Black is Capable Too!

Najaee Harrell
Sep 7, 2018 · 3 min read

America is a land where people are considered to be free. Freedom of their speech, free to do what they please within reason, and free to live according to one’s personal values. The only problem America is still facing is the freedom of color while being in the workforce community. In the society we live in today the working world is considered diverse, but for many years only white citizens filled a role in all high positions when being placed in the work field. It was not until the mid-1980s when exclusive jobs for white men were available to minorities and women (Freedom On My Mind). It was claimed that black people were not on the same social level as the dominant race, whites. Black people were looked at as if they were not capable of getting tasks complete as accurate as a white worker, so they were limited to the level of labor they could do. It was until the black community was assisted with help from the few high-payed black workers that they ended separation within the working community.

The history of the black community have always had a bad reputation. From slavery to freedom black people faced many different obstacles and are still not seen as a “good fit” in society’s work force. During slavery black people were given the impression that they were dumb, lazy, and good-for-nothing. These words were imbedded into there ears by their white masters. Black stereotypes from the past traveled into the present day and made African Americans the model for useless figures (Creating Black Americans). The bad reputation on black people from the past traveled to the present day, but many educated African Americans reached out to fight the stereotype of their race. A young African American man named Barak Obama noticed that change was needed in the community. He was one of the few black people who had a nice high-paying job and he left his career to become a community organizer. Obama was completely criticized for this type of decision, but he impacted the black community.

Barack Obama

Obama took a stand to help the black community and people began to witness the good works African Americans contributed to different work places. In 1965 there was only about 100 black elected officials in the nation, but ten years later the amount of blacks increased to 3,500 (Freedom On My Mind). This is an example to show how America began to give black people a chance, and many different tasks where completed. It was only up from here because black people filled many different roles and successfully completed what they had to do in order to get the job done. This is just a simple fact that color has nothing to do with the performance of man. It all ties down to who is willing to put forth the effort. Black people are still making their mark in the workforce.

In today’s society black people still have to work twice as hard in order to prove that their placement is necessary. Being black in America is a constant challenge that will always be fought, but the progress of black people entering higher roles in the workforce has been a success. We now have black mayors, black upper-class residents, and even have had a black president. “The negro problem in America is but a local phase of a world problem (The Color Line Beits The World).” Society can have their opinion on colored people, but as long as they produce the hard work that is required black people should be able to live in an entirely free world without discrimination.

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