Reflecting on the Societal Changes as a Result of Dr King’s Impact from a Black Man’s Perspective
Without a doubt Dr. King has had an impact on the road towards civil rights. But has his dream been achieved nearly 55 years later? I wanted to talk about certain things that I have been granted to me as a result of an ever changing diverse climate. I don’t think it makes me privileged, but it makes me aware. I want to highlight some of those points. I must disclose I am fully aware that black men are not the only marginalized group, however this is an entry on my own personal experience I want to share information and talk about my own point of view, so this may be perceived as narrow and not an objective scope of the entire problem of attainment and inequality post Dr King.
Education
At 29 I am a black male with a Master’s degree. I received my masters degree at the age of 24 at Hofstra University. Why is this important? Because in 1963 less than 5% of black people had a college education or higher ( Census.gov). Please note that there is no information found for black people with masters degrees in 1963( please comment if you are reading and find information). In 2013 when I got my masters degree, 34% of black men received associates degrees, 36% for bachelors( National Center for Education Statistics) and only 12% of black men had attained masters degrees ( Naylor,Nichol, and Brown,2015). Without getting more academic it is clear that I am above the curve of the average black man who is educated since then I have also received two certifications and am still gaining more training and certifications. But does this mean I have achieved Dr. King’s dream? Or does it mean that I have been able to rise above the inequalities that still linger in our society? My educational attainment should not make me a minority among minorities. I am thankful for Dr King and many others for fighting to help people like me open the doors and rise above the trends, but I think a large problem is that an educated black man should not be a rarity. I understand that the statistics have risen, but how can we encourage more black men to be educated? Why is there a significant disparity in educational attainment between black women and men? How can we even out the gender and race gaps in education in America? Although that is not the point of the article we must note even the gender and education gap in the black community won’t make a difference in closing racial inequalities.
Career
The prospects for careers for black men have definitely changed in 1963, but there is still a struggle for black men. Black men are still likely to experience unemployment even if they have a bachelor’s degree. A 2014 report by the Atlantic stated that African Americans are still twice as likely to be unemployed despite having a degree. I wrote in a previous article that I myself have experienced a lot of racial tension and inequality when seeking a job. On the bright side I am thankful to have garnered a career that has helped me penetrate markets and industries that are not traditionally diverse, however it has been nearly 55 years since Dr. King has made his speech and black men are still struggling to be recruited for careers with livable wages and are consistently being picked over their non black counterparts whether it be due to discrimination, lack of a network or education. MLK’s dream of allowing people to have the same opportunities still has yet to be realized and we still have so much more to do.
Friendships and Relationships
In 1964, the year the great Civil Rights Act was passed, only 18 percent of whites claimed to have a friend who was black(Thernstom and Therntom,1998). In 2018 the problem still remains. In a 2014 study by the Washington Post and Public Religion Research institute 75 percent of whites have “entirely white social networks without any minority presence.” The same holds true for slightly less than two-thirds of black Americans(Inagraham,2014). As someone who grew up in a black neighborhood, attended a black church, did martial arts in a diverse school full of asians and jewish people and went to school in a majorly white populated school for most of my life I can say I have been given the opportunity of having a diverse network. Some of this has been due to other factors such as struggling to fit in ( I was bullied as a child), but a lot of it has to do with the environment given to me by my grandparents. Many journalists and media creators say we live in a post racial society, but its clear our society is still very racist whether we want to admit it or not.
But what about relationships? Speaking for my self, I would say approximately 92% of my sexual partners, dates and romantic relationships have been interracial. I would say only 8% of my romantic relationships have been with women of my own race. This is not a matter of not preferring women of my own race, but much of a matter of circumstance (ie when finding a partner of my own race, she is taken, does not have the same lifestyle I have etc). But is my experience the norm? Are more black men in interracial relationships? Are interracial relationships becoming more of the norm?
In 1967, Loving V Virginia ruled that interracial marriage was legal(Bialik,2017). During this time only 3% of marriages were interracial with a slight rise of 17% in 2017( Bialik,2017). The perception of interracial relationships has also changed, in 1990 63% of non-black people were opposed to a relative marrying a black person, in 2016 that number has declined to 14% (Bialik,2017). According to NPR, “Asian and Latino newlyweds are more likely to marry outside of their race or ethnicity than black and white newlyweds and Interracial and inter-ethnic marriages are more common among college-educated black and Latino newlyweds, but not among white or Asian newlyweds(Wang,2017).” Based on the findings its clear that interracial relationships are still not the norm, yet they are becoming more accepted and as a college educated black man I guess one could say I am more likely to be married in an interracial relationship. But I would also argue that despite the “progress” we have made its very evident that even our relationships are still relatively homogeneous despite a growth from 3% to 17% over time. In 2017 some people are still even doing research about societal myths about people engaged in interracial relationships as if they are taboo.
Current events and past history still show that Black men and still experience microagressions and homocides due to their racial membership. Lord knows how many times I can count that I have been racially profiled by a police officer or person in power while growing up. I have been able to rise above and still maintain employment, still grow my professional network and find other means of functionality by my own standards and societies standards.
However, I don’t think we really live in a “post-racial” society. Churches still remain to be segregated, places of employment still have yet to be integrated and attainment for black men and other minorities still is not equal. MLK’s dream still has not been fully realized and we should not reduce this holiday to a day of service, but instead a day of reflection on how we can make our world more attainable, more equitable, and more supportive to those who still experience marginalization at varying levels. Today is about awareness and action, not just “a day of service.”
Thank you for reading.
Sources (Not in Academic Format) :
Inequality: Underrepresentation of African American Males in U.S. Higher Education Lorenda A. Naylor, Heather Wyatt-Nichol and Samuel L. Brown University of Baltimore http://www.naspaa.org/JPAEMessenger/Article/VOL21-4/07Naylor082015.pdf