Contemporary Black and White Relations
History repeats itself, they say. They say that we are all in a circle and the incidences of the past can happen again. An issue in society that has great effect on individuals is racism. The conflict between black and white span a number of years. It’s true that today, there is less discrimination compared to the turn of the century. Unfortunately, total annihilation of the problem cannot take place.
This paper will use James Baldwin’s essay “Stranger in the Village” as a guide. This is to show that despite the fact it was written in 1955, the occurrences in the essay and his encounters as an African-American in Switzerland is a microcosm of contemporary black-white relations.
More often than not, the Africans-Americans have to prove their worth and capabilities to the white, as written by Baldwin, “The smile-and-the-word-smiles with you routine worked about as well in this situation as it had in the situation for which it was designed.”
The problem on race cannot be solved easily and it won’t go away. Throughout the decades, there is still a stereotype on color. However, there is still progress. Acknowledging the steps in eradicating discrimination is heartening. This is the view of the optimists. Nonetheless, there are pessimists who talk of the “permanence of racism” and that it may have transformed from what it was before (segregation, inequality) but it will never end. (Greenwood, 248)
By numerous measures after World War II, the pace of the relations between black and white has changed impressively. This marks the beginning of a modern affirmative action. There are shifts in economics and demographics. There is also the desire for equality, favoring the African-Americans who at that time feel that they were often revolting against the white racial attitudes. It was a difficult road to embark on.
Realistically speaking, we are not even near the end. However, there is progress and that is already impressive. Take for example the fact that black and white students can go to the same school or university. Unfortunately, statistics show that there is a difference on financial aspects such as black married couples earn less than white. The progress to this is that it is only a bit less compared to before when there was a huge gap between the monthly income of the whites and the blacks.
The United States is also racially integrated now than before. 70 percent of black and whites are good friends with the other race. The remainder fraction claims that they have no neighbors of the different color. If there are residential segregations in major cities, then this is taboo.
Pessimists believe that there are still problems and these cannot be solved by mere traditional civil rights strategies. Affirmative action programs must aim to help the African Americans in the lower class. Statistics also show that there are racial preferences in job hiring. In a conducted survey, more employers hire white high school drop-outs than black high school drop outs.
Baldwin writes, “I say that the culture of these people controls me – but they can scarcely be held responsible for European culture. America comes out of Europe, but these people have never seen America, nor have most of them seen more of Europe than the hamlet at the foot of their mountain. Yet they move with an authority which I shall never have, and they regard me, quite rightly, not only as a stranger in the village but as a suspect latecomer, bearing no credentials, to everything they have-however unconsciously inherited.”
Also, Black men are often typecast to be violent. This is rooted from the blacks’ oppression by the whites. The black’s concept of masculinity requires them to defy the aggressors. This ignites that spark of violence that is often seen in the black community.
This violence is like a plague because it is an epidemic and is a burden on society. This brutality is blamed on the White patriarchal politics. They believe that white racism is the root of the all the problems that are confronted by the blacks. (Himes, 149)
However, the sadistic violence that is associated on black men has molded their perspective of masculinity and violence. There is the progression which combines sociological theories, therefore making the atmosphere only more hostile for the contemporary black man. Justifying this violence will only result to the singling out of the branches that will seep through other minor populations.
These qualities of black men are also seen in some women. Because of what they had to go through, the blacks brawl through the world in degrees of fury. They continue to be subjected to stereotypes are these cripple their profiles and only affect their over-all despondency. (Wood, 32)
The relation between the black and the white has been both external and internal, because of the background of their foundations. The injustice that is disproportional to the documentation of the qualitative evidence that is rooted back from the time of racism is contrary to the contemporary rational basis.
Fortunately, with the help of the government, the blacks are no longer subjected to joblessness. With diligence, they are able to contribute to the household and to society. As a matter of fact, there are successful African Americans – Tiger Woods, Oprah Winfrey and Nelson Mandela to name a few. (Vaughan, 21)
Another stereotype the blacks have in contemporary relations between the white is that they are sexual. It does not help that the lyrics of most rap and rnb songs (the genre of black musicians) only condone the ideology. They often depict masculinity within the black community. The ‘thug culture’ places importance for the black man to self-explore and educate himself in terms of treating himself superior to everybody else. If he chooses to do this, then the violent cycle only repeats itself.
Some scholars claim that the difference between the relation of black and white today is that the blacks do not have much role models compared to those of the whites. The concept of patriarchy of the whites is the same with Europeans. The blacks imitate the sexism of the whites. Unfortunately, because of history, they do not have the power to oppress. (Kats, 32)
They do their best to acquire white-collar professions but because of the subtle prejudices that are still apparent in society make it impossible for them. If ever they do achieve this, they have to work twice as hard as the whites in order to prove to others that they are deserving of their success.
Baldwin writes, “The black man insists, by whatever means he finds at his disposal, that the white man ceases to regard him as an exotic rarity and recognize him as a human being. This is a very charged and difficult moment, for there is a great deal of will power involved in the white man’s naivete. Most people are not naturally reflective any more than they are naturally malicious, and the white man prefers to keep the black man at a certain human remove because it is easier for him to preserve his simplicity and avoid being called to account for crimes committed by his forefathers, or his neighbors.”
