Race and inequality
Justin Sharpley
Race is, to say the least, a sensitive subject. I think the only way we are going to solve a lot of the problems we face in the issue of race is to approach them head on and discuss them. In class we learned about some of the problems in the past, redlining, block busting, laws with segregation built into them, and the lasting effects of such practices, the inability of a family to buy a home and build equity, the corner stone of building wealth and providing a future for your family and future generations. This was without a doubt some of the worst things our country has done to its own people. I think for my blog post I’m going to concentrate more on inequalities and segregation. Learning what we learned about the housing practices, the geographic segregation that we see today makes sense (not saying it’s right but saying, we can see where it came from and why it is the way it is)
I think another issue this creates is a cultural segregation. I feel that African Americans’ culture is segregated from other cultures in a lot of ways. One of which is advertising, and media in general. For instance McDonald's has a separate website for African Americans. 365black there are numerous companies that advertise products that are general use and some of the ads feature strictly white people, then another ad for the same product featuring strictly black people.
Another way this type of thing is perpetuated is through the media most people consume, namely music. I love hip hop, but it seems strange to me that there are so many songs about money, about how you have to get money and get yours. It seems to be drilling this idea into the listener’s head that all they need to do is get money and everything will be great. So instead of trying to pursue a career or earn a savings, the more impressionable listeners are simply trying to get money. Ignoring the larger problems, and if you want to look at it deeper, look up the chain to see the person who ultimately decides which records to play and promote, on the radio or at the record label, you’ll see 90% of the time it’s someone who has wealth, and who has an interest in keeping the less wealth distracted from the real problems in their lives.
This is pretty crazy considering the corner stone for the civil rights movement was equality for all and a desire to end segregation, yet it’s still happening on a pretty large scale and some of it is even supported by the African American community. I feel like the different cultures in this country are moving further apart faster than they are coming together. If something isn’t done to change this I feel it may be an insurmountable problem before too long.
Yahne' Coleman
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post , i agree with your opinion on Hiphop's generation of music today. These days we need more positive Black role models , both on TV and radio. We do in fact have positive rappers but they don't get as much buzz as a person rapping about drugs , money and girls. With our young generation being so much into entertainment these days we should have positivity as much as possible on TV but that's really not the case. All they get to see is Black men talking and acting negative , selling drugs and holding guns but still getting money and having nice cars. They began to think that's the right path to go on AND ITS NOT. The wealthy people that's controlling the Entertainment business is keeping us below them and sucking up the little money that we do have. I believe if we change what we watch and promote better music we can make a DIFFERENCE in the entertainment world today. We can become better people and a better community. What changes do you think could help make a difference in the entertainment business?
I agree with your point that the media doesn’t help with this situation. But I think it is also important that we consider that it’s not only in music. Everything from television shows, movies and the news we see bad images of the black male. Almost every time in television and movies he is portrayed as a gangster or thug doing wrong. Me just recently moving to Philadelphia this past summer with my sister, I truly see how it is. In my hometown we hardly had any African Americans in our town so I never really knew what to expect other than what I saw in the media. I now see that everything the media sells us is not true. And a lot of the times when a black male appears in the news it’s always because of the bad deeds he has done but how often do we see him get congratulated by doing a good deed?
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