In conclusion, while some palpable progress is made in terms of equitable civil rights for minority races in America, issues of racism and discrimination continue to persist. For example, less than 15 percent of elected representatives in the Congress are from minority communities, which is disproportionately low. The same is true in corporate America, where board rooms are comprised of less than 5 percent blacks. Some tendencies within the minority races themselves are contributing to the situation. For example, the successful members of minority communities, instead of fighting for the progress of their lot, are closing ranks with the powerful. By being co-opted in this way, leaders from minority communities are subverting their own progress. In the case of blacks, by glorifying violence and prison terms for blacks, the hip hop artists are undermining the efforts taken by social activists to address the disproportionate rates of incarceration and conviction against blacks. Such, tendencies, if left unchecked, will prove to be a resistance to further emancipation of blacks and other minorities in America. The election of Barack Obama to the highest office in the country should serve as an inspiration and encouragement for minority communities that they could inhabit a future freed from racism.
Works Cited
Hip Hop: Beyond the Beats and Rhymes, Presented by Byron Hurt, Produced by Independent Lens, Released in 2006, retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8YpcN7oKIM
Takaki, Ronald. A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America (New York: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). 400-414.
The Schedule of Racist Events: A Measure of Racial Discrimination and a Study of Its Negative Physical and Mental Health Consequences, Journal of Black Psychology, Vol. 22, No. 2, 144-168 (1996)
US Human Rights Network (2008-10). “The United States of America: Summary Submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review.” Universal Periodic Review Joint Reports: United States of America. p. 8.