alive 2015 award. The copy is being rewarded for the original’s work. Instances like these are where cultural appropriation becomes a real problem because it says to young black kids, or kids of any minority, that they cannot even aspire to be a pioneer in a field that they’re ancestors created. Cultural appropriation remains a concern for a variety of reasons. For one, this sort of “borrowing” is exploitative because it robs minority groups of the credit they deserve. Art forms, music forms, etc., that originated with minority groups come to be associated with members of the dominant group. As a result the dominant group is deemed innovative and edgy, while the disadvantaged groups they “borrow” from continue to face negative stereotypes that imply they’re lacking in intelligence, creativity and more. In addition, when members of a dominant group appropriate the cultures of others, they often reinforce stereotypes about minority groups. Nico Lang, a guest blogger for the Los Angeles Times, pointed out in a post that cultural appropriation highlights the power imbalance that remains between those in power and those who’ve been historically marginalized. As such, a member of a dominant group can assume the traditional dress of a minority group for a Halloween party, a music performance and so on. Yet, they remain blissfully unaware of the roots of such dress and sound, and the challenges those who originated it have faced in Western culture. The victims of cultural appropriation are the members of the minorities, and normally, they have been oppressed. They are the second class citizens of this country and they have nothing else but their music, and dance, and art. Cultural appropriation perpetuates a system of white-supremacy where even the things that whites did not originate, they can steal and be recognized as the creators. |