FREE ESSAY ON AFROAMERICAN

AFROAMERICAN

The American people have a serious identity crisis. It's rare while in the country to hear
someone say that they are American. People say that they are Irish, Scottish, German,
Italian, African, English, West Indian, etc. Often people are a combination of these. For
black Americans it becomes even more complicated. Many want to identify as African but
others would never dream of such a thing because it's so foreign to them. I was speaking
to a man at a party I had at my apartment. He was telling me about how he plays African
drums, traveling around to different towns and performing. He had even been to my part of
Cape Cod, Wellfleet. I asked him if he was African and his reply was vague. He couldn't
really say yes but he wasn't about to say no. I thought that maybe he was second
generation and that his parents were born there so I asked if his parents were African.
He said, "well I can't really say no, you know what I mean. It had come up earlier that I
was An Afro-Am major and after that point as far as he was concerned we had some kind of
connection. I was glad that it never became my turn at 40 questions. I am BI-racial and
people react to that differently than others. To some it's a scar on my blackness being
that I'm also half-white. To some it ain't no thing black is black even if your not 100%.
Of course finding a person whose 100% of anything these days can be a challenge. In the
states if you are a small part black then you are black. We have this system, thanks to
the good old days of slavery where no matter how white you looked and no matter how much
you resembled the master's children, you were still black enough to be a slave. In other
parts of the world the tables are turned. If you are even a small percent white then
that's what you are. 
The past thirty years have seen many changes in the lives of black people in America.
With the civil rights movement and the black power movement forcing changes in the
sixties. My generation lives a different life than most of our parents did and they lived
a very different life than their parents. Many people in my grand parent's generation
were able to take advantage of the booming steel and auto industry at least in the urban
areas. There were certain jobs that blacks were perfect for. Jobs involving hard labor
and any kinds of jobs that no one else wants such as cleaning the sewers, slaughtering
pigs and other distasteful jobs. Before the 60's blacks were almost solely employed in
the domestic areas cooking and cleaning (for women) and in the hard labor fields (for
men). With the civil rights movement came a new awareness of the blatant prejudices that
Americans held and a realization of how the racism overflowed into everyone's social and
economic life. Blacks were underrepresented in every aspect of life. With the passing of
the 1954 civil rights act and the demonstrations that followed slowly things began to
change. Finally the oh, powerful federal government was setting standards for the way
that black people were to be treated, in public and in the work force. Obviously the
government can't force people's minds to change but in the public sector they had a lot
of control. Government contracts were used to wheel and deal. Those companies who hired
blacks in large numbers received contracts. Those who didn't tended not to. So now what
do we have? We have a large number of African Americans getting jobs that in the past
were impossible. Jobs opened in large corporations that offered room to advance up the
ladder. At times in order to get hired you had to have a skill but other times you were
hired to fill the quota and taught to work as the time went on. Collins speaks about how
blacks were hired as a means of control. If your working your not out on the street
protesting. Within a corporation black people may be promoted to manage a large group of
blacks that were working. They were often the eyes and ears of those upstairs, and often
just a way of keeping the peace to make it one less thing to worry about. A new group
emerges out of this mess of government contracts and hiring on site. A group of African
Americans who are earning more money than they ever dreamed and with them a prominent
middle class. On the books middle class refers to those people in a certain pay bracket.
I think that the idea of middle class changed with the change in the labor field. Blacks
were getting closer to white simply by moving into a job force that was not traditionally
black. The birth of the black middle class. It is not all-inclusive. Not every one gets
in. You may have whole families but often one person has to start the ball rolling
setting off towards the big scary white world that offers opportunity and cash. 
Black people who make the change from their poor surroundings to those of a career that
earns them more money than both their parents make in a year sometimes have trouble
adjusting to the success. Katie Cannon felt great shame about her poverty. As a woman
preacher who settled in the north the life she leads now is decades from the one she grew
up in. Katie mentions the need to understand the white world she had matriculated
towards. She was very uncomfortable to the point of contemplating ending her life. She
had no idea how to life in the white world she found herself in. This truly shows how
their are almost two worlds living under the disguise of a strong nation. It may as well
be another country for all the similarities she found between the white students in her
school and those black students from back home. Adjusting to this New World takes time.
One of her colleagues suggested going home five times a year in order to stay in touch
with your roots and keep your sanity. Living in an all white environment effects the way
you think, feel and act. It can be a totally new life. I think that many middle class
blacks find themselves dealing with what I myself deal with. Being black and white at the
same time. I guess I would have the advantage since that's all I've ever been but many
blacks who move into the middle class or even grow up there struggle with how to keep
their black identity in tact. In the professional world there is a right and a wrong way
to speak, there is a right and wrong way to walk and act. Most of these ways are not
consistent with black ways of speaking, walking and acting. This black middle class is an
interesting sort of group. They work and tend to think that they are advancing. Many are
experiencing the "glass ceiling" and have a hard time understanding why. Sometimes the
idea of racism can seem farfetched but don't fool yourself. This middle class is not the
majority and unfortunately because of their success the lower class will suffer more.
