African American- Critical Theory

Introduction

Black Americans or Afro-Americans constitute the second largest minority in the United States. Black Americans are now 30 million, or 12% of the total population. They are descendants of slaves imported from Africa as colonial America and freedmen after the Civil War in 1865. The black community is divided between integrationist and nationalist separatists. African Americans are considered as one of the largest racial minority in US. Most African Americans around 58% lives in the metropolitan areas if United States. Over 2 million African American lived in New York City, there is 28% black population in New York City. Therefore, we can say that African American is an important nation with in a nation (Tillman, 3).

In this paper I am going to discuss critical theory in respect to African American. Critical theory is a theory that emphasizes the negative effects of modernity (meaning, industrialization and what follows) in different societies on the planet, from the negative effects in large cities such as depersonalization of social relations to the effects in small and remote communities far from civilization but for example affected by climate change. This theory questions and criticizes the society in which we live, intended (but not successful) change the current situation which would better describe an ideal society but without specifying the specific steps to achieve it.

Critical Theory and African American

African Americans in United States are always referred as a bottom tread since their arrival in this hemisphere. Despite of an end to the slavery, many southern states of US placed new legal barriers to halt the social mobility of recently liberated slaves. Whites have always relegated African Americans to the detested part of the society kept for those who are supposed to be incompetent and cold. Although evident discrimination is not legal anymore, the working old system has permitted the fortunate upper class to keep practicing their practices of discrimination on less apparent ground. African Americans continued to suffer discrimination, but found a great beacon of hope in Martin Luther King. Over the years, especially during elections the political class tried to capture those votes and recalled the image of Luther King (Tettey, 7). Even after years of freedom, African American community in US faces discrimination at every stage of their life. It can be identified during their hiring as they are from poor neighborhood and possess particular accent that is why many studies have shown that those who sounds white have more chances to get a call back rather than African American people living in poor neighborhood.

Longer confined to rural South, they experienced with economic transformations of the first half of the twentieth century, massive immigration to the great industrial cities of North-East, where they formed an urban proletariat. They were the first hit by the crisis of the traditional industries of the North-East, which began in 1970s. Many participated in a movement back towards the south, towards the cities (Houston, Atlanta, and New Orleans). Today, they are an important part of the ...