Whether one lived in New Jersey, San Francisco, or anywhere in the United States, if the person was Black, they were discriminated against. Even well respected members of a community, such as Rubin Carter, author of The 16 th Round, or Maya Angelou, author of I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, faced the problems of discrimination and prejudice during their lives. During their childhood and adulthood, discrimination against them occurred. This caused them to develop ways to fight back against the discrimination and fight the unjust system. Ever since childhood, Rubin was faced with discrimination by others. As a child, Rubin was harassed by white citizen’s about anything they could use against him.
As he got a little older, the discrimination started coming from the police, hassling him simply because of skin colour, ” So what happened, you tired to take this man’s gold watch, he fought back, so you stabbed him, didn’t you?” (Pg. 37).
This quote shows the police making a false motive for Rubin attacking a white male. It was done to change the scenario from self-defense to assault. This is just one of many ways the police would try to convict Rubin of crimes by falsifying evidence to make him appear innocent. Even female black children were subjected to discrimination.
Maya had a very difficult childhood because of discrimination and prejudice. The white members of her community treated her poorly because of her skin colour. Grocers would not allow her to buy groceries for her family because she was black. “We do not allow coloured folk in here, you have to leave now” (Pg. 21).
The Essay on African American Black White People
The Color of America Americans have the tendency to make judgments based on appearances. A man dressed in dirty, torn rags walking down the street would be considered poor and homeless. Women that dress in tight clothes or short skirts are almost instantly categorized as being promiscuous. Unfortunately, stereotypes negatively affect the ability to understand members of a different group or ...
This was said to Maya from a Grocer when she tried to purchase some food at the store.
This is just one example of her being mistreated by whites. At her school, she was a scapegoat from the white majority. Throughout her entire childhood, she was never accepted as a person, just thought of as one more black person to poison the white community. As Maya and Rubin grew up, their discrimination from childhood followed.
The discrimination not only followed them into the adult years of their lives, but grew as they did as well. Rubin’s problems with the police got much more serious as he grew older. They started going after him more and more, to keep him away from his goal, the middleweight boxing championship. To stop him from reaching this goal, the police frame him for a triple murder. “‘We ” re looking for two Negroes in a white car,’ ‘Any two will do?’ ” (Pg. 194) This was part of a conversation between a New Jersey police officer and Rubin Carter, after he was pulled over because he was driving a white car and had a black companion in the passenger seat.
The police tampered with evidence, had witnesses lie on the stand to incriminate Rubin and threatened witnesses for defense so they wouldn’t testify, falsely convicting Rubin of the crime. Maya’s problems followed her as well. As she grew older, she started having much more difficulty avoiding the racist white members of her community, which caused her to get into many more disagreements with whites. Maya gets into arguments with teachers and friends, who are all telling her to quit school. “I would rather die than pass a coloured women in this class” (Pg. 96) This quote was said by one of Maya’s teachers to her.
It was an attempt to get Maya out of the class, simply because she was black. Maya was an exceptional student, but the teachers couldn’t see beyond her skin. Maya also becomes stubborn. She refused to follow the rules that were set to separate whites and blacks, such as assigned seating on buses or in movies.
The Term Paper on African American Media White Black
The Perpetuation of Negative Images of African Americans through Mass Media Why as white people have we been lulled into thinking its safe to be around other white people. Why have we been taught since birth that it's the people of that other color we need to fear? They " re the ones that will slit your throat (Moore 57). The mass media has played and will continue to play a crucial role in the ...
She would break these rules and take whatever the authorities threw at her. This discrimination just would not go away, so Rubin and Maya tried to find ways to get rid of it. All of the discrimination Rubin and Maya faced caused them to fight it and attempt to get rid of it. Rubin opposed society by continuing his boxing, regardless of what people said.
He would fight not only to win the fight, but to win respect. He believed that with respect came acceptance. “I don’t care what any of you think, if you don’t like me then don’t, I’m not fighting for you, I’m fighting for me, and that is all” (Pg. 83) This quote shows Rubin’s resilience to others comments and his will to do things for himself. Although they both fought discrimination, they had very different methods for fighting it. Maya showed the community that a black women could do anything a white male could do and just as well if not better.
Maya didn’t listen to her friends or teachers and graduated from college. She also took a job and became the first black to become a San Francisco streetcar operator. She worked hard during school and life, but she worked for a deeper purpose, to show the community the capability of blacks and abolish prejudice in the community. Although difficult, these two people fighting discrimination the way they did helped to improve the lives of all blacks today. This shows how even well respected members of a community, such as Rubin Carter or Maya Angelou, can be faced with discrimination and prejudice. Both Rubin and Maya had to deal with discrimination as children and adults.
They also had to learn how to fight it. They showed society how prejudice ruined the lives of many people in their communities. They also showed them to look beyond skin and look into a person’s heart, which has helped improve the lives of many people today.
