Growing Up Black In America – Racial Prejudice

Black Americans have certainly faced many challenges trying to live the American Dream and partake in the many blessings other races have enjoyed here. One of the biggest hindrances black Americans have to continue facing in this country is the constant racial prejudice sent their way by white people.

The original black people in this country were taken by force from Africa on ships to America where they were subjected to extreme abuse. They were made slaves, had their families separated, women violated and men whose self- esteem was reduced to nothing. They had no rights and were considered personal property.

You may ask “how can a civilized people like the English fall to such abhorrent behavior? What reason could they possibly have to partake in behavior that treated a whole race of people so badly?” I have a few ideas as to what may have been prevalent in their minds;

1) They were not able to do all the things they felt they should have under British rule. Consequently they came to America and fought in a Revolutionary War to gain independence. Sadly, even though they gained their independence from an oppressive form of government they imposed oppression on an innocent people.

2) There are many white people who want to prove that black people are inferior to them to feed their own feelings of inadequacy. When you look at different groups of people there are more similarities than differences. Everyone wants a great life, people who love them and people to love. Nobody wants to live in want, need and inadequacy. White people who fail to consider that we all want the same things in life are failing to look at life objectively.

3) Prejudice attitudes have been taught through their generations and they cannot seem to break the cycle. Grandparents, parents, aunts, uncle and cousins can sprout those feelings of superiority and racial prejudice which makes it hard to have interracial relationships and friendships with people of color.

There is no scientific or spiritual evidence to support mistreating people because of a perceived feeling of superiority due to a conceived position of ignorance. When you remove the skin people are people underneath. When you look at the teaching of the Bible there is no teachings to suggest that one group of people are better than another just because of the color of their skin. Israel was the favored people not because they were better but because God chose to reach out to a man called Abraham and established a covenant with him that passed on to his children and their children. In the early church they admitted both Jews and non Jews into their congregations to dismay of those who felt superior.

Racial Prejudice is one form of discrimination that was born in insecurity, maintained by ignorance and continues because our nation has been reluctant to act decisively when it comes to stamping it out. It must be dealt with because future generations do not need to be poisoned by the sins of the past.

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