Black Unification
Issues in the Black Communities
I was quite skeptical about writing about this peculiar subject, being that this subject is a discussion of one particular race. This article is not intended to offend or discriminate against any other ethnic group, but rather discuss the issues in the black communities. For hundreds of years, numerous issues play a major role in the separation and divisions in the African American race. Conflicts such as labeling blacks (Negro, colored, Africans, African Americans, Afro Americans), and racial discrimination contributes to the social problem in the black communities. Present day, racial tension tends to occur when something horrific happens to a person in my ethnic group, such as a murder, by another person of another ethnic group. Some Blacks unify together, while others take matters into their own hands by destroying property of someone of their own ethnic group, and other ethnic groups as well! But what about the murders that occur within our own race? "Black on Black" crimes are more prevalent than we realize, but the news media discuss these crimes to a minimum. Of course, there are some occasions when a horrific event occurs within our own race that raised a slight uproar within the black communities. For example, a while back a black elderly man was murdered while walking home by another younger black man, who was recording the video while the incident was occurring. Anger arose in the black communities when this incident occurred but quickly died down. I notice when a black person is killed by someone of another ethnic group, there are significant amounts of protests, unification, and sometimes wrathful destruction(which I do not condone), but none of these rarely occur when black on black crimes are committed.
United We Stand, Divided We Fall
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the main black advocates who fought for the civil rights of African Americans and to promote unification among African Americans. I recall conducting research on the Civil Rights Movement and it's presence and influence in Houston, Texas. I was appalled at the information I gathered when blacks unified during the segregation era. During the 1950s and 1960s, Houston had the largest African American population, making it the largest segregated city in the south. Blacks participated in sit-in movements that involved sitting silently at various restaurants, waiting to be served, because they were not allowed to be go to any facility that was considered "white-only." Individuals in the black communities continued to participate in these PEACEFUL sit-in movements TOGETHER until they gained their civil rights (It also took multiple court orders and the supreme court case ruling of Brown vs Board of Education for African Americans to gain their civil rights).
I used the Civil Rights Movement as an example because this significant event of unification of individuals in the black community caused a change in the laws that led to African Americans to gain their civil rights. Individuals, including myself , in the African American communities must realize that crime in the black communities and racial tension is quite prevalent and only by unification can these issues be demolished. Many things in this world is designed to cause racial tension in the black communities such as gangs. Gang violence contributes to the crimes committed among individuals in the black communities. When these violent crimes occur within our own communities, many of the so called black advocates are quite resistant to speaking out against black on black crimes. But yet, many of these advocates speak and are widely seen when conflicts arise between two ethnic groups. We as African Americans must unify ourselves to demolish these issues in our communities. Being that society has labeled us per group, we must unify ourselves together as a group. We must help each other, rather than fight one another. We must continue to stand up for our rights just as our relatives stood up for theirs.
© 2017 Chernika Lipscomb