I don't think I understand the situation of black America. I try, but it's very difficult to do - as almost everything plastered on the media, newspapers, et al of the culture screams harm and danger.
I do have the pleasure of hanging out with a gentleman named Brandon at school. He's a black man, he's 35 years old. I'm 21. We shoot around a lot of things, and it's finally gotten to the point where I can ask him things about his culture that I don't understand.
One day I was listening to a song by the Black Eyed Peas - and mind you, this was merely a month ago - and in the song there were *several* different forms of RAP. Some were funny, this one guy was trying to be thuggish, another guy was trying to be pimp, another guy was happy go lucky, etc. It finally hit me in full realization (although I had told myself before "there is differences! etc!" I finally *understood*) - that the race is shock full of sub cultures, much like white people.
I grew up wearing all black and painting my nails black, I grew up with a mohawk through HS.
So I asked this friend of mine, what it's like to be black. What are the sub cultures like. He had a vast knowledge of white subculture - he knew the difference between punks and goths and preps and jocks and so on and so forth. I had no knowledge of the difference between people. He admitted he was a music person (eclectic, jazz, techno) and that if he saw a thug in Denver he'd have just as much to fear as a white guy. It had nothign to do with color - but more with "territorial locations."
A white guy, on the other hand, can go from California to NY and if he looks the part he will fit in. Apparently, he said he thought, it was not like that for the black race.
All of this was of course, a complete dawn of knowledge to me. The way subcultures work within each other, and the way that the entire race has more knowledge about the "majority" race of the country (whites) was something that baffled me. I was always raised to believe that "i should treat everyone equally" and that "this is a nation of equality".... but, err, no, it's not - I proved it to myself by being able to count what I knew about the black race (think sociology level wise) in one hand.
I do feel opressed though. I feel that every time a black man is in the room I have to walk on egg shells. I feel that every time someone mentions race or color I have to be careful of what is said. I have applied for a job before and someone without a HS degree (I'm in college, w/ HS degree) received it. He was missing teeth. He was black. I can't imagine why.... except one reason. I hate thinking like that, I really do, but it's so easy.
Except with Brandon, he's cool, we talk about stuff, he is very like me in all our jokes, etc; and he's full of info when I'm curious about him. So that's fun. Meh, anyway, no, I don't know about black culture. I was raised to not question it, and questioning it could lead to me being called a racist. I just stayed away from it, and from it, I became stupid in that sense.