Negative stereotypes within African-American communities
Journal Reaction: "A Soldier's Play" by Charles Fuller and negative stereotypes within the African-American community
They still hate you." These are the first words of this military drama set during World War II, America, in a segregated army camp in Louisiana 1944 called Fort Neal. However, the hate referred to by the African-American commander Vernon Waters, who is shot down dead shortly after uttering this phrase is not simply the hate between the races, but also the hate so often expressed by Blacks against other Blacks. Although the play begins with the far more obvious and openly acknowledged conflicts between Southern Whites and Blacks with the army and within larger American society as a whole, eventually the Black investigator, Captain Davenport, of the murder discovers that according to witnesses, the murder was likely committed young black soldier whom Sergeant Waters had bullied into near insanity because of his belief that the young, callow man was not upholding the integrity of the African-American race. Waters projected negative stereotypes, learned from Whites, upon this young man, and psychologically, the young man felt he had no other recourse than to react with violence.
Along the progress of the investigation, the "Soldier's Play" becomes as much about the hatred in Waters' last words as well as the murder of Waters himself. The fact that the African-American unit was segregated, the play suggests, created a kind of hothouse environment, where Blacks were turned against one another. Ironically, by demanding perfection of one another, any sense of unity within 'the Race' was destroyed by Waters' style of leadership. It becomes clear as Fuller's drama progresses that the Black officers of the play are less concerned with finding the ultimate solution to the murder, or even to the meaning of Waters' last words and why the murder occurred. Rather, they are more concerned with surviving in terms of their self-esteem in a society that either denies them their manhood, or within the community, makes unreasonable demands upon their bodies and souls to thwart White expectations.
" (Thompson et al., 2000, p. 127) 4. Further research and resources There are many areas of this subject that are in need of more extensive research in order to more adequately deal with the problems involves. One example of this can be seen in the fact that, "Black women are three times more likely than white women to die during pregnancy, and twice as many black babies as white babies die
(Archie-Booker, Cervero, and Langone, 1999) This study concludes that: "...power relations manifested themselves concretely through these factors in the social and organizational context, which by defining African-American learners as generic entities, produced undifferentiated educational programs." (Archie-Booker, Cervero, and Langone, 1999) The work of Gilbert and Wright reports a study conducted through collecting a series of articles in which African-American women were interviewed concerning living with AIDS. They write in their
988). Perceived and real institutional barriers, a lack of awareness and real availability of need-based aid thus have a clear effect upon many students' perceptions about the role of the medical profession. Medicine is a demanding but rewarding field, and it is necessary that students dare to dream about becoming doctors, to ensure that African-American health outcomes do not continue to fall short of those of other minority groups, and to
African-Americans Spinal African-American with Spinal Cord Injury: Cultural Analysis of Disability African-American's with a severe disability face many unique challenges socially. A number of programs have been instituted that impact the quality of life for minorities with disabilities, including those related to their career prospects and interpersonal well being. There have been numerous laws enacted in recent years to protect people with disabilities in the workforce. The ADA is the most well-known
As the vast majority of African-Americans do not know where their ancestors came from, it is difficult to trace one's roots back to the African continent. At the same time, the United States, while certainly the nation that nearly every African-American would consider to be home, has hardly been hospitable to African-Americans throughout history. Even today, nearly a quarter of all African-American families in the United States live below
PSYCHOSOCIAL ISSUES AFFECTING African-American STUDENTS PSYCHOSOCIAL ISSUES AFFECTING African-American STUDENTS "They never want to hear what I have to say…it doesn't matter who started a fight, or what a teacher said to you that made you mad. You might have something heavy going on at home but no one asks. They're not interested. They just want you out of the school." 17-year-old 11th grade African-American female student, NYC (Sullivan, 2007, p. iii). In New York City, one of
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