controversies
It seems every time one racially-charged incident ends, a gender or religious controversy takes its place; Ruminate on the issues dividing our nation and world.
BEING A BLACK GIRL
Living in the United States and being black, in general, is very rough. From the police brutality to the injustice within the system, the black race is designed to fail. Mainly our kings get mistreated the most from the whole world and it’s sickening because I have sons. We can’t make any mistakes or it will cause us our freedom verses a white person commiting the same crime and not doing a single day in jail. “Why do y’all hate us?????” There are perks to the different black skin tones also. Since I’m light skinned, I had it a little better and I noticed it around my teenage years. I was given good jobs without any experience and was given warnings for traffic stops instead of a ticket. I also remember when they would check the white girls for lice in elementary and I had to be checked also(the only black girl required to be checked). I thought it was weird as a little girl but being that I had a head full of hair and it was straight, now I understand. I grew up in a military family and ended up growing up in Montgomery Alabama, so I had a great childhood. I was taught to love everyone and treat the CEO the same way as you would treat the janitor. I wasn’t raised to praise material things and just to simply make what you have fabulous. I grew up in church faithfully lol and that’s all I knew and could do. I couldn’t go to proms or school dances. I wasn’t allowed a boyfriend and all of my other friends did. When I got older and was able to get away from my parents, is when I really started to see the world for what it was. I noticed that we (Blacks)couldn’t get loans for businesses but could get a school loan 👀....but you would see all the Arabs and Indians with stores in our neighborhood. How is that possible? They barely speak English. Our own country? Wow! My ancestors were raped, overworked, hung, burned alive, beaten, family divided etc....and we get treated like shit. “Why do y’all hate us so much?” The justice system is very different when it comes to different races. They double or triple the sentences for blacks and my question to whomever is reading this and has the answers to it, feel free to let me know, “Why are we hated so much?” Still to this day I don’t hate white people, hell one of my best friends is white and I love her ass to death. I wouldn’t trade her for the world!! It’s not her fault what happened years ago.....I like white people just not racists white people. I have two grown sons and I don’t feel safe when they leave the house and that’s mainly because of the police. It’s sad to say but some white people joined the police force only to beat and kill blacks without any repercussions because after they could no longer handle us that way, a bunch of the fuckers quit. They supposed to protect and serve but whenever they get behind me or is just around me in any kind of way, I feel paranoid instead of protected! For all you “Karen’s” out there who falsely accuse black people of things not true, y’all need y’all ass whooped because it’s been going on for too long and it’s ridiculous. White privilege at its best. I’ve been pulled over on bogus charges and it’s a shame they can make shit up and do what they want. One pulled me over for a loud radio one day but my radio didn’t even work at the time. Stuff like this needs to come to an end and if you’re not being a police to protect and serve us, them take your ass on! It’s definitely not supposed to be like that and I just wish we could live normal like everyone else, is that too much to ask for? Donald Trump keeps saying “Make America Great Again” but when was it ever great for black people? I’ll wait......................................................... Exactly! With hard work and determination, I’m sure we can overcome all of these obstacles. I love everybody and wish we could all get along no matter the color of our skin. One race=human race. Peace love and happiness to everyone!!!!✊🏽✌🏽
Switchin In The KitchenPublished 4 years ago in The SwampA Culture Destroyed
Systemic Racism also known as structural racism is the normalization of racism within a society or organization. Many have made themselves believe this is a myth, however I am here to tell you this is a very real problem affecting thousands of people everyday.For those of you whom may not understand I want to provide a different perspective as well as an explanation as a young black woman in America. To do that first we must create some type of timeline.
BLACK LIVES MATTERS
RIP to all lives lost to police brutality. 🙏🏾 Petition link to get justice for George Floyd ➡️ http://chng.it/qqbvKGPswn
kenny adabaPublished 4 years ago in The SwampHow Light Pollution Impacts The World
Has anyone wondered how our lights affect the night sky? Just as children and young adults have seen billions of stars beaming across the sky, people are seldom aware of the repercussions that we generate. As shocking as it may sound, the lights we turn on in our houses, in our parks and in our cities consequently affect the annual migrations of birds and the functionality of ecosystems. With help from our friends and neighbors, we should be instead contributing to the end of light pollution.
Thomas JangPublished 4 years ago in The SwampIs Black Lives Matter important?
The Black Lives Matter movement is an action taken my Americans to demand justice for the multiple black people killed unnecessarily by racist and negligent policemen. The movement was fuelled by George Floyd. He was a black man who was suspected to have used a fake/blank check to get some groceries. So, the clerk called the police and they did not give him a chance to explain or talk it out. Instead, all four of them pinned him down and put their knees on his back and one on his neck. He pleaded with them to get off him and said that he couldn’t breathe but none of them budged or gave damn. Derek Chauvin was the killer of George Floyd. His knee was on George’s neck for 7 minutes until George passed
Miss AnonikittyPublished 4 years ago in The SwampWhite Lies and Truth
White Lies and Truth As we look at the chaos in the United States, many people claim to not understand how we got to this point of chaos in our country. It perplexes them and they search for answers to a situation whose answer is so clear, we all look right through it.
