Black in America

The documentary startled me but was a reminder of problems that are embedded in my brain. When I heard we were going to be watching this documentary I said to myself “I know the premise of this documentary before viewing it.” I was correct. I knew they were going to bring up civil rights (in some manner). I knew they were going to talk about homes without fathers. I knew they were going to talk about hatred within our own race. I knew they were going to talking about African-Americans in the corporate world. But what took me by surprise in all of this was the statistics. The statistics were heart breaking if not depressing.

In America it is hard to believe we have these staggering statistics. The first statistic to grab my attention was 1 out of every 3 black male would have a criminal record. Immediately after hearing this I imagined Kwame, Jeron and myself standing against a wall. Then all of sudden one of us was randomly chosen to have a criminal record. That is what the statistic meant to me. The second statistic that stood out was black men hold 3% of management jobs in America. There are many problems that factor into that percent. Most start from elementary and just build up until high school. Some of the problems surfaced in the documentary. One of which related to me. This was the segment about hatred within our race. In 4th grade was the first time I remember a joke pointed towards me in the context of your white. After that I used to hear it all the time from classmates. One of the reasons why was (like in the documentary) I didn’t fit the stereotype. The last statistic that I took note of was 60% of black children will grow up without a father. This statistic I could relate to even more than the previous but this statistic didn’t surprise me. Sadly it didn’t surprise me because most kids I went to school with didn’t have a father figure.


After listening to the documentary I could be depressed or hopeful. I could be depressed because there was so much negativity or hopeful because there is a possibility of succeeding. Prime examples of black man succeeding were the Chief Executive Officer and District Attorney. Both of these people gave me hope. They not only gave me hope but a guideline to succession. The guideline was simple just work hard and stay on top.

In conclusion, there many topics brought up in the documentary. None of which surprised me except for one. The main part that surprised me was the statistics. The statistics were almost unbearable to watch. Even though negativity was prevalent in this documentary there was some positive points. Two of them were black man who succeeded in many aspects of life. In any case this documentary has been presented well.