Blackbodies have been dominated by a lot of negative labeling which, havemade them receive ill treatment in our society today. So much haschanged, when we look at what has been written on paper when we speakabout blacks in America, but nothing has changed on how the whitesperceived the black body in the last 50 years. One wonders where allthese inscriptions emanated. Let me take you back in history theBlack Americans originated from the Caribbean and West Africa. Theycame to the United States through the slave trade. As time passedfrom generation to generation, blacks were no more than one`sproperty in the eyes of the white people. Segregation was so immense,such that even in the church were God advocates for equality blackand whites would sit on different sides (Cornelius 36). For blacks tomarry a white was taboo as whites were these superior beings thatwere adored and needed to keep their race pure.
Mattersof the inscription became worse when the Supreme Court in 1857decided in Dredv. Sanfordthat a black man was a property and he could not enjoy the freedom byinvoking the 13th,14th,and 15thAmendments of the Constitution (qtd. in CornellUniversity Law School,60U.S. 19 How.393). It was a doomsday for the black society, and I canimagine how such a decision was equally celebrated by whites as itwas loathed by the black community. Haven came for the blackcommunity when the Northern States started opposing the ideology thatblack people were property. The greatest civil war of all times wouldbe fought, the battle was won, and the blacks began to enjoy someliberties, but the trans–generational labeling of the blacks asproperty still lived. It was a haven at least, that is what theblacks thought before the emergence of Jim Crow era. Any inscriptionsof the black bodies apart from being uncivilized were born at thattime. It can be illustrated by Ferris State University’s articleTheBrute Caricaturewritten by David Pilgrim in 2000 and modified in 2012.
Inthe article, the opening statement sums up the entire inscriptionsthat have been subjected to the black bodies. It describes black menas “naturally animalistic, destructive and criminals, thusdeserving punishment.” They were seen as anti-social menaces thatwere brute terrifying predators targeting white women who wereconsidered as helpless victims. In the article, Charles (1893)statement is quoted he describes a black person as the most horriblecreation in all the earth (qtd.in Pilgrim The Brute Caricature). Slavery to the Blacks was justified, as it suppressed thoseanimalistic tendencies. Thomas Nelson Page (1904) complained how hemissed those good old days when blacks were tamed. The rise of a freeblack society led to the emergence of a race that was lazy,dishonest, and intemperate with no regard for morality and as aresult of blacks being animalistic, they raped white women (Pilgrim,The Brute Caricature). The stereotyping of blacks as the rapist waspropagated by mainstream media such as newspapers, journals andbestselling novels. As a consequence, the lynching of blacks becamerampant throughout the country.
Accordingto the TheBrute Caricaturebetween 1882 and 1951, 3437 blacks had been lynched. Through the KuKlux Klan and other predominantly white figures, the assassination ofboth black and their character continued. Also, the article shows howCharles Carroll (1900) book TheNegro A Beastcontributed to the assassination of blacks by claiming that they weremore related to apes than human beings, and the greatest killers andrapists of his time (qtd. In Pilgrim, The Brute Caricature). Also, anarticle by Fredrick, of a character assassination appeared in aMedicineJournalin 1903, claiming that blacks were “sexual madness and excess” bybirthright (qtd. in Pilgrim,The Brute Caricature). Also, in 1905, hepublished another book which described blacks as sexuallyuncontrollable people who are half animals and children with no senseof love (qtd. in Pilgrim,The Brute Caricature). Such sentimentspropagated race hatred towards the black individuals depriving themof the freedom that they thought they had achieved through the CivilWar liberation.
Theseatrocities were such vile that 1921-22 an anti-lynching bill wasproposed, but the southern states did bar it. They considered theaction a necessary evil to counter even a greater evil in the eyes ofthe public (Pilgrim, The Brute Caricature). There were fewer rapevictims of the whites by the black compared to whites, but thelynching was a social control mechanism that was used to instill fearin the black communities (Pilgrim, The Brute Caricature). Most thelynching occurred when the backs attempted to demand equality orfairness. According to Allen (1969), most blacks either in urban orrural riots, were oppressed by the whites when they failed to besubjects of oppression (qtd. in Pilgrim The Brute Caricature). Blackswere no longer in chains, but their cries of being segregated, weheard from every corner. Racism was being legitimized by states, forinstance, in Louisiana there were Car Segregation laws which allowedwhites to sit in a different section with blacks.
