Race and My Community - Essay Example

Race and My Community Whether we like to acknowledge it or not, racism plays a major role in our society even in modern times. Every day, some form of it can be seen in the way we market products, the way we interact with others and in the way we organize our society. Depending upon our position in society, evidence of racism can be reduced to an almost meaningless joke or handy excuse or it can prevent us from obtaining adequate employment, health insurance or attain public positions. In some cases, it might guarantee you obtain a favorable position within a company in favor of another applicant who might have better qualifications, but does not meet the requirements of affirmative action. In this case, although you’ve obtained a job, you haven’t necessarily been handed any favors. Racism also affects whether we feel comfortable in the front of the movie theater, at the front of the class or in the front of the corner store or whether we instead draw suspicious glances regarding what we might possibly be up to standing around like that. Within my community of Birmingham, Alabama, there is a noticeable difference in black to white population, yet this diversity does not seem to be fairly reflected in the public sector, the media, or the community in general, all of which could be changed with just a few small steps. Being the staging ground for much of Dr. Martin Luther King’s efforts toward equality and black rights, Birmingham now ranks as the number 3 city in the nation for percentage of black population with 73.5 percent of all residents being of black descent (Birmingham, 2006). In fact, even though almost three quarters of the population is black, almost half of the black people live in the downtown areas of the city while the white people live in the surrounding suburban areas (Quinn & Pawasarat, 2003). As one of the minority white people in this city, I do not look like many of the people that live here, but most of my neighbors are also white and my family shops at stores where mostly other white families shop. There is no particular rule that says we have to do this, but you know when you’ve gone into a store that is not intended for your race because everyone gives you unfriendly stares until you eventually leave. There are also segregated hair salons that cater to only one hair type or another, leaving little doubt as to which is which. Other than these minor differences, we tend to look very similar in the things we wear, the things we do and the restaurants we choose to frequent. In keeping with the population demographics, the city council is made up of predominantly African American council members. Of the nine member council, only three members are white. All of these council members have special initiatives designed to make the community better, such as building ditches to alleviate flooding, introducing new contests and programs for children in areas other than sports and reducing crime or making laws tougher for those who break the law (City of Birmingham, 2005). In creating these types of programs, the community leaders are targeting all children, all housing issues and all lawbreakers, however, a large portion of the issues that are addressed are the issues that are being pointed to as problems within the lower income communities, which are typically translated to mean the African American communities. Nevertheless, they seem to be working toward a common goal, neither needing to nor paying particular attention to race or race differences. “For a community to be a good community, it takes the effort of each homeowner to work together as a neighborhood,” said City Councilperson Joel Montgomery (2003). However, in working toward a common goal, it is interesting to see how the various council members have chosen to focus their efforts. While many of the African American leaders are working to initiate proactive programs such as oratorical contests and strings for kids programs, the white council members are working on strengthening crime laws, placing more power in the hands of law enforcement officials and reducing possible areas in which criminals might hide. It is easy in this context for a white person to feel somewhat neglected because the good initiatives are targeted at lower income, predominantly African American students and adults while the harsher penalties and stiffer fines are suffered by all, even though it is perceived that it is the African American group that is causing many of the societal problems. This perception is due largely because of the way in which the media portrays crime on TV and in the newspapers. Although the Birmingham Times is targeted to African American readers and reports relatively evenly on a variety of topics within the greater Birmingham area, the other major newspaper, the Birmingham News, tends to focus on the negative side of race, even when working to applaud the efforts of others. For example, the Birmingham Times this week reported on the Superbowl and a special tribute to Coretta Scott King (Birmingham Times, 2006). Meanwhile, the Birmingham News had stories regarding church burnings, the need for reduced utility bills or government assistance and the efforts of a couple of elderly people in trying to make their neighborhood a better place to live (Birmingham News, 2006). While the Times was working to highlight the broad accomplishments of a recently living legend and discussing current nationwide issues, the News was demonstrating the trouble being caused by race within the city regarding the churches, highlighting the low-income nature of a majority of the city and focusing on the need for two little old people, who have had numerous problems of their own, to work toward bettering their community, indicating that others around them were not capable of helping themselves. It is this kind of portrayal that has the white community within Alabama as well as the larger nationwide community who reads the more mainstream types of newspapers to believe that the African American population is the problem with Birmingham. In dealing with other people around me, I have come to the conclusion that this negative media portrayal of black people, without adequate positive portrayal to the contrary, is what makes a lot of the white people I know continue to hate the black people. They understand that their city is not all that it could be. They see rising crime numbers, decreased urban living conditions and a high rate of poverty and tend to blame these conditions on the African Americans living within our community instead of the corporate giants who set the pay rates at a barely livable level, the slum lords who fail to clean up dilapidated buildings despite the needs of the tenants and the fact that an above median population of African Americans will probably translate to an above average level of crime committed by African Americans strictly based on proportion, not necessarily based upon race. Because the media doesn’t tend to bring a lot of attention to those African American individuals who are doing important work in our community and nationwide, most of my white neighbors find it easy to forget that African Americans are just as capable as white people of doing good just as white people are just as capable of committing crime as African Americans. By changing some of the voices within the media, or at least some of the focus, we could alleviate some of this hatred and misunderstanding. As people grow up, they are taught that the problems are race-centered, and so they tend to believe it unless and until the information is proved otherwise. However, when the newspaper and the TV indicate race is the problem, our early teachings come to the forefront again and make us believe it is true regardless of how many African American friends we might have. Instead of becoming examples of how the majority of African Americans are internally the same as white people, these friends and co-workers are seen as exceptions to the rule as compared to the images we’ve been presented with all our lives. We need to get the media to focus on the good and bad in society in general, rather than focusing in on whether the people involved were black or white. In addition, we need leaders who are capable of seeing past the color of their constituents skin to the needs of the society as a whole, instead of helping black or white as an ‘accident’ or side-effect of working to help one or the other. Finally, working to clean up urban areas, holding slum lords accountable and attempting to alleviate some of the poverty in the inner cities will help to reduce the crime rate in these predominantly African American neighborhoods. With a reduction in crime, there would be less negative news to report upon and more opportunity to bring out the positive stories that serve to benefit the entire society. Despite the fact that these are relatively simple changes (with the exception of reducing poverty), I don’t think any of them either alone or together will change the attitude of the world any time soon. The divisions that exist are deep-seated and firmly grounded in myths so old that they can no longer be proven wrong. It is only through the slow progression of time as well as the concentration on these types of efforts that we will begin to break down these old issues, proving them to be falsely and unfairly based and obtain a more equal and harmonious community. References “Birmingham, Alabama.” (2006). ePodunk. Retrieved February 5, 2006 from < http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=11804> Birmingham News. (February 5, 2006). Everything Alabama. Retrieved February 5, 2006 from < http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/?archive> Birmingham Times. (February 5, 2006). Black Press USA Network. Retrieved February 5, 2006 from < http://www.thebirminghamtimes.com/News/MainSection.asp?sID=2> Montgomery, Joel. (2003). “Your Community Voice – City Council District 1.” City of Birmingham, Alabama. Retrieved February 5, 2006 from < http://www.informationbirmingham.com/citycouncil/newsletter/page5dis1.pdf> Quinn, L. & Pawasarat, J. (January 2003). “Racial Integration in Urban America: A Block Level Analysis of African American and White Housing Patterns.” University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. Retrieved February 5, 2006 from < http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/ETI/integration/integration.htm> Read More