Essay On Black Masculinity

Shelby Steele believes that blacks need to take responsibility for their poor crime rates and poor academic performances. He writes how he thinks blacks live in an isolated bubble where the truth is hidden and excuses are made to protect the parents when instead, they need to take responsibility for not pushing their kids harder. "Any white who says these things is going to be seen as racist, and any black who says them is going to be seen as an Uncle Tom. That's because the only politically correct way to see blacks is as victims of larger forces that are constantly determining them and beating them and miring them in difficulty." He sees race as such a tough subject where blacks and whites cannot have dialogue and it better to keep a distance

Hyper masculinity depicts that Black men always have to be independent, non-emotional, aggressive, competitive, tough skinned, strong and confident.” (Richardson, 2016). This form of behavior is often portrayed in the hip-hop community. Unfortunately, many young kids get brainwashed by these songs and lyrics, they don’t even understand, which is practically impossible to shelter them from. With the ease of access to internet, social media, and all the free streaming music platforms, the younger generation will be influenced by these people they see as idols. For example, Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar are two well respected rappers who own the spotlight on these types of influential songs that promote the exact opposite of what a young person should be doing. They start to mimic these artists’ behavior in their own communities and solve problems with violence. Shelby Steele believes that the young black communities need better role models that lead away from violence and other negative activities. Only a small percentage make it to being famous with the values of the hip-hop culture. Young adults often do things to get a reputation to be respected by others that follow the culture. Many hip-hop artists even rap about dropping out and not even obtaining their high school diplomas as if that’s something to be proud