Why is Black Studies Relevant Today

Why is Black Studies Relevant Today

Introduction

Black studies is an interdisciplinary area that analyzes and takes the past and present culture, issues, characteristics, achievements of people of African descent in North America, the diaspora, and Africa. This field is designed to challenge the definition, cultural content, and sociohistorical of western ideologies. The study argues for a multicultural interpretation of the western hemisphere instead of Eurocentric one. The black study is vital to the lives of African Americans and people who are engaged with the welfare of the race. It exposes students to the experiences of African American people and others of African descent and let the enhancement and sharing of the African American culture. Although the black studies are essential, more than 159 years after the signing of the emancipation Proclamation, African Americans are still struggling for a space in academic for a legitimate voice to express their interpretations and perspectives of their historical and contemporary experiments in North America, diaspora and Africa.

People in the black study claim that besides their voices being marginalized, the history of African American’s experiences and contributions to the United States has systematically and historically been missing from the texts and curricula. Therefore, black studies act as a supplementary academic component for the single reason of adding the African experience to traditional disciplines. Therefore, black studies are still relevant and have to be taught to all students, not only African Americans. When students are educated not to appreciate and respect the fact that African Americans have always made good and valuable contributions to society in America, they are trained not to appreciate and respect the African American currently living in the United States. The result will be disdain, distrust, and insensitivity for treating others, especially African Americans and other learners of color, as they are supposed to be treated.

Black studies are still relevant today since racism is still alive and well in the United States. It is not possible to live in the United States without seeing incidents of racism daily. People can see on the news when unarmed African American is shot in the back and killed by police, while heavily armed white American is allowed to take over federal land and buildings unmolested by state or federal police authorities. People can see in high school across the country when white high school females think it is fun to arrange their shirt to say the “N’ word and pose for photographs. It is also seen when African American is told that the reason they are not being nominated for Oscars is since they lack talent while ignoring the idea that they are not offered the chance to work. Their films aren’t watched by people who vote for the awards. People can see the unequal treatment blacks and whites get in the crimes they are charged with and the sentences they get when they get charged.

Recent years have seen a wave of campus racism at United States universities and colleges, including Ohio State University, Northwest University, Cornell University, and Fordham University.  Black studies and ethnic studies can change America’s racial path. Black studies and understanding the ongoing history of racism are necessary to seek perfect union. Learning about minstrelsy and the history of racist imagery affect the decision from white learners to avoid blackface for the sake of fun. Learning about the history of slavery and lynching can encourage thought from the whole community every time a noose appears on campus. Exposure to alternative perspectives, to unseen history, can change students who use the “N-word.”

Teaching African American history is a ‘two-for”. When students learn black studies lessons at school, it is apparent that they will learn with their parents when they get home. This will be a benefit to the entire society since it indicates that the problem of the race will be talked about in more homes across the country. Conversations concerning race are essential since things can’t get better without conversations. This is how parents are exposed to the information their kids are learning at school. This can also happen in the case of black studies. When children learn that African Americans have taken part positively in medicine, law, art, science, society, it offers them an appreciation for African Americans currently living in America. When they study black history and culture in school, they, together with their parents, get exposed to the fact that the African Americans don not only take from the United States but also provide and offer good, amazing, and essential things. Black studies teach learners and their parents by teaching them concerning the contributions of African Americans to the United States.

There are still adverse stories and stereotypes on news, movies, and television today. Due to advanced technology, stereotypes and adverse stories can spread more than before. Therefore, black studies are still relevant to show that there is more to African Americans than the stereotypes and adverse stories seen on news, movies, and television. There are still places today in the United States, where students can go their whole careers without ever interacting with African Americans. In several places in the United States, towns, schools, and neighborhoods are heavily segregated. Often, this segregation is a consequence of tradition, culture, history, and economics. This indicates that school learners don’t have individual experiences to counter the adverse messages they hear concerning African Americans. If everything that students learn at school concerning African Americans is what they see on the news, in movies, and on television, they may get a skewed and adverse perception of African Americans, which will affect the way they treat African Americans and the manner in which they perceive the treatment of African Americans. It is the responsibility of schools to teach students both factually right information and the way to think for themselves. Black studies are required to provide learners with the right facts concerning African Americans and to train them to think clearly concerning the contributions of African Americans both historically and currently. Black studies assist learners with little or no interactions with African Americans to develop a proper understanding of African Americans in the country.

Black studies are relevant today since lack of cultural appreciation leads to xenophobia both in the United States and around the globe. Black studies in school give students an understanding of several various kinds of people. In several cases, students still see similarities between African Americans and people of other races. In addition, students will learn that there are cultural differences between Africans and other races. This is a good thing since the similarities will indicate that African Americans are not to be avoided, shunned, or feared. It is necessary to learn about cultural variations since it shows that, like siblings have variations but remain part of the same family, African Americans are part of the United States. When children are learning that African Americans living in their nation are somehow strange, have to be feared and not as valued as other races, it is easier for those learners to be afraid of people of different races who live in nations around the globe.  This attitude can lead to misunderstanding, xenophobia, and even war. Black studies foster cultural appreciation and fight against xenophobia.

The initial objectives of black studies from the earliest period of the filed to the present were to: counteract the impact of white racism in the period of group elevation and to develop a robust sense of black identity and community as a means of multiplying the group’s leverage in the liberation struggle.  However, black studies remain relevant since a student pursuing doing major or minor black studies can do all the same things one can do with a history major or philosophy major. Many would ask what they would do with black studies. Focusing on black experiences and related topics give a student a chance to learn how to think, write, and speak critically.

Conclusion

Black studies are good for every student. Since racism is still an issue, black studies can help end racism. It helps parents and students, it offers a full and honest perception of African Americans, and it helps fight xenophobic views.  These are benefits to every student and make schools a place where every kid can feel valued, appreciated, and safe.  This is essential since education knows, and has known for many years, that it is hard for learners to learn when they feel undervalued, unimportant, and unsafe. Teaching black history, culture, and traditions, benefits students not only during black history month also all year long as well. Via knowledge, critical thinking, and dialog, colleges can change themselves and their learners. However, the need for world black studies as a multiyear needed is not to teach white learners about prejudice, but the erased experiences and voices of African American. African Americans’ experiences are not merely one of the exploitation of their history, economic exploitation, and cultural and political oppression. It also involves the mental and psychological manipulation of their history.