Afunny case was witnessed in Plessyv. Ferguson,Plessy was 7/8 white and 1/8 black, he bought a first class ticketand attempted to sit in the whites’ section. He was arrested andconvicted of violating segregation laws because he was 1/8 black (qtdin CornellUniversity Law School,163U.S. 537). That’s how much racism thrived in those years. The criesof racism would grow until Martin Luther King started organizingprotests in the rebuke of how blacks were treated. In 1963, hedelivered a speech which became sensational in the American societysecuring him a place in the hall of fame of freedom fighters such asLincoln and Jefferson. Though Martin Luther King efforts to fightagainst legitimized segregation laws were actualized in 1964, whenthe Civil rights Act outlawed them, still black people continue tosuffer from racism oriented problems. Even after achieving thisfreedom, blacks were considered to be lesser beings and could notparticipate in an election unless they passed some votingexamination.
Suchlittle barriers infringed the rights of blacks as they were onlyimposed on them. The white people were the accuser and jury. Suchideologies have been passed down from generation to another andthrough historical manuscripts. In a YouTube clip, Barbara Fieldssays that the Civil War isn’t over until all men are equal. Shereminds us the ideologies that the Civil War intended to achieveequality and fairness to all men irrespective of creed, color, andrace. Not unless those ideologies have been met, then the war wasfought in vain. Her statement reinforces my thesis statement that, somuch has changed when we look at what has been written on paper whenwe speak about blacks in America, but nothing has changed on how thewhites perceived the black body in the last 50 years.
Her statement can be supported by closely evaluating Michael Jacksonlife. Michael was a proficient singer, and he was adored whetherirrespective of his skin color. At some point in his career, hedecides to have plastic surgery to alter his skin color to white. Onewonders what would have made a person do that the answer is simple,racism. The society advocated that white people were superior toblack and Michael wanted to fit in the society and how could he bestdo this, by becoming a white, what he thought was superior. Onewould have thought education is the link that would have closed thegap between blacks and white. And why not, it was the reason forracism in the first place, “the whites are educated and civilizedwhile the blacks are not” was the ideology of racism (pilgrim, TheBrute Caricature).
It is troubling when bias can be found among educated people andespecially the doctors, according to research conducted by JohnsHopkins University School of Medicine in 2012, it was discovered thatthere is an unconscious bias toward the American Africans. The studyfound out that black children who suffered from stomach aches areless likely to get attention than their fellow white cohorts(Barsukiewicz, Camille, Marshall, Norma, and Marshall 70).In 2002, the Institute of Medicine noted that racial minorities didreceive lower health care than the whites, even when they are insuredto the same level. There is always a misconception that the AmericanAfrican can endure more pain than the whites (Barsukiewicz,Camille, Marshall, Norma, and Marshall 70).Also, there are biases in psychiatrist sessions, some health careproviders assume that difficult moments or depression is an expectedlife of a black person, thus, they end up normalizing what might be atraumatic reaction (Barsukiewicz,Camille, Marshall, Norma, and Marshall 70).
Asif branding a black person as a superhuman, who is uncivilized andincapable of self-govern is not enough, the black person has beentagged as a stupid person or unintelligent compared to the whites.When you are a journalist a person in place of influence, and youwrite a statement that taunts another race, are you not puttingpetrol on a fire that is already burning? John Derbyshire, a formerNational Review columnist, wrote that “in six black people only asingle individual is smarter than an average white”. That isinsulting to blacks and sweet news to racist fanatics. Suchstatements make the whites have an attitude or biases when judging ablack person’s action. What you would regard as accidental whendone by a black person becomes branded as “their nature not tothink before acting.”
ImmanuelKant, one of the central figures of modern philosophy, does not helpthe situation either he is quoted in BlackBodies, White Gazes: The Continuing Significance of Race,describing Labat as stupid, because he was black (Yancy 54). Suchconnotation when they come from the very people that our society seesas educated and civilized and on whom also our education principlesare based, they have far reaching consequences to the society. Also,Marcellus Andrew quotes in his book ThePolitical Economy of Hope and Fear: Capitalism and the BlackCondition in Americahow Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray reinstate their argumentthat blacks are poor because they are dumb by nature (qtd in Andrew33). He goes ahead and quotes TheBell Curve,where Murray and Herrnstein say that social inequality in societyexist because the American people are not ready to admit that Blackand Latinos are not smart enough to make it in the modern life wheremarketing is technology driven (qtd in Andrew 34).