Attacks of black people who have been helped along since the 60's at least in the job
field are chipping away at many programs that helped put those people where they are.
Sociologists use examples of the black middle class, opponents of affirmative action use
examples and of other programs designed to help them out black people. They seem to be
doing quite well these days and many of the jobs that are put aside for blacks could be
taken by poor whites. It should be equal. This is the start of the painful abortion of
the second reconstruction. People forget so fast the grievances in the past that were
never settled. I imagine that will cause a new connection between blacks no matter what
their class. Right now there is a definite dividing line and an attitude to go with it.
Those in the middle sometimes think that the lower class blacks are being lazy. If I made
it why can't they? All it takes is hard work. If time was taken to talk to those who
tried to make it and failed some may see that it takes alot more than hard work. You can
work hard and be qualifies and ready to do something as much as the next person. Today
often times there is not enough space. If there are 300 applicants and only 10 spots it's
gonna be really hard to secure that job. In today's world connections mean everything.
It's all in who you know. This is why many who make it to colleges in the Ivy league make
money. They all know people who know people. It's all about networking. Supreme Court
justice Marshall and his friends knew this and tried to get the black students to go to
school with the whites for this very reason. Making permanent friends who they could grow
with and in the future share in their advances. It was a very good plan but all the white
kids moved out as soon as the blacks started coming. Nice try! 
The words used to describe black people have changed over the years. From Colored to
Negro to Black to African American. As I explained earlier if you are a little bit of
something else you're not white. This has caused the population of all those considered
black to take on a very broad spectrum. Cape Verdeans have for many years considered
themselves white. It was not until the civil rights movement when black pride was so
strong that many acknowledged their black ancestry over the traditional Portuguese. Black
people needed each other it didn't matter if you were from some unknown place if you were
fighting for the cause you were in. Black people saw friendship in all their brothers'
faces. Language is often something that separates people. Because Cape Verdeans had their
own language they were often able to separate themselves from black descendents of slaves
this helped in the feelings of non-blackness. Struggle brings people together. The
younger generations began to think of themselves as black to the chagrin of their parents
who had always considered themselves white. As more and more Cape Verdeans accepted their
black ancestry the easier it was to assimilate into black culture in America. African
American is now a term that refers to all black peoples at least in America. It does not
matter from where you're from if your skin is dark and your hair not so strait you are a
welcome member. People still hold on to their ever-important identities. Cape Verdean,
Haitian, Dominican, African, West Indian and black American which is actually
encompassing of all. Often in urban areas these groups may live near each other and
seperate themselves from others. As did the Cape Verdeans see themselves as different so
do the West Indians. They have taken to distancing themselves from those black
descendents of slaves. It is somehow considered terrible to be a black American. They
were enslaved far to long. They don't seem to understand that we were all enslaved and
that we should not be looked down upon because it takes a strong people to go from where
they were to where they are. Why are all those immigrants here? Because black Americans
lead the way fir black school, churches, and organizations. Why can they walk down the
street and not get lynched? Because of their brothers and sisters who were sent to
different places and fought in different ways. Black people are united under their
oppression. United we stand. In the eyes of white America everyone is black. This is
obviously the deciding and strengthening norm that forces blacks to stick together. White
America's racist attitude that kept dark skinned Cape Verdeans at the back of busses even
though they swear that they are white. This is the tightest glue of all. That of a racist
society. I think that first generation immigrants cannot think of themselves as African
American but their children will. When it's all you know you are socialized to the ways
of the world. When you have grown up somewhere else your value system is different. You
look at things through the eyes of another world. Your children can only do this through
you. They help to reshape America by intertwining the old vision with the new. This is
what the American Ideals are. Mixing and Mixing until we get it right. It's really
amazing the attitudes that people have. My friends mom wants him to marry a woman who is
Cape Verdean. She came home with a white guy and her mom almost had a heart attack. Later
when she came home with a black man it was much much better but her mom still whispered
"I want the next one to be like us" My friend has never really been attracted to those of
Cape Verdean descent. Most of those she meets become like brothers to her. It's like
family. Even in these times we see that people are so set in the ways that they think and
believe it's difficult to change this. All in all it's the exceptance of black that keeps
them going. Today is anyone said I'm not black I'm West Indian they would look really
crazy.