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Over the past few years, there has been a huge debate as to whether or not integration has had a positive or negative impact on black people. On May 14, 1954, integration in schools began as a result of the Brown v. Board of Education decision. Although this did not completely end segregation throughout the United States of America, this court decision still affects the black community today.

Some experts have suggested that integration was the “BEST” thing that has ever happened to black people. Citing that integration was not solely about being able to patronize white-owned businesses or attending better schools with more resources. It was about being able to move and access society on the same level as white people within America.

After segregation ended, black people were excited to support businesses owned by white people and other racial groups. Many black people felt this way due to the fact that they believed they were missing out on something so they wanted to support as many businesses as they could. As a result, many black-owned businesses, theaters, insurance companies, and banks went out of business. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs, only 2.1% of businesses were black-owned in 2014.

Integration has not only hurt black people financially; subconsciously it has caused many to believe that black people are beneath white people. Thus, causing many black people to lose respect and love for one another. For example, some discredit or do not support anything associated with black people i.e. businesses, colleges/universities, and communities as they believe these institutions are inferior. This is not a foreign concept rapper and activist David Banner stated on SisterCircleTV this past January “I personally think that integration was the worst thing that ever happened to Black people even more than slavery.”

Ultimately, there is a slippery slope in the idea that everything white is somehow better than anything black. Whether it is in school, business, or simply people, believing in this ideology can be deemed as a form of self-hate. Although there are some positive and negative thoughts surrounding integration, there is only one overwhelming reality that we all face today: black people must start to support one another and unite as a people.

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