The American Dream = White Innocence
The forgetting is habit, is yet another necessary component of the Dream. -Coates
Nineteenth-century Americans lived in a outwardly racist society. Racist talk and racial epithets were accepted forms of public discourse. Black persons were first enslaved, and later segregated and subjugated, by law. With a plethora of evidence to support the state of people(s) of color in America, how is it that we find our fellow white Americans making excuses for or in outright denial of the role history plays on the here and now. White innocence is not a phrase as commonly used or recognized as white guilt. Unlike white guilt, white innocence is the insistence on the innocence or absence of responsibility of the …show more content…
With a weak school system in place and earnest teachers powerless, the main goal of the school system is to create obedient blue collar worker's (best case scenario) as opposed to functioning adults able to put an honest bid in for the Dream. Children residing in poorer neighborhoods tend to have less access to materials like books, paper and pencils. The essentials for being successful in school. Even if the child has access to the proper materials in school there is still a fair chance he or she will be held back or suspended. According to USNEWS.com black students are 3 times as likely to be suspended, expelled or arrested and referred to juvenile detention. It has become common practise for self identified white Americans to rely on their forced innocence by denying the educational system that all but erases the chance for a black child to reach the Dream with such statements as ; black children aren't smart enough or they don't work hard enough. While the Dreamers aren't completely inaccurate in saying so, such statements don’t consider the whole picture. Children of color are not dumb they simply live in a different reality. One where they are caught between the streets and the school. Most schools in poor neighborhoods have unqualified teachers because you can pay them less, therefore the education they received is subpar compared to their white counterparts. Coates on his …show more content…
For a number of black children, by the time they have left high school they have flirted with the criminal justice system. For those who manage to escape, it seems it is only a matter of time before their brush with the law. Unfortunately for people of color they are more likely to be stopped, frisked or arrested for minor crimes compared to white humans for the same crimes. In 2010, a third of all black male high-school dropouts between the ages of 20 and 39 were imprisoned, compared with only 13 percent of their white peers according to Salon. (Salon is website that focuses on U.S politics and current affairs.) In discussion of criminality one controversial issue has been the connection to race. Throughout our time in America , specifically after slavery was abolished, black people have been portrayed as more aggressive, violent, animalistic creatures, therefore it makes sense that they are treated as such within the justice system. There is no viable evidence to support the dispropriate number of black arrestees, yet it continues to happen. More than just racism, white innocence perpetuates the ideas that black equals criminal. White innocence allows Americans to feel comfortable in their racial bias surrounding criminality while still marching forth toward their
The forgetting is habit, is yet another necessary component of the Dream. -Coates
Nineteenth-century Americans lived in a outwardly racist society. Racist talk and racial epithets were accepted forms of public discourse. Black persons were first enslaved, and later segregated and subjugated, by law. With a plethora of evidence to support the state of people(s) of color in America, how is it that we find our fellow white Americans making excuses for or in outright denial of the role history plays on the here and now. White innocence is not a phrase as commonly used or recognized as white guilt. Unlike white guilt, white innocence is the insistence on the innocence or absence of responsibility of the …show more content…
With a weak school system in place and earnest teachers powerless, the main goal of the school system is to create obedient blue collar worker's (best case scenario) as opposed to functioning adults able to put an honest bid in for the Dream. Children residing in poorer neighborhoods tend to have less access to materials like books, paper and pencils. The essentials for being successful in school. Even if the child has access to the proper materials in school there is still a fair chance he or she will be held back or suspended. According to USNEWS.com black students are 3 times as likely to be suspended, expelled or arrested and referred to juvenile detention. It has become common practise for self identified white Americans to rely on their forced innocence by denying the educational system that all but erases the chance for a black child to reach the Dream with such statements as ; black children aren't smart enough or they don't work hard enough. While the Dreamers aren't completely inaccurate in saying so, such statements don’t consider the whole picture. Children of color are not dumb they simply live in a different reality. One where they are caught between the streets and the school. Most schools in poor neighborhoods have unqualified teachers because you can pay them less, therefore the education they received is subpar compared to their white counterparts. Coates on his …show more content…
For a number of black children, by the time they have left high school they have flirted with the criminal justice system. For those who manage to escape, it seems it is only a matter of time before their brush with the law. Unfortunately for people of color they are more likely to be stopped, frisked or arrested for minor crimes compared to white humans for the same crimes. In 2010, a third of all black male high-school dropouts between the ages of 20 and 39 were imprisoned, compared with only 13 percent of their white peers according to Salon. (Salon is website that focuses on U.S politics and current affairs.) In discussion of criminality one controversial issue has been the connection to race. Throughout our time in America , specifically after slavery was abolished, black people have been portrayed as more aggressive, violent, animalistic creatures, therefore it makes sense that they are treated as such within the justice system. There is no viable evidence to support the dispropriate number of black arrestees, yet it continues to happen. More than just racism, white innocence perpetuates the ideas that black equals criminal. White innocence allows Americans to feel comfortable in their racial bias surrounding criminality while still marching forth toward their