There will always be the American dilemma on the co-existence of the liberal ideals of the whites and the miserable situation of the black. Obviously, this does not go hand in hand. On one hand, the American creed shows that all individuals are equal and they have human rights. Unfortunately, the relations between the whites and the blacks only come to show that there is still such a thing as a superior and an inferior race. (King, 24)
No matter what, the Negro problem will always be the white man’s problem, as presented by the points earlier. Because of what happened in history, the mentality of most black men is to not be oppressed by the whites. They had to live at a time when racial discrimination was legalized and they couldn’t do anything despite the fact that they were already being dominated.
Civil rights put an end to the legalized segregation and paved the way to what we are seeing now. This improvement is substantial because there are now a number of blacks in professional, technical, managerial and administrative positions. This has been the case since the 1960s. Anyone, be they black or white, can enroll in colleges or universities, as long as they can pay for the tuition fees. There is also a large increase in number of blacks buying homes. (Whitaker, 19)
The statistics of families earning around the middle-class income range increase. Also, there are blacks who are elected to public offices. This only shows that there is an extreme improvement in black-white discrimination.
Surveys also show that more and more whites feel they do not have the right to keep the blacks out of their neighborhoods. As good as a thought that is, it does not mean that there are whites who are comfortable to live with black neighbors. The reason why blacks feel they are oppressed is because racial prejudices are still in the minds of a number of whites.
Another downside is that the unemployment rates of the blacks have increased compared to the whites. Nowadays, there are more black youths who are jobless, compared to white youths. (The reason being mentioned earlier – employers prefer white high school drop-outs than black high school drop-outs.)
Baldwin writes, “Racist whites have long said to black, you’re defined by your color. With racial preferences black and white Americans of seeming good will have joined together in saying, we agree. It is precisely the wrong foundation on which to come together for a better future. Racial progress ultimately depends on our common understanding that we are one nation, indivisible – that we sink or swim together, that black poverty impoverishes us all, and that black alienation eat at the nation’s soul.”
Nonetheless, the generation of black children is luckier than their grandparents because they do not experience explicit discrimination. The disadvantage from this standpoint is that when they grow up in a predominantly black neighborhood, the typical characteristics are poverty, dependence on welfare and single parenthood. This is the stereotype which happens to be true as seen in the statistic.
This lifestyle leads to a high mortality rate and school drop-outs. There is also drug abuse and high crime rate. The high unemployment rate is only accented by the lack of job opportunities. Despite growing up in a predominant black neighborhood, the child will only experience fewer benefits as compared to when he grows up in a white neighborhood.
The relation between the blacks and the whites are better. Unfortunately, there are still some economic and social problems in the United States that affect the blacks more than the whites. Some claim its discrimination; others blame the stereotype that is set on them. Nonetheless, the blacks have obtained the political and civil rights that they deserve to have.
It also helps that a number of whites see the problems of their blacks as their own and do whatever they can to alleviate the problem. But there are also some whites who are apathetic whenever the situation is discussed. They intentionally ignore and stay away from black communities. If more whites are like this then the American dilemma when it comes to racial discrimination will not be solved. It will only be in a different form.
Baldwin writes, “This was not the case with the American Negro slave. He is unique among the black men of the world in that his past was taken from him, almost literally, at one blow. One wonders what on earth the first slave found to say to the first dark child he bore. At the time to say nothing of the circumstances of the enslavement of the captive black man who was to become the American Negro, there was not the remotest possibility that he would ever take power from his master’s hands. There was no reason to suppose that his situation would ever change, nor was there, shortly, anything to indicate that his situation had ever been different.”
People on other parts of the world admire America’s liberalism in the creed. They view the United States as a country that has a mature democratic system and a stable market economy. A democratic system and a market economy do not guarantee that the liberal ideals in the nation result to the peace between the blacks and the whites. True that over the years, there is an improvement in the relation but just what happened in the Civil War, there is “tyranny of majority.”
What the blacks experienced in the United States before the civil rights movement is proof that the democracy failed. The experience in the 21st century justifies that by looking at the other way and learning from the failures, the relation between the black and the white in the United States can improve.
Baldwin’s main point in his essay is this, “In this long battle, a battle by no means finished, the unforeseeable effects of which will be felt by many future generations, the white man’s motive was the protection of his identity, the black man was motivated by the need to establish an identity.”
The end may not be near but we are going there. As long as there are advocacies to better relations between the black and the white, then the relation between these two races, regardless of their skin color, can attribute to the democratic system and market economy of the United States.
Works Cited
Baldwin, James, “Stranger In The Village”, Notes of a Native Son, Beacon Press, 1955
Greenwood, Janette Thomas, Bittersweet Legacy: The Black and White “Better Classes”
in Charlotte, 1850 – 1910, North Carolina Press, 1994
Himes, Joseph S., The South Moves Into Its Future: Studies in the Analysis and
Prediction of Social Change, University of Alabama, 1991
Katz, Wendy Jean, “The Planter’s Prospect: Privilege & Slavery in Plantation Paintings”
The Mississippi Quarterly, Vol 56, 2003
King, Lovalerie, “Counter Discourses on the Racialization of Theft and Ethics”, MELUS,
Vol 28, 2003
Whitaker, Matthew C, “The Rise of Black Phoenix: African-American Migration,
Settlement and Community Development”, The Journal of Negro History, Vol 85, 2000
Vaughan, Sacha, “Under An African Sky”, Geographical, Vol 73, March 2001
Wood, Ralph C. “Racial Morals and Manners”, The Christian Century, Vol 111.
November 16, 1994