AFRICAN AMERICANS

Race and Your Community

Abstract

The research paper discusses the African American race in my community. The African Americans have been the subject of many discussions in that the American community has discriminated against them. The discrimination ranges from an overall different attitude of the general public towards the blacks to the media bias and political discriminations. However, the scenario has become much better in that the African Americans are now less discriminated than they were in the past. With powerful celebrities like Beyonce and Oprah Winfrey, they tanned look has become a style statement. President Barack Obama stands as a testament for the African Americans to see that with dedication and hard work, they can make their place in the community and people will not only acknowledge their existence but will also respect and love them.

Table of Contents

Introduction1

Discussion1

Physical appearance1

Attitude of leadership2

Attitude of the general public3

Texts or work manuals3

Media's representation of African Americans4

Representation of African American community4

Inequities4

Conclusion5

References6

Race and Your Community

Introduction

United States of America is a diverse country and there are many races that live here. The race that I will be discussing in this paper is African Americans living in the USA. Race may be defined on the basis of natural and biological origins. Some describe it on the basis of social and cultural values that a group of people adhere to. The African American race in my community descents from the ancient African slaves that lived in America. African Americans make the largest racial minority in the United States. The current president of United States of America also belongs to this racial minority group. The many studies on African Americans and the racism against them present the African Americans as a commodity and an object for people to study.

Discussion

Physical appearance

African Americans look different. When the world thinks of Americans, they think of whites. This is the general attitude although African Americans make up an essential part of the American community. Moreover, America has produced many notable and celebrities that have their racial background in the African American culture. These include my personal favorite maestro in the field of music Beyonce, Martin Luther King Jr., Oprah Winfrey, Booker T. Washington, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Malcolm X, Condoleezza Rice and Fredrick Douglas, to mention only a few.

In the past, the African Americans were discriminated for their color but now things have changes. The African Americans have darker skin tone, but they have a glow about their skin that many blacks lack. Few people find the blacks unattractive (Dillard, 2006). This can be viewed in the way the majority of cosmetics companies until lately did not make cosmetics for the black men and women. However, things are changing, and many of the top brands in my community such as L'Oréal, MAC Cosmetics, IMAN cosmetics and Maybelline now have exclusive cosmetic ranges for the black women (IMAN, 2011). Moreover, the decline in racial discrimination among the African community is reflected in the way the so called whites are ...