Reflection On What White Is Right

When I think about the term “White is Right” a few things come to mind. My first thought is that there are people who actually believe that this is true. The second thought, is that our society appears to encourage beliefs such as this. In the following paragraphs I will discuss how this belief has been communicated to me throughout my life. I will also address how it affects our country, neighborhood, homes, work, and other social environments. In my early years of grade school I remember going through the pages of my history books in search for persons whom I could identify with or relate to. I knew that there would be chapters about the civil war and slavery; but I also knew that there had to be other ways Black Americans contributed to …show more content…
The clothes we wear, the foods we eat, the way we speak, all have been manipulated by white America. We are constantly being reminded by the media and other social networks of what is acceptable and normal in our society. There have been occasions when I have been told by my white friends that I am not black, or don’t “act” black. The first time this had happened, I was offended and felt disrespected. As this continued to happen, I began to wonder what I was doing to make them have this opinion about me. I then decided to ask my black friends how I presented to them. A few of my black friends stated that they could understand why my white friends would think that way. They told me that I did not dress or speak like the stereotypical black male. I did not understand their response as well, because I did not know that I am to dress or speak a certain way. I could now see that white America has influenced the way blacks in America view themselves. If a black man decides to wear a nice collared shirt and khakis, there’s a chance that other black individuals may think he’s dressing or acting like a white man. We all have been labeled, stereotyped, and categorized throughout history. This way of thinking has only brought division and oppression to …show more content…
I called him shortly after I was aware of the police shootings that occurred in Dallas. I called him because I care about him and would be upset if anything were to happen to him while he worked to serve and protect his community. While on the phone with him I asked him if he had ever been in a situation that required him to pull out his weapon and possibly use deadly force. He responded to me by saying that he has never been in a situation that made him feel threatened enough to pull out his weapon. He then stated that he feels that all the current issues that are making the news headlines are due to lack of police training and social awareness by the policing agencies that are involved. He then stated that he doesn’t think that the issue is all about racism and feels that the problem is that a lot of white policeman have never been exposed to black people before joining the police force. He stated that in his experience with working in the black community there is a misconception of what the police roles are; and believes that there is a lack of trust between blacks and white policeman. My friend was able to bring clarity and hands-on knowledge to the questions that I had concerning the issues I struggled to understand. I believed him when he stated that racism alone was not the issue; but I’m sure that in some of the cases it was. I then began to think about what he said, when he