Is there really a stigma associated with African American males that portrays th

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   Yashikasmithposted 7 years ago

   Is there really a stigma associated with African American males that portrays them as monsters?
   
   After all of the shootings/deaths of African American males all over the country with the majority of them being unarmed,I am just wondering if they are really perceived as a threat and if that's the case, why? Is it the language? the way they dress? OR is it their posture? I genuinely would like to know what it is that causes them to be perceived as a threat because I have an African American son and I really do worry about his teen-aged years and how to educate him so that a childish mistake doesn't end up costing him his life.

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2. 85

   gmwilliamsposted 7 years ago

   
   
   Not all African-American men & boys are depicted negatively.  People know & are aware of this.  The issue isn't African-American per se but socioeconomic class.  Highly educated, successful, & socioeconomically affluent African-American males aren't viewed as threats; in fact, they are highly admired & break the negative stereotype associated w/African-American males.
   
   
   African-American males aren't a monolithic group.  There are some who are highly educated, intelligent, articulate, & highly successful while there are others who are uneducated/less educated, inarticulate, thuggish/street, & in the lower socioeconomic income range.  The latter type of African-Americans are the ones associated with the monster moniker.  Many of these lower socioeconomic African-American males fit the negative stereotype, oftentimes acting accordingly-absorbing, even rejoicing in the negativity of their environment & disdaining any type of self-improvement, blaming others & society for their dire life outcomes instead of becoming responsible & accountable.

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      Yashikasmithposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      No, not all are depicted negatively but the majority are. As an individual that works closely with youth, I can attest that a lot of young, intelligent African American men are growing up in the "hood". Children "absorb" that's just what they do.

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   savvydatingposted 7 years ago

   No. It mostly depends upon one's actions. However, some awful mistakes have been made and this is very, very sad. Nevertheless, according to FBI numbers, approximately 90 percent of black homicide victims were killed by other black people, including black officers. So if anyone, black or white, does the following, he is putting his own life at risk:
   
   •Aggravated assault on a peace officer
   •Attempted capital murder of a peace officer
   •Resisting arrest
   •Evading arrest
   •Interfering in an arrest

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      Yashikasmithposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      My question was not related to black on black crime; I am well aware of that issue. My point is: I have seen several instances where all of the risks that you stated above have been taken by non minority individuals and the outcome was not fatal.

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      savvydatingposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Not all findings agree. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/201 … inority-d/
      The odds that black & white men are likely to be shot by police officers is 1 in 60,000. For white men, 1 in 200,000.

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   SylviaSkyposted 7 years ago

   Yes, there is. Whites have feared black men more intensely since the political riots and disturbances of the "long, hot summers" of the 1960s. Those paralleled the organization and strengthening of black militant groups unafraid of, and openly hostile to, white militants and the white establishment. Those groups included the Nation of Islam and the Black Panthers. They wanted to scare whites and did. And although they did little in the way of violence, the publicity given to them led to whites believing all black men were hostile, violent, scary, thieves, drug dealers, and so on. So much so that some blacks believe violence and lawlessness is part of black masculinity. And whites in power reacted by creating more militant police forces and laws that incriminated and jailed more black men. It's a cycle. It goes back farther.
   
   That means that your son isn't at liberty to do and say what he wants, and be where he wants to be without having to worry. That in itself is oppression and a crime.

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      Yashikasmithposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you for your honesty, Sylvia.
      I concur with all that you said and sadly it is oppression but this is where we are as a country right now and it makes me cringe because my son is growing up in such an era.

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