Also,another inscription that the black have been given is that they areuncivilized beings this is so far the eldest label to exist(Pilgrim). In Blacknessand Transatlantic Irish Identity: Celtic Soul Brothersbook, the black people were colonized because they were consideredprimitive and dangerous (Onkey 7). Imagine how many whites out therewho view black as uncivilized the problem of having such biasestowards a person you will never see them beyond these labels. Youwill be afraid to play with your black friends because you fear thatthey may behave as uncivilized. It is such labels which have led tothe rise of different social grouping at schools such as white cornerand the black corner. The effects have grown to an extent we have aneighborhood where it would be odd to find a black neighbor or whiteone. Uncivilized labels were such intense to an extent that thewhites never trusted the black people with the influential positionof power whether in politics or organizations.
Thingswould change in 1966 when Johnson appointed the firstAfrican-American to his cabinet, Robert Weaver (Walton and Smith283). It was just after the passage of right to Vote Act of 1965. Youcan now understand how the inscription of African American asuncivilized, if in some state they were never allowed to vote as theywere seen incapable of making decisions on governance (Wagner 88). Tohave an assumption that blacks could not govern was hideous. It wouldseem that America had forgotten about the issue of black beinginferior in matters of governance until a black candidate declaredhis interest to be the American president. The issue of racism andincapability of black people to govern, started to emerge. Suchsentiments can be supported by Obama candidacy. If you can rememberclearly Obama’s nomination was attacked on the fact that he was ablack. Even the voting pattern revealed a lot, those states that wereconsidered to propagate slavery denied Obama a good chunk of votes,maybe because they favored the Republican candidacy or didn’tbelieve in a black presidency(Kapeluck, Branwell, Laurence, and Robert 4).Gates suggests that Trump’s presidential ambition is a piece ofbacklash to the president’s Obama tenure in office. He adds thatthe fact that a black man was in an office drove some peoplecompletely out of their minds (Gates and Burns).
Stereotypingis not restricted to national matters but also in governing families.The black society has been seen as an irresponsible society whichknows not how to nurture their generation that has been the generalinscription. Brittany’s book describes how a black woman was seenby the whites they assert that she is primarily lazy and civicallynegligent. They hurl an accusation at her that she is shortsighted,licentious and constantly having children out marriage (Brittany 19and 20). Because she lacks sound principles of her own, she is likelyto transmit ill family morals to her children. Thus, a black woman isher enemy, the perpetual root of poverty and social ills (Brittany7).
Onthe other hand, the male figures have been seen as abusive inmarriage and irresponsible when it comes to matters of the family(Harris and Miller 134). The male character refuses to be sympatheticand compassionate in marriages, thus how the society today brandsblack men. Also, the inscription that black parents are notresponsible has also risen out due to the statistic that 72% of theblack kids are born out of wedlock according to City Journal. Thoughthe information is valid according to statistics, to generalize itwould be inhumane to those who have remained responsible for theirmarital and parenthood obligations.
Blackshave not been spared from the sexuality deviant inscription, thisissue has been sensitive since slavery in particular, while thesociety then normalized heterosexuality, black sexuality wasconstrued as abnormal. There were long-standing ideas regarding theuncontrollable sexual appetite of blacks (Collier-Thomas and Franklin159). Black men were viewed as a brute rapist while their women wereequated to a character of Manny and Jezebel (Brittany 14 and 21). Manny’s character symbolized, uncivilized, asexual and ugly whileJezebel’s character symbolized the promiscuousness and carnalknowledge of black women (Brittany 21). These two images portrayed indescribing the nature of a black woman were used to deny her aposition as a true woman with dignity. These images were projectedinto the society during the 20thcentury in the works of art, such as literature, film, and theater.Today, these images are being reintroduced and legitimized through agenre of reality shows and dramas by the predominant whites. A goodexample of such shows would be HipHop Atlanta and Basketball Wives.While these shows entertain, they never miss the gallant intention toportray those deviant black female identities as an authenticrepresentation of black womanhood.
Asa result, white people form psychological defenses towards blackpeople as they are afraid what a “stupid”, uncivilized bruteperson incapable of self-govern, can do. It is such biases which havemade it easy for the white people to deny blacks the benefit of thedoubt, use excessive force and perpetrate negative tactics whenhandling blacks, as they see them as criminal deviant people. Thesecases have been witnessed overwhelmingly today in our Justice system,as they were experienced in the 19thand 20thcentury.