Glenda DavisPublished 4 years ago in The SwampWhite Privilege and Jim Crow
White Privilege and Jim Crow. Black history is United States history; likewise, some United States history is Black history. The only way to understand racism in the United States is to first understand our history – the complete history. Race and White privilege has always been the major issue in U.S. politics.
Glenda DavisPublished 4 years ago in The SwampThe Red Summer - Ellisville
The Red Summer -- Ellisville On June 9, 1919, a White woman named Ruth Meeks reported that she had been attacked on her way home from her job as a hotel clerk. John Hartfield, a Black man, threatened her with a gun, she told police. He then took her to a railroad trestle and raped her, afterwards he took her under a sweet gum tree near a pasture and ran away with her clothes, she said.
Glenda DavisPublished 4 years ago in The SwampThe Red Summer - Charleston
The Red Summer -- Charleston The history of the United States has to be understood to begin to understand the racial problems experienced by Blacks in this country. Lynchings of Blacks and the governmental response to those lynchings play a huge role in the development of the United States. The response to those lynchings play an even larger role because it sets the stage to how law enforcement responds to crimes against Blacks by Whites, both civilian and law enforcement. Before we can understand why law enforcement polices the way they do, we have to understand how the United States has dealt with crimes against Blacks.
Glenda DavisPublished 4 years ago in The SwampNative American Indians
Hello, I am a Native American man that originally lived in Oklahoma. There are many different tribes that live here in the United States. I am apart of the Comanche tribe. My people are a dying race, our numbers are small and are steadily declining. Native Americans will be in the verge of extinction at some point in the near futur. You may think well we can just repopulate, but it’s harder than that. We are a race that is over looked and mistreated even to this day. We are profiled by many people that know we still exist. I had went to middle school in the country rural area of Oklahoma, and when I went to American history, they talked like the Native People have already died off. The reservations are no place for someone to live, but there are many native people that still live on them. The reservations aren’t owned my the tribe thst lives in it. The U.S government own it. The people on the reservations can’t change or plant anything because they don’t own it, there is no vegetation that grows on most reservations, just dirt and sand mostly. No businesses where people can work to try and make money to leave the reservation exists. When someone tries to leave the reservation for a vacation or to visit family they are immediately stopped by a cop that just basically lives outside of the Rez. There is so much suicid and alcoholism in the reservations because of the depressive state of mind they have to endure. Personally I have been to many reservations throughout the years and have been so shocked every time I drive through and visit one. Leaving a reservation almost every time I get stopped by a cop and then ask where I’m going and then saying “your not supposed to be leaving your home” . I am so disappointed in the United States for treating a group of people like this. We are basically segregated from the world and have no way of leaving a reservation to find a better life. I would go into statistics over the death Native Americans, but I won’t because you can look it up yourself. We are top rated in many things when it comes to death, even tho we are the smallest number of people. My people have been done wrong and I don’t think there is a way to help us now. I am so proud of my culture, but what is my culture going to do when there is no more of us. My people are calling for help and no one is listening. I have experienced racism my whole life, just because I’m Native American. Life is really hard for me even though I don’t live on the reservation, but I do want to make the reservations a better place to live so that there won’t be as much depression or alcoholism or suicide. I join the army and even hear everyone thinks that Native Americans of died out. Once the knowledge of native Americans have been put out there, Then I believe that our lives will be a little bit easier and people start seeing us again in big cities and it won’t be as rare for us to show up to events. Native Americans are so separate from each other that it’s hard to get them all to come together. Native Americans need help I need help. If my culture is gone I don’t know who would care. If my culture is gone I don’t know who would care, because there is no one to preserve it in the first place. Help us. We really need it.
SammoSun McNuggetPublished 4 years ago in The SwampEmpty Playground
Looking at the empty playground reminds me how much COVID- 19 has stolen from our Summer plans. For the most part, we have succeeded in living our best life despite the Coronavirus; however, there is no replacement for high school graduation and Senior prom and the pure enjoyment of children playing on the playground. We can try to re-create some of those moments at a later date, but that authentic feeling will not be there for those people who stay out all night cramming for a test at their universities Will never know the feeling of taking that stage aunt reaching out for their degrees and so forth. You Will never get these precious moments back; however, you are now free to create new memories and put your best face forward and have a positive effect on the world.
Yvonne KnightPublished 4 years ago in The Swamp- Top Story - July 2020
Washington Redskins rebranding brings racism against Native Americans to the forefront
About five or six years ago, I mentioned to a family member that the name Washington Redskins was racist. He said he never thought of it that way and from that point, I began feeling uneasy whenever I saw the logo. I later spoke with my husband about it and said African Americans and Caucasians would never accept a team named “black skins” or “white skins”. I thought of the song from Disney cartoon version of Peter Pan, “ What makes the red man red?”
Cheryl E PrestonPublished 4 years ago in The Swamp