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Just about every Black person in white America has experienced some type of mistreatment on a pretty frequent basis just because of the color of their skin. Many Black people feel this way on a daily basis whether at work or public spaces, because of the discrimination they face. Many people from various ethnic backgrounds don’t understand the complexity of racism. Even with there being numerous highly publicized cases almost every week. Incidents such as the two Black men arrested in Starbucks, someone calling the police on a Black woman napping at Yale University and of course the killing of unarmed Black people by police.

For the most part, Black people are born knowing that they are living in a largely white-dominated society. Realizing this fact at a young age can certainly have a huge impact on a person psyche and how they live their daily lives.

While American society is always quick to remind us that we now live in a society that allows for “equal opportunity” and now we have more Black entertainers than ever before we should be satisfied. At the very same time not mentioning the inequality, Black people face in housing, education and the increasing wealth gap. The narrative that “we must work twice as hard to get half as far in life” has been passed down through generations throughout the Black community. Reaffirming the central theme in America that black people are treated like second-class citizens.

Being Black in a White America

Following the civil rights movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s. Some effort was given by the government to help improve the living conditions of Black people. Integrating schools/public spaces, fair housing and affirmative action benefited some Black people. It then created a gap in the Black community where some people were able to attain success according to American standards. However, it then created what I like to call a “bottle cap system” when you open a bottle of water just slightly and shake it some water will come out but the majority of the water will remain in the bottle. This describes the Black community today due to assimilation into a white America, which they often navigate haltingly, and essentially alone.

SEE ALSO: Racial Liberalism Was a Political Move to Keep Black People Quiet

Although, there are large numbers of Black people who continue to live in segregated communities, and their children go to mainly segregated schools. Whenever we decide to venture outside of our neighborhoods, specifically into white spaces were often harassed, questioned and sometimes arrested just for trying to navigate these spaces while being black.

While navigating these spaces, and encountering a white person many black people tend to code switch. When navigating white space, many black people use code-switching as a way to be more accepted by white people especially in the workplace. Often times when you’re not “code switching” you can be perceived in a negative light by your white counterparts.

For many of us, we search for allies while operating in white spaces, however, sometimes finding one can be harder than one might think. In fact, a major issue for black people is figuring out which white people are actually allies and which ones are covertly racist. In the being black in white America is hard, but amazing at the same time. Being apart of such a resilient group of people who can make the best out of any situation is nothing less than amazing. In the end being black in America allows me the opportunity to not only overcome the heap of obstacles in front of me but the chance to make it better for generations to come.

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