Toprove little has changed in actions I did some research of courtcases, where blacks were convicted either on the false accusation orwithout proper due process of law. In 1994, a lady called Susan Smithgained a lot of media attention for her outcry that a black man hadcarjacked her and kidnapped her two sons, 3year, and 14months. Fornine days she used the media to implore the citizens to assist her insearch for her children (Michael 44). The search intensifiednationally. Later, Susan confessed to having drowned the kids in JohnD. Lake as she could not handle the pressure emotionally. As aresult, she was sentenced to life incarceration (Michael 44). Shewrote a letter apologizing for her actions, but not to the blacksociety. Imagine the image she portrayed about black peopleindividuals who were inconsiderate and inhumane to kidnap twochildren, one not even old enough to walk.
Inanother case, a 19-year-old young African American adult, namedDarryl Hunt from Winston-Salem was convicted. He was accused ofraping and murdering a white woman named Deborah Sykes in 1984(Hattery and Smith 119). Hunt was denied due process of law, as noevidence connected him to the crime. The jury was composed of allwhite. After a period of ten years a DNA test was done thatexonerated him from the offense, but he was not released from jailuntil nine years later when a man called Willard Brown confessed tocommitting the crimes. He was exonerated in 2004 (Hattery and Smith119). Just imagine how the justice system was cruel, even after theDNA test proved otherwise he remained in bars, the price of beingblack indeed.
Also,in 1989 a group of five Black and Hispanic boys were convicted forassault and rape of Trisha Meili (Austin 18). The boys were teenagersbetween the ages of 14 to 16 years. The facts were that Meili wasraped while jogging in the New York Central Park. The case drew a lotof criticism and outrage against the boys. They were convicted onfabricated evidence and coerced confession. Matias Reyes who was arapist and a murderer, in 2002 confessed of the actions. DNA resultsconfirmed his side of the story and as a result, the boys’convictions were vacated (Austin 18). That shows the extent of policeracism and how they viewed the Black and Hispanic boys. Thus, theyjustified their action to use any means to make the boys confess.
Finally,the most recent case of my examples occurred in 2010.It involves awhite woman named Bethany Storro accusing a black woman of assaultingher in a Vancouver parking lot, Washington, by throwing acid on herface (Turkey 238). The intention of her creating the story was to geta chance to be on TheOprah Winfrey Show.The story was picked by mainstream media tainting the image of blackwomen as she was seen as a victim of a jealous black woman, who couldnot stand her beauty. Storro finally secured her place on the showbut, the show folks suspected her story. When she suspected that theywere onto her, she canceled the appointment and confessed to thepolice. Storro was sent to mental prison for treatment. How many morehave gone through close or similar situation or is a black personguilty until proven otherwise
Thesecourt cases show the inscriptions that the whites have on the blackbody. Those whites in the case, to them it doesn’t matter thetrauma that black society goes through. The only difference betweenthe torture that blacks went through in the past and now are that, atleast they can spend some years in prison, contrary to the Jim Crowera when they would have been lynched without any regard that thereis a possibility of being innocent. Though there is anotherdisadvantage, the gun that kills easily than lynching. Today, thatkilling is perpetrated by men in uniform, the same people under oathto protect the lives of every citizen.
CompareBrown’s case with Sandy Hook shootings by Adam Lanza. In AdamLanza’s case, the Child Advocate office of Connecticut produced alengthy report explaining various causes which would have made Lanzacommit that crime (Cowan A17). The report concluded that there weremultiple events in Lanza’s life that would have triggered such anact. As a result, he committed those crimes due to worsening OCD(Cowan A17). The surroundings that Lanza lived in were blamed as acause of his actions. Several interventions were proposed which wouldhave been helpful in helping Lanza deal with his depression andanxiety problems (Cowan A17). Such actions show how the society iswilling to separate Lanza from his crime, and he is treated as humanwith dignity, yet he is the crime perpetrator.
Thatcompassion was never extended to Michael Brown, who was the victim.Do you get the contrast? Michael Brown was described as no angel, andhe involved himself in alcohol and drug abuse in addition to singingraps that were vulgar (Eligon A1). Talking back to his mother wasalso cited with the intention to portray Michael as an insolent childwho deserved his death. Despite even knowing that Michael Brown livedin a neighborhood that was not conducive, nowhere the surroundingsare used to illustrate the difficulties he might have beenexperiencing. One wonders how Brown is described in such a mannerwith the intention to defile his dignity while there are numerousattempts to shift the blame to other factors on the part of Lanza.The whites are given the benefit of the doubt, while that door isshoved against blacks when it comes to their issues.
