The new hashtag that has taken over many social media, websites and apps among the community of color is #livingwhileblack. This is a hashtag that has been introduced to us in the 21st century which has raised a lot of eyebrows. It is very important for many people to understand the definition of what this hashtag means. Living while black is a really broad topic. However, we can break it up into many different topics. For example, racial profiling, being segregated in the work place and many other issues that happen on a daily to African Americans. We can come to the conclusion that living while black has to do with all the discourangemnt, difficultness it comes to being African American in The United States. However, according to the article “Living While Black and the criminalization of blackness” #livingwhileblack highlights how African Americans are viewed as criminal, supicious and being threathened by the law inforcement in the United States. The group that is most likely affected by this is African Americans in the lower income community and childrens of Color. As Whitney Houston said in one of her songs is “children are the future, teach them well and led them lead the way”. However, we can’t seem to be doing this with children of color.
In the media we see children of color being portrayed as dangerous and misbehaving. The question is; why is it that at such an early age children of color are being portrayed as dangerous? Living while black has described to us why are children of color being portrayed as dangerous and misbehaving. A study at Georgetown Law Center in 2017 has broken down for us how is the childhood of kids of color being interrupted and what this has to do with living while black. It is very important for us so take a stepback and ask ourselves, why is this happening? And why are we allowing it? We don’t only see this with teachers, strangers, and friends but we also see with family members and parents. Parents of color expect their kids to grow up faster than white parents. This is what leads to children of color being victimized by police officers and other because they have this view of them as “oldert than what they are”. According to the article Childhood Interrupted: The Erasure of Black Girls Childhood explains how young black males are more likely to be seen as guilty of suspected crimes than their white peers. This basically explains how in a young age children are already seen as dangerous. Ever since slavery children of color were ripted of a childhood, which is still happening now. Young black ladies need to be less protected and they become more independent. In the article a quote from edward m. morris was used which says “they think they’re adults too andthey try to act like they should have control sometimes” even though this makes them feel better at a young age, later on this type of behavior can lead to consequences later with the police and people of the other races. We mostly see African American girls fightight in television and school and this to see who has the most power out of all. We can see this type of behavior shown on tv and being portrayed in person.
Trayvon Martin’s case a very important case that has taken over the media. Why is it that a young man with a hoodie has to be victimized just because he looked suspicious? If we take a look anyone can look suspicous, however as mentioned before a young black male is more likely to look suspecious. Trayvon Martin was a young man just getting some groceries for his home when he was shot and killed by a white hispanic, George Zimmerman. According to the article “Trayvon Martin Case” Zimmerman was told not to leave his car and he did anyways and fatally shot a young innocent black male just because he looked “suspecious”. If we shot anyone who looks suspicous, might as well just shoot up the whole world. George Zimmerman did not face charges because of the “stand your ground law” in florida which gives the racist and supremacist more power to do whatever they feel like with African Americans. This case just just shows us #livingwhileblack does exist and many people are not aware of this.
Certain people might disagree and speak on “if black people would dress a certain way, stop committing crimes this wouldn’t be occuring”. Others might say that this is another way of African Americans victimizing themsleves. Basically certain individuals believe that this is just another way of people of color looking for another excuse and beliving they are the “victims” of police officers. Some might say that the law is color blind, they are just doing their job and putting bad people in prison is their job.
Now here is the truth about #livingwhileblack, this hashtag is what emphasizes what African Americans go through with law enforcement and gives us a very clear view that its very important for us to understand. Years ago Blacks were labeled as savages, people who cannot learn or who don’t have the ability to and that’s why they needed to be ensalaved. From slavery to the black codes, Jim Crow Era, Redlining, War on Drung, Mass Incarceration and the Three-Strikes- Law. This history keeps on repeating itself and in order to see it we have to understand #livingwhileblack and see that this is no victimization.
References
EPSTEIN, R., BLAKE, J. J., & GONZÁLEZ, T. (2017). Childhood Interrupted: The Erasure of Black Girls Childhood. Georgetown Law. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
Lockhart, P. (2018, August 01). Living While Black and the criminalization of blackness. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
Milner, A. N. (2014). Trayvon Martin Case. In C. A. Gallagher & C. D. Lippard (Eds.), Race and Racism in the United States: An Encyclopedia of the American Mosaic (Vol. 3, pp. 1249-1251). Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood.