Essay Sample on Black Identities

What it means to be black today lies on the extended concept of self which is derived through Africans or African Americans identifying themselves with people of African descent. The concept of self is intricately linked with the understanding that black people are treated based where they came from and not based on their individual traits. For instance, Pauker et al. (2018) reveal being black in America today has to do with how black people are defined based on race, space, and class. For example, African Americans share relatively rigid boundaries with the American society because they are categorized based on the rule of hypo descent. This rule provides an outline of ways through which racial classification has changed in the United States, such as, African American is still perceived as sharing the African ancestry. Furthermore, theorists have come up with sociological views, including Mintz and Richard (1993), who explained that, Africans are treated as slaves and that this will not change soon in modern societies. Others have suggested that for Africans living in Diaspora, they are still linked to their African ancestry regardless of whether they perceive themselves as Americans (Patterson & Kelley, 2000). These arguments and the concept of self-provide groundwork on one perceives that black identities are treated as an inferior race.

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As mentioned, black identities today are racially categorized based on rigid boundaries which are used to define the distinctions between blacks and whites. For example, in the United States, both African Americans and whites have accepted to use the rule of hypo descent to provide an outline of racial categorization that is appropriate in the American society (Pauker et al. 2018). This rule suggests that since African Americans are black by skin color, they have a strong social imposed identity that is linked to Africa. Therefore, if they decided to choose another identity, other races will give them very little support. This is what Patterson and Kelley (2000) meant when they said that just because some Africans live in Diaspora does not mean they attain new identities; rather, they are still Africans. They explain that the manifestation of diaspora is both a process and a condition, which means there are specific dimensional qualities of African American personalities that will always remain 'African.' Therefore, in today's society, black people are treated as belonging to Africa and that perception will not change.

Black identities today are still associated with slavery since its inception. Proponents of this argument include Mintz and Richard (1993), who argued that black identities in the United States are conceptualized as a static culture that is an extension of past slavery. The reason that Africans live in the United States, they are assimilated on the American culture but still perceived as slaves using post-modern terms. For example, there are many cases where black people are discriminated in the United State but the law is lenient on punishing perpetrators since they are whites who are considered by the law as being superior to blacks (Pauker et al. 2018). Therefore, having an African origin in the United States automatically lowers a person's social status, which is fostered systematic politics and attitudes that whites created to bar full participation of this race in the American society. Many black identities scholars today focus on challenges that middle-class black people deal with for just being black. Some studies find that foreign-and native-born blacks have limited freedom due to structural arrangements that exist in American society (Pauker et al. 2018). Some are strongly attached to their black identity to the extent that they compete with other identities such as gender, sexuality, and crime.

Furthermore, since the inception of slavery, black people have been defined by their skin color as well as the type of work they do. For example, during slavery, house slaves were treated as having a higher social status than those that worked on farms. This situation has not changed today since only rules and laws have been enforced to bring equality to the two races. The number of black middle class has increased at a rapid rate due to the enactment of civil rights that began in the 1960s (Lopez, 2016). However, this has not created a substantial change to the black society since African Americans are not fully protected by the government during national crises compared to whites. For example, the more black middle class were undermined during the 2008 housing crisis since the wealth of black homeowners was undercut in an America's desperate attempt to solve the crisis. This led to blacks being treated as victims of any crisis that affects America (Lopez, 2016). In other words, black people are still denied rights to property and treated as an expendable race that is sacrificed during a crisis for the sake of superior white society.

Although today's society promotes a liberal community in which terms and principles of racial equality are clearly matched with the idea of equality, this is yet to be achieved. According to Lopez (2016), whites are less willing to take action to ensure the principles of equality support the abstract principle of liberalism. Interestingly, various surveys that have been conducted reveal that participants show no response in supporting air treatment of black identities. In fact, the gap between supporting and implementing of principles of equalities between whites and African Americans has always been narrower. As Lopez (2016) explains, it is worth noting that this gap exists and view that the government should recognize it and show little interest in the matter. For example, the United States government strongly supports racial equality but most of the policies that are suggested are ignored at the implementation level. African Americans now feel that it is a topic of the government to discuss but a concern among black activists to see that this community is treated with equality.

While black communities spend significant time trying to solve problems of race and hostile situations, the black identity is still treated by racists as a category that is defined and transmitted through generations. This is portrayed through the way whites express the lowest interest in policies that support preferential treatment of black people. Majority of racist societies oppose policies that empower black people but do not directly show this perception in public. What is observed among black communities is that there has not been a significant change in how black communities are perceived, such as, they are seen as inferior people that are in need to help. As with whites, the most substantial racial difference that is portrayed in the contemporary era is that whites are biologically born in societies that are superior to the African society, which also implies that black people deserve fewer privileges than whites do.

References

Lopez, N. (2016). Health inequities, social determinants, and intersectionality. National

Academy of Medicine, 1-15.

Mintz,S.W., & Richard, P. (1993). The birth of African-American culture: An anthropological

perspective. The American Historical Review, 98(3), 953.

Patterson, R., & Kelley, R. D. G. (2000). Unfinished migrations: Reflections on the African

Diaspora and the making of the modern world. African Studies Review, 43(1), 11-45.

Pauker, K., Meyers, C., Sanchez, D. T., Gaither, S. E., & Young, D. M. (2018). A review of

multiracial malleability: Identity, categorization, and shifting racial attitudes. Sociology of Personal Psychology Compass, 1-15.