Ap Us History Essay

There are many stereotypes that pertain to black people. One that really stands out is â€Å"If you want to hide something from a black person hide it in a book† which the white man is trying to call us African Americans illiterate. Which is ignorant is so many type of ways. But yet we do nothing more to make that statement false by not being educated, well organized and full of wisdom. Years ago, when slavery was in its actions African Americans where always thought of as less. White people came up with the assumption that black people where only good for three things; sex which they’d rape most of the women, singing, because they made them perform as entertainment, and sports because African Americans were always â€Å"active†. Which shows you that African Americans were nothing more than than serfs (which is another word for someone working labor on it’s owners estate). African American had no real opportunity of living. Reading was against the law for African Americans. They weren’t able to read or to even learn how to read, because the white men didn’t want the slaves to go against or better yet become stronger than them. Fredrick Douglas said â€Å"Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave. â€Å", and the white men knew that. So they stayed uneducated. Which gave the white men even a better reason to think they could take over our brains. From this point on was the way for the whites to start lowering expectations of black people. As of today, African Americans are still looked down on and still are given some of the stereotypes from slavery now. Are generation and before make it no better. With the lack of education, attitude and everything else that’s makes up our community in a negative way. The black on black crimes and violence doesn’t make it even better. It’s basically giving the white men exactly what he set out to happen. The gang violence and fighting just puts the icing on the cake for everything. We are basically confirming what the white me. Is saying because we are not taking any time to read into and make a change. Make it better for no one but ourselves. These assumptions are untrue and the only way we can show that we are the opposite of these stereotype are by making a change starting small and ending big. Ignorance has existed for decades. It not that we can’t do anything about it. But it’s something that’s never going to go away. But one thing we can’t do us loss out sense and pride for our race and culture. William Wilberforce once said â€Å"You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know. † Which basically means, yes you may feel what information you may have been given is something you don’t want to hear, but in reality it’s the truth and you’ll need it in the long run. It will define who you are a person if you take the information you get and go and expand it and take it a long way. To finish up, you have to realize education is the key to a better tomorrow. Now matter how many out down and downfalls you come across just know that’s there will always be brighter days. As an African American young lady i know I have to work ten times as harder knowing the roots of how females where looked at. As long as we have life and breath, we have an opportunity to change.