Evaluation Of The Black Americans Essay Samples

America is one of the continents with a very large diversity of people. In general, the American people are classified as white and non-white, white and the racial minorities, or simply the Whites and the people of color. Due to this diversity, there are attempts to assimilate some of the cultures by the dominant cultures. On the same times, the diversity has been having some peculiar differences with some of the group being stereotyped. Myths come into play often with one group labeling the other. This paper seeks to give the history, assimilation, myths, conflicts, and the current status of the Black Americans.
What is the origin of the Blacks in America? When the European settlers settled in America, they established huge farms that required a lot of work force and consequently led to Trans-Atlantic trade. Western Africa was rich with gold and other valuables at that time. Due to this, European traders were attracted to the region. With time, the demand for labour in the eastern costs of the North American continent led to European capturing slaves to supply labour in the farms.
According tot the “African American History Timeline: 1619-2008,” (n.d), the first African American (indentured servants) arrived in the American colonies in 1619. Within a decade, the first bunch of slaves was taken into Amsterdam. By 1690, every colony in America had slaves after a long period of slave trade. The number of the slaves was increasing and the human rights issues began to rise. Such saw the first slave revolt-The Stone Rebellion in South Carolina. The relationship between the Blacks and the Whites began being sour and bitter as Blacks fought for their rights. Ever since, American has been experience millions of legal and illegal immigrants of whom some are Blacks.
With many cultures, the dominant cultures tend to absorb the minorities in an uncontrolled space. However, there have been many issues on whether the white were willing to assimilate the Blacks. Marcus Garvey (1922) notes that the Whites would not assimilate the Blacks and the rest of the minorities in a formal organized way since to so would be committing a racial suicide. Garvey believed that the white would never accept to assimilate the Blacks. Based on the fact that he Blacks went into America as slaves; they did not own the means of production and hence, remained poor as compared to the Whites.
Such trends are still evident today where the Blacks lag behind the Whites from various perspectives. There colleges that have predominantly white especially the top most in America. There are those who feel that the education system is not fair to all and tends to affirm the white privilege from one generation to another. The increased cost of education is also been a major concern to the poor Blacks who happen to be among the majority of the poor in America.
Nevertheless, there has been a considerable level of assimilation especially after the 1960. During this time, the concept of assimilation changed from social equality, economic equality, and human rights to mere identifications of cultural behavior i.e. the Blacks were expected to behave like Whites, but not as exclusively Blacks. To some extent, this is true since the white the culture has indirectly influenced the cultures of the rest. They eat the same food, speak the same language, and in most cases, share some of the fundamental aspects such as religious views i.e. the religious views do not have a strict racial divide-there are white and Blacks christens, Muslims, Hindus, etc.
However, the fundamental aspects of assimilation are difficult since even if the Blacks want to behave like white or be Whites, the outward looks, and the prejudices are still persistent making the whole process of assimilation a pipe dream were one lives in perpetuity of anticipation the prejudices of the Whites (“Race and Ethnic Studies for 21st Century,” n.d).
There has been sustained conflict between the Blacks and the Whites in America. The major concern of the Blacks is that they have been a target for racial profiling. In the recent past, there are several cases that have triggered protest in American. The case of Michael Brown-an unarmed teenager, who was shot by a white police, is one major example of the conflicts. When the Jury ruled that the police officer was innocent, massive protest occurred with the major Blacks community in USA protesting racial profiling (John Eligon and Manny Fernandez, Nov. 24, 2014).
A few weeks later, the case of Eric Garner came up in an almost the same way as that of Michael Brown. In the process of arresting Eric Garners, a police officer allegedly (the jury cleared him of any wrong doing) choked him to death even when he cried “I can’t breathe” repeatedly (Ray Sanchez and Shimon prokupecz, Dec. 4, 2014). However, it was evident that Eric behaved in manner that suggested resisting arrest. Such can serve as an example of the Blacks having not been assimilated to the white culture since such does not occur among the rest of the minorities-or at least not as frequent as with the Blacks. Such affirms of the major stereotypes that majority of the Blacks are criminals. However, the number of the Black involved in criminal activities is much higher than that of the Whites.
In conclusion, the Blacks and the Whites have been on the collision course in many aspects. The issues of abuse of human rights when it comes to the Blacks are common. Racial profiling and stereotypes makes the integration between the Whites and the Blacks difficulty. The issues are made complicated by the increasing number of illegal immigrants.

References

African American History Timeline: 1619 – 2008. (n.d) Retrieved on January 21, 2015 from http://www.nps.gov/saga/forteachers/upload/African%20American%20History%20Timel ine.pdf
John Eligon and Manny Fernandez (2014 November 24,). In Protests From Midwest to Both Coasts, Fury Boils Over. The New York Times. Retrieved on January 22, 2015 from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/25/us/frustration-months-in-the-making-boils-over-on- the-streets-of-ferguson.html
Marcus Garvey (1922). Race Assimilation. Retrieved from http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/race-assimilation/
Race and Ethnic Studies for 21st Century. (n.d) Retrieved on January from https://sites.coloradocollege.edu/res/2013/08/15/assimilation-cultural-capial-and- blackness/
Ray Sanchez and Shimon prokupecz, (2014, December 4). Protests after N.Y. cop not indicted in chokehold death; feds reviewing case. CNN. Retrieved on January 22, 2015 from http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/03/justice/new-york-grand-jury-chokehold/