Suchcrimes and outcries have attracted essential activists such as StanChu Ilo, Cornell West, Henry Louis Gates and Deborah Willis. To beginwith Stan Chu Ilo narrates how he was tormented by the dishonorableshooting of Walter Scott by Officer Slager. He imagines being shot bypolice. He is filled with outrage and anger with what has become thebehavior of white police officers (Ilo, Huffington). To hunt blackmen and kill them in cold blood as if their lives deserve no dignity,thus they are expendable and disposable (Ilo, Huffington). Every timehe sees how such actions which are a race inspired, are beingperpetrated in our society, he is reminded how the United States isfailing the Black community. He associates such killings as acontinuation of racial violence against Blacks which were propagatedway back in the Jim Crow and slavery era. He states the differencebetween what is happening today and in the past, is the fact that ourancestors knew that they were targets of a vicious racial systemwhich they fought. Today, blacks are to enjoy civil liberalities, butthose who should protect them, to enjoy these rights are the likes ofOfficer Slager, who deny them to the black people at the full glareof the public.
Headds that being black in the eyes of some white police officers meansthat you are a potential troublemaker, a criminal and a dangerousperson (Ilo, Huffington). Thus, the police should fear you andprotect the society from you in the vilest manner possible. He adds,perhaps the arrest of Officer Slager might result in conviction orexoneration. Nevertheless, there is something in our society that isbroken, if being a black means you are a victim of police racialprofiling, and there is the likelihood that you will die of a gunthan a natural cause. To him being a black person means that you haveto follow some particular appropriate conduct in the presence of thepolice (Ilo, Huffington). It is those behaviors that make thedifference between life and death. Ilo in a funny statement claimsthat his reason not to buy a new car, despite the one he drives being13 years old, is to avoid the attention of police officers, who tothem it is unimaginable for a black person to drive a big car and notbecause he emulates Pope Francis. He supports his claim by the factthat his friend, a black professor at Chicago University, who owns aSUV is constantly pestered by a police officer who can’t imaginethat he, is the owner. He poses a question to the society, “whereshould the blacks go if they cannot live in the United States insafety and free, and how can the great nation on earth that has shonethe beacon of democracy to the rest of the world justify thoseinhumane treatments against the black community?”
Headds that, the dissipated social reproduction that is thriving in theUnited States has its roots from the slavery and Jim Crow era.Unfortunately, it is from such eras, that the narratives of whatbeing black is today have been shaped in the consciousness of thewhites, giving rise to uncalled for killings of the blacks likeanimals. He adds that, the problem that the United States faces isnot policing culture, but the problem of attitude and racist normsthat shape how the black person is perceived in the United States bywhites. He narrates how the other day he frightened a white lady whowas waiting for an elevator “when the elevator opened, and theyoung woman saw me she was terrified” he says. He wondered how hispresence could produce such torrents of anxiety in that woman. In hisfinal remarks, he states that just like terrorism and any inhumanevice, which grip us under the perpetual bondage of misery are learnedbehaviors, so is racism. Also, that no one is born with thedisposition of racism in their genes and it is made worse by thecoating of liberties and civil rights in the supreme law of the landwhich gives a false ideal of freedom (Ilo, Huffington). To Ilo,nothing has changed because the black society still suffers a painfulcultural and existential alienation which has left them sidelined bythe American dream. The so-called Manifest Destiny of America hasremained for many blacks as an unflappable peripheral destiny in thetorture of joblessness, violence, constant surveillance,incarceration and police brutality (Ilo, Huffington).
CornellWest does not preserve his words either, in 60 minutes program, ofCBS NEWS with James Brown. Cornell refers to President Obama as ablack Wall Street puppet this is because of the influences that WallStreet has on Obama’s policies which have no regard for the workingpeople and the poor. He adds, he was a fervent supporter of Obama,but today he blames him for not tackling the issues of racialinjustice and inequality. For that reason, he supports the BlackLives Matter movement, if Obama had addressed the issues of race,West would not have been arrested for protesting in Ferguson,Missouri. He views the Black Lives Matter movement as marvelousmilitancy that is courageous and visionary. West reinstates how raceissues are problematic in the United States, as a country, it is inbad shape. While those that form the upper class of society arecomfortable and enjoying their lives, the poor black, red and yellowpeople are catching hell every day on every level, he adds: In themass media, education, job market and back in the communities, theyare either shot through too many guns or drugs (West, CBS). West addsthat society acted as if it could escape it, that what Obama did forsix years.
