Cultural Intersections: Black and White People Groups in America - Essay Example

Black and white people groups within the American culture have unique, and yet opposing views of the country and culture which give them identity. Black and white, a subgroup and a group respectively, have a different experience within the American culture which has given birth to what can be diametrically opposed perspectives on the American experience. For the white group, what could be called a ruling class by those who feel separate from the white group, America has always been a place of opportunity, evolution of self, and a culture which allows any person or peoples to change and better themselves. Since the process if bettering oneself is just that - a choice, when the black sub group chooses to pursue another cultural path within the American culture, white America often shows little tolerance or understanding. For black America, the melting pot and land of opportunity images have never been allowed to become the cultural icons with which white American's co closely identify. The black experience of American culture did not begin with voluntary immigration in the pursuit of a better life. Black American's were forcibly taken from their homes and brought to America as slaves. Black American's, while no longer living as slaves, and living in a free country, still struggle to establish a distinctly American and successful identity. Their path was forced, not voluntary. Their emigration was from freedom to bondage, while white Americans, to a great extent, left religious and social bondage to establish freedom. From these two different paradigms, two different American cultures have emerged. At the seam where these cultures meet, friction and misunderstanding are the norm. As a result, a homogeneous America currently does not exist for either group, and both sub-cultures tend to carry a chip on their shoulder, blaming the other as the source of the discord. For both of these cultures, the idea of choice should be taken into consideration so that the individuals can begin to move past their individual ideas of how America 'should' look. White Americans and black Americans each have made choices on how to perceive their country and culture. Each has come to an individual understanding based on their choices and personal experiences. Unfortunately, at the intersection of these two paradigms, the individuals often try to justify their perceptions as something bigger than choice. White America lifts up their own experience as 'how and what America is.' America is the melting pot, the land of opportunity, and any individual or people group that does not perceive it similarly is understood as attacking America. Black America similarly can understand the country as an oppressive culture, bent on taking from them their individuality and uniqueness as it tries to squeeze them into the white cultural mold. Working under this perception, black Americans can easily turn aggressively hostile to the white paradigm, which leads to conflict, and disunity. Reike and Sillars, in their work on critical decision making (1993) address this phenomenon by accurately identifying it as the product of choice. They say that our individual belief systems are made up of two components, beliefs and values. Individuals settle on core values as both an individual and as a larger group. Often these values within a culture are similar, even though they are worked out in different ways. Americans as a group tend to hold the value of independence as a universal value. Individuality is also a shared cultural value. According to Reike and Sillars, built around these core values are individual belief systems which shape and affect our understandings of our values. Belief systems are most often learned behaviors. Belief systems are based on what is important to us, our values, but they also reflect our personal experiences, and our belief systems also shape our actions. We will rarely make decisions or choose a course of action which is in violation to our belief system, even if the belief system inaccurately reflects our world view. At the core of the disharmony between black and white America are two competing belief systems. Before evaluating these competing belief systems further, demonstrating their existence is an important part of understanding the problem. Some would like to say that racism does not exist. Some, specifically those who hold the white American belief system, would like to say that any existing racism in the 21st century is only a matter of faulty perception. This assertion is faulty on two fronts. First it ignores the experience of those in the minority in our country. According to Michaux (2006) even black Americans at the top of their respective culture, and at the top of the American social ladder still experience racism. Golfer Tiger Woods, and former NBA star Charles Barkley have each been victims of racial rejection. "They let your ass know you're black when you get the hate mail," said Charles Barkley, a former NBA player who describes racism as the "greatest counselor" of his life. "They're not sending Asian people hate mail. They're only sending brothers hate mail. "I understand he wants to be race-neutral, and I think we all want to be race-neutral. He doesn't have that luxury. Unfortunately we live in a racist society. They make you choose. People make you choose. Society makes you choose. That's just the way it is. . . Woods understands that. His black father had to travel separately from the rest of his Kansas State baseball team in the era of segregation. Woods himself experienced degrading racial taunts on his first day in a predominantly white elementary school. . . "It happens," he said of the negative letters he still receives. "People have different views, and I understand that. I didn't agree with it. I still receive them now to this day, and I always will. (Michaux, 2006) Experiences such as this reinforce the racial divide for American minorities. These events also point out the flaw in the white American belief system as described herein. Tiger Woods, Sir Charles, and a myriad of other successful minority athletes have attained the definition of success according to the white American belief system. They worked hard, bettered themselves, and climbed to the top of their respective careers. If America was truly was the land of opportunity, and individuals value was honored in our culture based solely on the accomplishments, that every person had the same opportunity for success and recognition, why do these individual still have to face the ugly specter of discrimination and racism The only conclusion is that racism is a matter of perspective and belief system which still exists in America today. As such, the problem will only be changed when both white and black American's become willing to address their different beliefs, and become willing to acknowledge the validity of the other group's experience. Before honestly addressing this issue as a matter of core belief systems with the purpose of moving toward genuine change, one must also recognize that the trend exists in our culture to abuse this cultural divide for personal gain. During this past week, Congresswoman Cynthia Mc Kinney was stopped as she attempted to enter congress. She did not have her capitol identification with her, and had forgotten to wear an identifying pin that would have alerted security personnel that she was indeed an elected official. As consequence to her actions, the police at the entrance asked her to stop 3 times so they could verify her identity. Any reasonable person, regardless of color, would say that in our current political climate and the presence of terrorist activity across the world, that the Capitol police were doing their job well. Ms. McKinney disagreed, and she assaulted the officer. In the flurry of press conferences following, Ms McKinney has played every card except the personal responsibility care. Among other things, she has cried 'racism' that she was singled out because of her color. (Straka, 2006) Unfortunately, attempts are being made to color this event as a racially motivated attack by an individuals who are rushing to the aid of Ms McKinney, and in their response, the racial divide is increasingly present. According to Therese (2006) and consistent with her world view, Mc Kinney is the focus of a white on black political witch hunt. "As many of you already know, for the past week Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) has been the object of a massive dung-hurling campaign orchestrated by a conservative media desperate to smear a Democrat, ANY Democrat, so Tom Delay won't look as bad as he is. We all expected that the righties would behave true to their lesser natures and they have. Surprise. Surprise. For the past 24 hours, I've watched in abject disgust as gracious, smiling FOX hosts conducted reverential interviews with His Holiness St. Thomas, fawning over this future jailbird as if he was a Prophet of God on high, painting him as the innocent lamb about to be sacrificed on the altar of Democratic hatred. At the same time, this same band of "journalists" has savaged Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney in an unending chorus of thinly disguised sneers, disbelieving facial expressions and belligerent interviews designed to put her in her place. A monumental difficulty arises when our culture as a whole accepts these world views to the exclusion of the other. Communication and cultural movement toward change become very difficult, if not impossible. Individuals pull back, and begin digging emotional and cultural fox holes, to 'defend' their position, and their personal identity, against the perceived salvos launched from the 'other side.' In order to protect their identity, the sides become unwilling to communicate, unwilling to engage the other, and the racial problems continue unabated. This reactionary process hinders any real growth and change that can occur, and our society stays divided. At the core of the belief systems for black and white America are different experiences from which the values of the individual cultures have sprung. In order to understand the cultural divide, the experience which has brought us here must be understood and validated by the respective groups. The two groups, when seeing through the other person's eyes, so to speak, can forge the opportunity for shared understanding, which can lead to real and lasting change. For the white American, this country has been the land of opportunity and freedom since the first boat of pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock. White Europeans arrived in order to start new lives, and forge out a life and lifestyle which was free from the economic, political and religious persecution. For this group, America became what they sought, and believed it would be. White Americans built a culture out from under the oppressive control of an established political machine which dominated economic and personal freedoms. For white America, the land of opportunity was everything they hoped it would be. The black experience of America was drastically different. From the first moments that black Americans arrived in this country, they found what white Americans had left behind. Political, cultural and personal slavery. Black Americans could not build the freedom and culture that was important to them. As a result, black Americans world view, belief systems and values arose out of the forced oppression of slavery. To a great extend, their identity as a people was shaped by the slavery experience. In addition to this injustice, the black people did not immigrate to this country voluntarily. The genesis of their presence here was forcible removal from the place they called and revered as home. As a result, much of the black identity in America has been shaped by their efforts to recreate a homeland identity, and find state of personhood which is uniquely black, and uniquely their own. The purpose of this evaluation is not to justify, or declare a 'correct' either of these two people groups cultural experience. The purpose herein, as should be the purpose of communication within the culture at large, is to understand the two people groups as they understand themselves. When Americans from each group become willing to understand the values, experiences, and resulting belief systems of the other, then as a nation America can expect to gain some of the tools it needs to heal the racial divide. Works Cited Michaux, Scott. (2006, April 2) Racism still affects world's No. 1 golfer. The Augusta Chronical. Retrieved from: http://www.augusta.com/stories/040206/mas_74747.shtml Rieke, Richard & Sillars, Malcolm (1993) Argumentation and Critical Decision Making, New York: HarperCollins, 3d. ed. Straka, Mike. ( 2006, April 5) Grrr! The Man's Keeping Me Down Fox News. Retrieved from: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,190764,00.html Therese, Marie. (2006, April 6) FOX News Bitch-Slaps the Uppity Black Woman While Praising the Criminal White Man. News Hounds Editorial. Retrieved from: http://www.newshounds.us/2006/04/06/fox_news_bitchslaps_the_uppity_black_woman_while_praising_the_criminal_white_man.php Read More