Unity in the Black community is a rarity today here in America. We here slang like my “brotha” my “sista”, but do we really know the meaning of the terms? Regardless, we have lost the true meaning of brotherhood and sisterhood.
Social status does play a big part in this lack of unity in the Black community. Too often Black people are pointing the finger at each other; instead of working with each other to come up with a solution for the problem.
We often say the lower class black people are the problem or we blame, professional people as the problem.
Whoever is the blame there is still a problem that lacks a solution. As African American people, we sometimes get to the top and “forget where we came from.” A quote I hear too often from my Black people. Are they really forgetting where they came from, or are they letting go of what happen in their pass and making an effort to better themselves? So many people rather hold on to the past than to move on and start working on their future and solve the problem that they face. This is a problem that the world faces, not just African Americans. I think unity is lacking in the Black community simply from a lack of communication.
We have many times that have been labeled as “lazy”, “Always wanting a handout” and as people who “just want the easy way out”; what’s so ironic about these stereotypes they came from people within the black community who are African American. Maybe unity starts with self and learning to love ourselves as Black people; then we can learn to love our race as a whole. Instead of looking at the negatives about our race let’s focus on the positive things each person can bring individually to the society as a whole. Instead of Black people telling stories about how we are different from the typical Black thug, stories that everyone is ready to accept; or the stories explaining how we are different than typical Black people, because we are that rare exception of Black people who have ethics, morals and accept our responsibilities and maturity to succeed.
We should focus on trying to come together as a community. It’s all too easy for Black people who do well to look down at Black people who don’t do so well. Yes there are black people who act immature and refuse to do what’s right. But not all of them wear T-shirts and hoodies. You can find some of these irresponsible guys dressed in slacks as well. All Black people have a responsibility to do their best to come together for the good of the black community. Which begs the next question, where is Black unity?
Shatiya Williams is a junior psychology major from Shreveport.