BLACK MINORITIES

Minorities in the USA have always been in constant struggle. Most of them are poor, uneducated and unemployed. For them, life becomes extremely difficult to overcome. Even worse the communities in which they live are brimming with crime and insecurity. Some of them are turning to crime as the last option. This paper champions the thesis that black people are the most challenged minority group in the USA.

According to Kafele (68), the graduation rate of black males is 47%. That of Latinos and Whites is 57 % and 75 % respectively. With these results, it is evident that Black Americans are in deep challenges. They do not drop out of college by mere choices. Their decisions are influenced by poverty, inability to pay their college fees, and poor living standards. The percentage of males in every other level of education is similarly low. It is indeed obvious that the rate at which black minorities attend education needs intervention. The only intervention that would help is that of ensuring that the families experience better living conditions.

The crime rate among black males is similarly high. It actually is partially to blame for the high drop out rate. Black males join gangs at low ages hence getting into trouble with their schools and with authorities. Such forms of trouble cause drop outs, imprisonment, expulsion, and transfers. These types of challenges when spread across a person’s life are eventually disturbing and hence prompting one to drop out and trying other options in life.

Another challenge faced by black minorities is poverty. Poverty among black people dates back to early 19^th century when they were victims of slavery. Rising from that challenge has been a problem. They have had fewer opportunities to help them rise. First, they had few resources to guide them up. They also had no family or networks to help them rise through the challenges of the American society. Resources are hardly ever in their favor. Instead, they have to start very small and rise their way up the class system.

Black people have also experienced far more discrimination than other communities. The fact that they have been victims of slavery is partly to blame for this. Conservative Americans still believe that black people should still be slaves and are not rightfully in America as free men. Their involvement in crime also contributes to their discrimination. Some people feel that they are too violent too warrant fair treatment. They have no idea that the violence is warranted by the challenges that the black people have faced over time.

Black people have also been victims of unemployment. Being uneducated, black people are more likely to be employed in low paying jobs. Discrimination also prompts even educated people to obtain low paying jobs. These factors also work in support of each other. Being unemployed, people may opt to get involved in criminal activities. The complexity of their lives continues to increase with their exclusion from their normal societies (Harrison, 358).

Black people are also under-represented in government systems. Being underrepresented means that their needs are often not voiced or represented in the government. It turns out that their communities eventually become poorer, have poor infrastructure and have poorer health services. The fact that they have a weaker vote implies that their challenges fail to be addressed in government platforms. The other challenges destroy their reputation hence making them very difficult to address on government platforms.

African communities are too diverse. African communities are separated by their diversity. They are only connected by their race and their problems. For this reason, they may become non-supportive of each other and bringing them together becomes an issue. Their cultures are also diverse. They do not believe in the same thing and even their values are different. It has been noted that lack of black doctors has made it difficult for them to get sufficient health care. They need people who have background knowledge of their cultures. The fact that most of them don’t complete college however makes hard to find such people.

Finally, black Americans have challenges forming alliances with other minorities. They have fears that those minorities will take their jobs in case their population increases. They fear about a reduced bargaining capacity in the government. The black and other alliances hence weaken their vote by not supporting each other. Inability to form alliances based on their disparities threatens their strength as a minorities (Benton, 58).

In conclusion, black people are the most challenged minority group in America. Their problems date back to the years of America’s colonialism when Africans were used as slaves. The communities have not risen above the struggles. Furthermore, they lack the proper networks required for proper running of new ventures. Black people in America continue to be involved in criminal activities and street gangs. Their involvement could be attributed to the poor standards of living. These poor standards of living then require students to neglect their education and look for work or engage in criminal activities. Criminal activities in the end may end them in prison or get them expelled from school. Either way, it complicates their lives.

Works Cited

Benton, Mercedes A. “Challenges African American students face at predominantly White institutions.” Journal of Student Affairs 10 (2001).

Kafele, Baruti K. “Empowering Young Black Males.” Educational Leadership 70.2 (2012): 67-70.

Harrison, Algea O., et al. “Family ecologies of ethnic minority children.” Child development 61.2 (1990): 347-362.