Race and Identity

Sprawled among empty green bottles we tossed pointed remarks into the center of the room last night, on such subjects as are typically limited to the company of close friends. Even so we felt the wintry asperities. Important and delicate topics too often collect broken feelings like shards of glass, and distance themselves from public discourse. Among strangers we are too mindful of our own image to speak with the proper forthrightedness.

The prevailing cultural image of African-Americans, namely that centered around hip-hop and the ghetto lifestyle, was the subject of debate and criticism. The opprobrium of promoting violence and misogyny led us to ask, how can unhealthy ideals thrive in today's time? How does any deplorable creed propagate itself?

I posed the question as one individual's predicament of joining or spurning a group, and the sociological factors involved. One aspect is his exposure to positive ideals, which comprise his choices. Another is personal strength, drawn from central figures in his life, that may define his moral position and provide grounds to reject contradictory principles. At such a crossroads, especially to an impressionable mind, moral compromises may come as a cost for reaching a place of community and strength, something we cannot deny or remove from him.

The issue is not with the struggling individual. The issue is what pushes on him the ruthless few choices that will come to define his life.

The point I stuck to was a need for role models. Maybe you see young black kids aspire to rap and basketball because the immediate successful black Americans are rappers and basketball players. This hits on the necessary sociohistorical angle: we are still precious few years since the Civil Rights movement, and over time there is no doubt more blacks will rise to prominence in science, industry, and politics. Individuals must serve as spearhead for the community.

Hey, it's Jackie Robinson day!