Writer Profile:
Name: Irving Patrick Jordan
Place of Birth: Detroit, MI
Date of Birth: 01/26/1993
University of Michigan Sophomore
WARNING: The opinions and views in this post are my own. Moreover, they will be very controversial and many will not agree with what I'm saying.
Martin Luther King Jr., was an American civil rights leader and a prominent leader in the African American Civil Rights Movement. He promoted nonviolent confrontation in order for African Americans to advance in America. Known by many through his "I Have a Dream Speech", he has become one of the most iconic and legendary orators in American history.
Although he has made it possible for African Americans to become successful in America today, a question that I always raise is, are African Americans taking advantage of the opportunities he has provided for them?
In my opinion, there might be a little bit of yes and no. African Americans have made great strides towards being viewed as equal or as a people that try to maximize on the opportunities they're given/earned. However, there always seems to be a group of African Americans they want to blame their misfortunes on other people. Dont confuse me as being racist or discriminatory against African Americans because I'm not. I realize there are other ethnic groups in our country who differ the misfortunes the same way. However, since Martin Luther King was the main focus for this week, the main question popped into my head.
Common Misfortunes Differed that I've heard:
Common Misfortunes Differed that I've heard:
- "The reason that I can't or that I'm not...is because I'm a minority and this country is designed to hold me back."
- This is one of the most prominent excuses that I have heard among African Americans. It upsets me when I hear this excuse. Most definitely from some of my African American friends. There are people out in the world with so much potential, so much skill. What holds some of them back is the lack of drive, the ability to want to put in the effort of mastering their craft. In high school, I had an African American friend that decided not to study for a final exam because, "The teacher was a racist white woman and she was gonna fail me anyway." What an excuse. I feel that there are some African American people that have to realize that in most cases, hard work and results can't be denied. This past Friday, I was walking through campus and I noticed a group of people marching and chanting for affirmative action.
At first, I didn't bother me:
The idea of having affirmative actions can help improve many things, not only within our university but also within our nation. For years, minorities in America have been discriminated against, and there is no doubt that affirmative action has helped to an extent by providing guidelines to contracts, etc.
Then I read a sign:
The sign had percentages broken down, among them were the percentage of black students that make up The University of Michigan. I shook my head in disgust, not only did I, but a friend of mine did the same. He made the point that people (not necessarily African Americans) should stop being lazy and start putting in the work so their results can't be denied. If the resume of work is apparent, in our society today, in most cases than not, then being denied wouldn't be an option. While I understand that people have different circumstances, there are people out there from my high school that were relying on affirmative action to get into some colleges even though we had the same opportunities. If the work and effort was put in, then that situation wouldn't have to be relevant in their lives.
- An Article in the Detroit Free Press was recently published with city councilwoman JoAnn Watson pleading for Obama to bail out the city o f Detroit since her, and the citizens backed him for another round of presidency. "Our people in an overwhelming way supported the re-election of this president and there ought to be a quid pro quo and you ought to exercise leadership on that." When hearing about this article, I was more confused than anything. When she says "our people", was she referring to the citizens of Detroit, or the African American citizens of Detroit? If the answer is choice B, then the way that she goes about asking for a plea is totally outrageous and falls directly into what I was saying on the topic of whether we are taking advantage of the chances Martin Luther King Jr., has given African Americans.
A point that I'm trying to make in this post is that NOONE is owed anything. What happens in your ethnic groups history happened. While it should not be forgotten it has to be forgiven in order for the advancement to take place.
Author Ethnicity: African American
I wrote this article so that the reader could not definitely tell what my ethnicity was. In doing so, I hope that each reader read with an unbiased point of view. If I wasn't African American, would any minority readers have different responses? I assume this topic will be a very sensitive one for students to sound off on. I encourage opinions of my peers to be heard without them being afraid of anyones reaction. Nevertheless, I believe we have come to an age where the topic of racism or discrimination should be talked about without any caution. It's important that different viewpoints are given because it provides evidence that the advancement of society today has lead to African Americans and minorities in this country to become successful without any excuses.
