The society problem

This is not an article condemning anyone, not article glorifying anyone nor is it a political article; this article merely highlights some attributes of society and suggests solutions to them. In fact, I could go as far as saying that this really isn't an article at all but rather a stream of my own thoughts which is testament to the structure of this piece of writing and its seemingly incomplete nature.

"Think global, act local" - Patrick Geddes 

Black people are socially crippled, it’s no secret; society has placed labels on people of colour, but that in itself shouldn’t make anyone upset-it’s the nature of the stereotypes associated with black people that should trip that community into a spiraling rage. At the mention of an inner city black man, what is the first thing that comes to mind? An eighteen year old lying in a pool of his own blood on Oxford Street? The perpetrator running from the scene with a pocket knife tucked in the back of his baggy jeans? There are no positive stereotypes associated with black men, otherwise the first thing that would have came to mind would have been the thousands striving to achieve against the odds.

How many times have you been accused of not being a “REAL black person” because you’re not on the corner, flipping packs of cocaine and toting guns? How many times have you been accused of being a “FAKE black person” when you spoke and wrote with eloquence? Society perceives the black community to be full of second class citizens and struggles to come to terms with black excellence. Offense should taken at the assumptions thrown at black people, their youth grows into these negative stereotypes and allows society to mould them into what it thinks it means to be black. 

Slavery is still very real, the black community is haunted by the clinking of the shackles that binds it to the bottom of the social totem. The difference now is that black people are their own prisoners, tethered to ignorance and poverty, the black community is trapped in the hood. The hood is not a place with a fixed geographic location, the hood is a mentality that embodies ignorance and indifference while clinging on to poverty and the black community has grown into taking pride in the hood as its background. The black community should take blame for accepting the values instilled upon on it by society, and raising its young to be a product of substandard environment.

A lot of the black on black crimes have been blamed on youth centres being closed due to budget cuts by the government, it seems to me that if anything goes wrong the black community can always find solace in blaming the government. How is it that one can lay the blame on an institution they have influence over? The black community is least likely to take part in the democratic process because it shows the most indifference when it’s crunch time but is most likely to point fingers at any conservative legislation passed.

It’s certainly true that society has placed black people at the bottom of the totem, but they cling to it and avoid the responsibility of climbing the totem. It would be ignorant to deny that it is harder for a black person to excel in society, instead of giving up and being content with the inferior cut society bestows upon them they should hunger for excellence.