Insensitivity toward African American grievances must be address

It would be easy to take a brush and paint over the dark edges of history and inequalities faced by ethnic minorities with bright colors. These bright streaks overlapping the dark edges of a historic and an equal canvas are always preferred by an opportunistic artist. Let’s for a moment rub out the bright streaks of colors and focus on the dark edges of the canvas. The dark paint tells a complicating story with more depth to it than the brighter colors. The artist must look and listen to the story not plaster it with bright colors and say, “There, that trouble is fixed.” The artist of course the U.S. and the bright colors represent American exceptionalism.
Years after slavery, civil rights and integration into mainstream society, African Americans and all ethnic minorities in the U.S. still live in oppression. It is the oppression of insensitivity on part of the American middle class and political leaders. Perhaps fearing any empathy for claims of oppression or inequality from African Americans will be interpreted as whining by the general public. Showing the lesser known aspect of life inside a country that calls itself an equal society yet its minorities remain marginalized. For years African American children were taught that American exceptionalism would fix the problem of insensitivity toward their oppression. The idea of equality for all men could become a reality once the troubles of the past were finally laid to rest. Instead of being transmitted to the next generation, the past would remain in the history books and left alone. Once again taking a paint brush and rubbing over the darker edge.

Teachers in the universities throughout the country always say, “America is an equal society we went through some bad times but it’s over now. You have civil rights and equal status in society what more could you want?” The past can’t be left alone because it is filled with unanswered grievances of the African American community. The fact that generations of a whole people were discriminated against, negatively stereotyped and crushed for celebrating the highlights of their culture when it was still considered taboo, is not something that can easily be forgiven or painted over.

Still today, the children of the African American community carry the stigma of their parents’ struggle. Struggles where their parents grew up under an unforgiving system of dehumanization often brushed over with American exceptionalism. These children not viewed as such, bore the brunt of oppression with their parents. They were seen as angry youths, either “whining” or “always blaming others” for their plight without trying to fix their own problems. When they did solve problems within the community, it received Skeptical attention within wider society. Instead of trying to create an idealistic American Dream, the children grew up to question the appeal of the American Dream and its relation to equality settling on adopting Marxism as a more practical form to represent themselves and their parents. Again the general public already unsympathetic toward communism and radical leftists, cried, “foul” to the young adults as they continued to press for their unanswered grievances to be addressed. Even while they explained how Marxism involved community and self help over individualism and idealism they were ignored. People ridiculed them for choosing a “failed system if governance” system that could never function within the U.S. because of the appeals of liberty, freedom and individualism. All of which had been denied to the children and their parents. The ideals of Marxism still permeate within African American society today. Even if it is to a lesser extent than it once was. It is used to farther explain that oppression has not ended and continues to put stress upon the younger generation.

Young adults still see images of negative stereotypes from the 20’s-70’s that were once widely accepted by the whole of the American public. In some cases they still are. There was and has been little opposition to widespread use of stereotypes. Ironically in a Democracy such as America’s, the majority has the ability to control the image of an entire people. Any self expression of the more positive and authentic view of the African American people were and still are seen as unusual. Even out of place with portrayals in popular culture and in today’s society. Many young parents have had difficulty explaining the positive aspects of the community to their children when they have grown up in a society where their grandparents were stereotyped as “Uncle Toms” or “Mammies.” While their parents were seen as doing little to calm the anger of the community other than bringing Marxism to play a prominent role in political issues concerning the community as a whole. Little has been done until now to combat these stereotypes. The more negative stereotypes of course have been removed from television, radio and books. Yet the image of African Americans as cliche rappers, gangsters, etc have persisted despite the more positive roles of African Americans as historians, writers and professors.

When a whole people carry the collective memory of such experiences where the children want to express themselves in their own light and on their own terms but are constantly told to follow the status quo or expected to mimic the image the media has presented for generations, it becomes difficult to detach from the past and simply ignore their experiences. To let their parents’ unforgiving childhood be laid to rest is a memory the children keep alive to teach to their children for the future generations to learn from. “Do not whine over the past or tell us about how much your parents suffered. It's over now move on.” They are told in insensitive tones by colleagues, professors and peers.
After all this the African American community wishes for Americans everywhere to emphasize or fit into their shoes. Experience the life of a people who have witnessed oppression common with people of the world in countries were such extremes existed until recently. Unfortunately they still do exist.

Returning to the artist with his brightly colored paint brushes, they say to all Americans, “Do not take the stance of American exceptionalism…Thinking this era of struggle is the past because it isn’t. We have helped ourselves however we still struggle to be taken seriously. Pop culture is the norm, to express ourselves in a positive light is hectic but we are working on it with great stress and anticipation.” After years of struggle, African Americans have learned that not following the status quo is not taboo as it once was. Finally their self expression and views of themselves are slowly yet grudgingly being streamed to mainstream American society let’s hope it doesn’t take another one hundred plus years of oppression to get our views across.