African Americans and the Lack of Cultural Identity
...hey would be accepted as equals and be recognized as part of the dominant culture by the majority. This is not the case. African Americans cannot change the fact that they are black but they can choose to do all, or at least try to do all of the things that most of the Caucasians do but this still doesn’t allow us entry into the dominant culture. In fact it would seem as though we aren’t wanted in the dominant culture at all. One example of the resistance African Americans receive is demonstrated in the Chicago Tribune’s article entitled, “Race still divides firehouses”. The Tribune says, “Lewis T. Richardson found the hangman's noose swinging from the television inside a predominantly white firehouse on the South Side. A stuffed animal dangled from the noose's snare.” Richardson is a 17 year veteran of the fire department who is now a lieutenant. This article was printed on April 4th 2004. That just goes to show you that racism is alive and still rearing its ugly head all over the country. Racism is one of, if not the sole factor, that is preventing African Americans, as well as other minorities from being accepted into the dominant culture. This is just one example of many that show that those who are apart of the dominant culture tend to be very insensitive to minority groups, especially the African Americans. The question is why? Why would a Caucasian place a stuffed animal in a noose and say that it was just a joke, because, it is not a joke, nor is it a game. It is a message that is being sent and it is being sent that says to black people, you are not welcome here. African Americans are viewed as inferior creatures that have not been welcome in this foreign land since the slaves were freed. We weren’t welcome while we were enslaved, but we were property then so it was alright. It is pretty obvious that some whites still feel as though black people should still be slaves. This is proven in Florida. The St. Petersburg Times covered a story back in February, where Old Glory was taken down from its post in front of a high school and replaced with an old rebel confederate flag that had “I ain’t coming down” printed across it. But the story gets much better. As some of the students are asking around trying to find out who it was that did this horrible deed, two people stand out, one, an “angry 15-year-old black girl”, and the other an, “argumentative white boy”. They were arguing about the flag and the white boy was heard using profanity and racial slurs in the argument by the principle. He was suspended but the black girl was arrested. It was said that she stormed away for the altercation and in doing so she “rammed her shoulder into a school employee” and now she is facing a battery charge. Things just seem so twisted and this was a blatant act that shows that blacks are not wanted in many areas. Rebecca Doolen, a white 14-year-old said “she and her friends agreed to wear their Confederate garb on Thursday in reaction to the incident.” And, Doolen said, “I’ll do it again today”, despite warnings from administrators that she could be sent home for it. Rebecca’s mother also had strong feelings about the incident. She says that the confederate flag represents heritage and it does not represent hate. She also said, “If they don’t like it then they’ll have to get over it.” This does not sound like the attitude of a person who is willing to compromise with African Americans to see how we can all live happily together in harmony. Maybe the key to developing a sense of nationalism lies in where we establish ourselves. But then again that really doesn’t seem to matter either. In Springfield, MO a Haitian black man named Marco Denis had one rough night. He said that one night he went out to buy light bulbs and to see his girlfriend and he ended up being beaten by five white men who also cause about $1600 worth of damage to his truck and to top off the night, he was kicked out of the hospital and charged with trespassing. Even before the Springfield News-Leader elaborated on the story it seemed very odd that he was treated this way. According to the hospital, Mr. Denis was very “aggressive and loud” and although the hospitals service was adequate and efficient he was still unhappy with the service and ripped the IV out of his arm. Iro...