Black in America...Black in America...Black in America! Does anyone know what it's like to be Black in America? Apparently CNN didn't think so. Perhaps we don't know---maybe that's why we have been bombarded with programs, documentaries, talks, books, etc. about being Black and the issues that plague the Black race.
On one hand, I'm thinking CNN has done a good job of exposing the poverty, disease, promiscuity, paternal abandonment, deteriorating families, unemployment, racism and the widening academic achievement gap that have all plagued the Black community. It's good for those who don't know what it's like to be Black in this country and for Blacks who aren't aware. Perhaps we all need to get a clearer picture of today's harsh reality.
Twenty-five percent of Blacks live in poverty. Blacks represent fifty percent of people living with the HIV/AIDS virus. Nearly sixty percent of Black males will not graduate. Seventy percent of Black children are born in single-parent homes. One in nine black males are in prison. The statistics are alarming!
What is the problem? As I've pondered over these stats, my mind wandered back over the last 140 years, even over the last 40 years and the thought keeps running through my mind: What have we become? As a nation of Black Americans, what have we become? Have we become a product of the injustices in government and society? Or have we become a product of our own lack of personal responsibility and refusal to rise above today's perceived governmental and societal threat against our culture?
On one hand, I'm thinking CNN has done a good job of exposing the poverty, disease, promiscuity, paternal abandonment, deteriorating families, unemployment, racism and the widening academic achievement gap that have all plagued the Black community. It's good for those who don't know what it's like to be Black in this country and for Blacks who aren't aware. Perhaps we all need to get a clearer picture of today's harsh reality.
Twenty-five percent of Blacks live in poverty. Blacks represent fifty percent of people living with the HIV/AIDS virus. Nearly sixty percent of Black males will not graduate. Seventy percent of Black children are born in single-parent homes. One in nine black males are in prison. The statistics are alarming!
What is the problem? As I've pondered over these stats, my mind wandered back over the last 140 years, even over the last 40 years and the thought keeps running through my mind: What have we become? As a nation of Black Americans, what have we become? Have we become a product of the injustices in government and society? Or have we become a product of our own lack of personal responsibility and refusal to rise above today's perceived governmental and societal threat against our culture?