Thus:
Jay Z, Oprah Winfrey, Ralph Gilles, Andrea Jung and many more.
So let's stop making excuses and take advantage of what Martin Luther King Jr., has done for minorities to become equal in America.
From the Letter: MLK Letter
To the Dream:
Irving Patrick Jordan, I must say that I wasn't sure how I felt about reading your post until I did know your ethnicity. Is that a bad thing? I'm also from detroit and have definitely dealt with African Americans who acted like people who were white (like me) owed them something because of something that happened decades ago. And that sense of entitlement definitely set the tone and drew the limits of our relationship, and unfortunately I believe affected their schoolwork. However, I cannot explain how much it annoys me when I hear white kids who have never interacted with the African American cultures on a daily basis (and I think there are definitely distinct cultures within the African American population, at least there was at my school) talking about how we need to just get over what happened to African Americans because its over and done. I agree that the difference civil rights leaders made should NEVER be thought of as an end result, but the beginning to many new opportunities that were not available 50 years ago. However, I do think we still need to be sensitive to the damage that oppressing an entire minority for as long as African Americans were can do. The reason Brown V. Board of Education ended up being a success was because the suprime court realized that the segregation of white and African American children in public schools creates a sense of inferiority in African Americans. To deny this minority some of the benefits they would get in a racially integrated school system would affect the drive of a child to learn had a inclination to hinder the educational and mental development of African American children. I think that psychological mindset is still very prevalent in a large number of African Americans today, it is important not to ignore the affect of oppressing a group of people can have.
ReplyDeleteIf I had to be perfectly honest, I busted out laughing when I read your two points in the "Common Misfortunes Differed" (Deferred?) section. Mainly because it's true.
ReplyDeleteFrom personal experience, I hear stuff like that all the time (usually as a joke) from my friends when bad things happen to them. I, myself, sometimes partake in the humor of it all. But, I definitely see where you're coming from, and I can understand why you held off on sharing your identity.
Being a minority as well, I understand that taking stances such as yours can result in being considered a traitor. But when you're right, you're right. I mean, for me, just knowing how difficult life use to be for minorities in this country really disappoints me when I see younger generations taking it all for granted. And, as sad as it may seem, I think that the people who continue to hold this grudge against the government are the ones who define the minorities the most. As a result, prejudices and stereotypes have been created, which make it harder for other members of the same racial and ethnic backgrounds to succeed. Thus, the wheel keeps spinning; feeding off the anger and prejudice.
For that reason, I try to keep myself on the straight and narrow and avoid becoming what I call a "statistic"--i.e., I don't want to fall victim to the stereotypes that exacerbate social stigmas toward minorities. I know it sounds harsh, but, I guess some people won't be able to understand unless they have been in similar circumstances.
What this post - especially the paragraphs about your own personal ethnicity - brings to my mind is when I learned about "ad hominem" arguments during debates. What this refers to is when someone makes an argument that criticizes their opponent, instead their opponent's argument.
ReplyDeleteHow this relates to your blog post is that, as you correctly observed, viewers of the post might have reacted completely differently had they continued to not know your ethnicity. They might have seen some of the polarizing comments you make and responded to them with anger, with a sense of being insulted by someone who doesn't understand what it's like to be a minority. If they indeed only had a problem with the arguments you made because of the race they assumed you were, then it would be an ad hominem attack.
This is a very common tactic for people to utilize in everyday debates and arguments. You see it happening especially in the political world. Negative ad campaigns. Putting down the opponent - sometimes not even his policies, just his general character or who he is. Some readers might have assumed you were white and interpreted the points you make as ignorant. Upon discovering you are in fact an African-American, for some reason it is simply intuitive for most people to be less critical of what you say.
Think about it, though. It really shouldn't matter who makes an argument. That's not how we should judge the validity or accuracy of the points they make. We should be intelligent to take a step back and evaluate any statement independently of who makes them. I believe that if more people actively employed such techniques when mentally exploring the various sides of a topic, we would be able to have more productive discussions. This includes the discussion that your post brings up.