Itis not a surprise that a movement like Black Lives Matters comes tolife in an era of a black president (West). In his closing remarks ofthe interview, West stated that human history has been a cycle ofindifference, hatred, and revenge to the vulnerable and weak, butAmerican is expecting an awakening. In another forum, "DemocracyNow" show, West responds to Obama’s comments on the TrayvonMartin case, by asserting that there no doubt that the vicious legacyof white supremacy affects our society and in particular the blacks.“But if Obama’s administration is deeply concerned by the painsof the black people, why has it not prioritized to counter the newJim Crow?” he asks. On the same forum, he says that, “hold yourground laws are part the legacy of the slave patrol,” which is tomean that white brothers are to be armed to keep the black communityunder control. He closes his remarks, by saying that, he believes inself-defense, but it is clear that in these laws there is class andracial biases it is for that reason Americans ought to fight them(West , Democracy Now).
On the other hand, Gates joins in this discussion of Black LivesMatters by stating that the economic gap that exists within theAfrican-American is one crucial factor that has led to its rise(Gates ED10). He adds that, black students have realized despite themsoaring to higher heights in education they are being marginalized.The disparity of opportunities plague blacks and their poverty rateremain stubbornly close to what it used to be, in times, MartinLuther King was assassinated. The Blacks’ unemployment rate nearlydoubles that of the national average and still the distrust thatexisted between the police and impoverished communities thrives. Headds that, how can you justify the fact that, blacks make up morethan a third of incarcerated persons compared to their population of13% to the overall population (Gates ED10). He does not understandwhy people confront the question that arose the moment the firstslave ship docked in the United States do black lives matter?
Hecontinues to argue that, the supporters of Black Lives Matters havecome of age in this whiplash environment of inequality, witnessingthe killings of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and the rape of 13black women by a former Oklahoma police officer Daniel Holtzclawamong other racial injustices. Thus, African American students areprofoundly searching for a clear, definitive end to racial injustice.As a result, we have heard protest concepts like “I, too amHarvard.” He adds that, change is difficult even at the symboliclevel, and it remains to be witnessed what these protest movementswill accomplish. He wonders whether the fight against policebrutality, a society plethora of micro-aggressions and symbols of theConfederacy will be the basis of a broader movement for the end ofresidential segregation, the improvement of underfunded public schooleducation and the right to a job with a lenient salary (Gates ED10).He closes his remarks by saying that, it is certain that the Spinoffsand outrage that led to the rise of Black Lives Matters will be withus unless the legacies of Jim Crow and slavery become remnants of aracist past (Gates ED10).
Finally,Deborah Willis dedicates her resources to prove Black Lives Mattersthrough establishing and supporting the National Museum of AfricanAmerican History and Culture which showcases black beauty andheritage. Deborah Narrates to Jacqueline Bishop, a fellow professorat NYU, the plight a black woman goes through in her life (WillisHuffington). Willis particularly mentions one event in her life thatshe experienced in Pratt Institute, where she went to get a Mastersin Fine Arts (MFA) a professor confronted her by saying that she was“taking up a good man’s space.” Such are the challenges that ablack woman faces. Later Willis drew a picture of her son and theprofessor with a caption of the professor’s words and her replythat “I gave birth to a good man.” She states that the strugglesthat a black woman goes through are immense in this society today, sois the fight to make that beauty to be realized in her PosingBeauty.She teaches how black beauty matters it is not a question of whetheryou are light brown or black. She adds those black people beingkilled by the police would just look like Usher or Jamie Fox, thedifference is the $500 shave. She also adds that the attributes ofbeauty are both physical and non-physical and a black woman keeps onfighting for beauty equity in the public space (Willis Huffington).
Itis clear that much has changed, when we look at what has been writtenon paper when we speak about blacks in America, but nothing haschanged on how the whites perceived the black body in the last 50years. If the Jim Crow and slavery inscriptions forever live in theconsciousness of the whites, then we are far from realizing changeand more movements like Black Lives Matters, will rise until the realchange has been actualized. Racism is a learned behavior as Ilo says,and it can be eliminated, it degrades the dignity and undermines thevery liberties that our founding fathers fought that we should enjoy.If blacks keep on suffering in the hands of the whites, then theCivil War, Martin Luther’s movement, and all liberties that havebeen achieved are just, but a sugary coating of pretense and theblack man is still in invisible chains of racism. Thus, we expectmore and more activists like the likes of West, Ilo, Deborah and Gateto join the Song of Black Lives Matters.
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