The Evolution of Racial Discrimination at the Turn of the Twenty First Century
The late twentieth century was a time of great turmoil in racial relations within the United States. Riots broke out in Los Angeles after the beating of Rodney King, and racial profiling was at an all time high with the LAPD's implementation of the CRASH force in a feeble attempt to rid Los Angeles of gangs. Cornel West's work "Waiting" is an example of the everyday occurrences in an overtly racist culture. He eventually pushes the negative events he went through out of his mind through remembering the rich heritage of his own culture, a reaction which has been prominent since slavery and the early eras of blues and jazz music. What Americans have seen in the turning of the twenty first century is this being twisted to serve a more detrimental purpose than a healing one. After Rap and Hip Hop were commercialized through over-saturation in mainstream culture, many whites have attached themselves to these new movements without fully understanding how they came about and the years of suffering which led to their birth. "Waiting" is actually a section from Cornel West's 1995 book Race Matters which explored American racism. In this piece the reader sees his idea of "'p
This struggle is something that haunts millions of Americans; for West "it is an urgent question of power and morality: for others, it is an everyday matter of life and death," (499). Although many must still face the blatant ugly face of more overt racism, the larger African American community is loosing its relationship to its own heritage-and this is what is so disturbing about modern race relationships. As rap and hip hop blew up n the culture scene many white Americans have jumped on the band wagon like no generation before them. Du Bois in the idea that "the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line," (498). This saturation has now become s cliche that you see rapping noodles on kids' commercials advertising Kraft's Macaroni and Cheese. Along with continuing its traditions of overt racial discrimination, racism is now also a covert practice that is masked by white America's foundation of black culture. West is someone of status and prominence. As we now enter into the twenty-first century, mainstream American culture has tuned into the African American traditions in an attempt to glaze over the last few centuries of pain and atrocities. The racism which has been built into the very foundation of the United States has not disappeared. His later discussion with his wife about the pervasive and long lasting affects of American racism on African Americans all over the country. However, more recent times have seen white participators of the racial hierarchy of American culture also begin to use black culture as a way to mask the deep wounds left from hundreds of years of hatred and oppression. In this vignette, he describes events which show his innocence, but also how he was targeted through racial profiling, a major problem in the United States during the 1990s.
Common topics in this essay:
African American,
Race Matters,
African Americans,
West's Waiting,
Du Bois,
Hip Hop,
Rodney King,
Americans West,
,
Los Angeles,
african american,
american culture,
hip hop,
rap hip hop,
racial profiling,
african americans,
white americans,
rich heritage,
rap hip,
los angeles,
twentieth century,
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Acceptance Essays
