Cities 07

*note* i posted this originally on wednesday, but since i am new to blogging, i think i deleted it after the fact when i really meant to save it.
Du Bois= discussion on the racial issues that the African American community was facing in Philadelphia can shed a lot of light on the racial issues that communities all over the nation continue to face today. One of the most important statements made throughout this entire excerpt comes at the very beginning of the piece. While discrimination against certain groups is not a new phenomena, the odds that faced the African American community were certainly unique considering the deep historical roots of their oppression and exclusion in the United States. Blacks not only faced discrimination simply because they were not white, but also faced the social, political, economic and historical picture of inferiority and danger that had been painted by ignorant authors, politicians and leaders years before. In this respect, Du Bois discreetly highlights a topic that is rarely discussed. The discrimination of African Americans in the United States stems from deeply rooted historical oppression that has set members of their race decades, and even centuries, behind in regards to civil liberties and the pursuit of a productive and >happy= life. However, many of the criticisms that Du Bois identifies in his work and many of the criticisms that continue today result from the fact that many African Americans still have not had the chance to >catch up,= whether it be socially, politically or economically, to other racial and ethnic groups. What is even more striking about this is the discussion that Du Bois presents about successful African Americans in Philadelphia. In the statistics found on the bottom of page 121 we find that in 1899 when these pieces were written, 83% of the African American male population 21 years of age and older were >gainfully employed.= Despite the difficulties faced by so many blacks that Du Bois addresses on pages 124 and 125, 83% of these adult males held employment and worked to better their lives and the lives of their families. Even while such a large percentage of men held employment, unfortunately, the visions of African Americans that stuck in many people=s minds, whites and blacks alike, were those of gambling, stealing, violence and prostitution. Although the >problem= that Du Bois discusses may be in reference to African Americans, it would appear to me that there is a much greater issue that has been swept under the rug since the birth of our nation. Whites adopt slavery and perpetuate the inferiority and submission of African Americans, leading African Americans to fight for rights that are just as equally theirs. Following years of oppression, blacks gain >rights= that are contested against despite the fact that they are inherently unequal and face decades of continued discrimination and prejudices. Over time as more African Americans begin to reach success and influence their communities and the entire world, many people still discriminate. There is also a population who supports the advancement of civil rights for all, including African Americans. But after hundreds of years of pain and suffering, the black community may not be ready to accept the embrace of whites and others who are possibly offering too little too late, and many still feel that the responsibility for the friction between these two races can be shrugged off on African Americans for being >unwilling= or >difficult= in cooperation efforts. Instead of working harder to come together, it seems that instead our society is more content to avoid discussing the racial issues that are still prominent and visible in many, if not all, aspects of our lives and point fingers or name names for blame. I feel that the work we have read by Du Bois holds many important pieces for the puzzle of race relations in our country that has yet to be assembled.