2008 Winning SEED Essay:

Major Ketema Melka Grant

Change or Denial 

            Fifty years ago, a black woman sitting on the front of a bus was enough. Fifty years ago, integrated buildings were enough. Now, Barrack Obama compels us to ask why the black woman rides the bus while the white woman drives; why buildings in black areas fall apart while those in white areas flourish. For years, those untouched by racism have mollified these concerns by claiming that with the death of Martin Luther King, the fight for civil rights was won. Because laws have eliminated the obvious outlets for racism, we are left only with surreptitious discrimination. This quiet racism has proved more insidious than we could have ever imagined.

            It’s easy to think you’ve found the solution when no one seems to address the problem. Growing up in the DC metropolitan area, few of my peers would admit that racism is still prominent.  However, it is this outlook that Obama contests. The revolutionary quality of his speech in Philadelphia stems not from any new facts or statistics revealed, but from his ability to change our viewpoint on the matters we have known about all our lives. He shows us that the current inactivity of the civil rights movement is not a sign of equality, but one of stalemate.

            Part of the problem is that most Americans see direct consequences of racism as mere stereotypes. Rather than admit that banks are prejudiced in giving loans, many would joke that black men can’t obtain loans because they never pay their bills. Rather than admit the police are 6.5 times more likely to arrest a black man, many would joke that black men are criminals. Rather than admit that black men feel insecure in their jobs because they are excluded from unions, many would joke that a black man isn’t responsible enough to hold a job. These demeaning labels inadvertently blame the achievement gap on blacks themselves. Barrack tells us otherwise.

             He points out that “segregated schools were, and are, inferior schools.” This inferior education leads to more drop-outs and uneducated adults.  Both the DC graduation and literacy rates were under 60% in 2006. Even the most cold-hearted cannot turn a deaf ear because the literacy problem is proving to affect the lives of all Americans. According to the Department of Education, American businesses lose “$60 billion in productivity each year due to employees' lack of basic skills.” This money could have gone to creating more jobs. Moreover, the American Medical Association estimates that because illiterate adults cannot make enough to afford health care, “low literacy costs the national health care system $73 billion annually.” This money could have funded college tuition for over four million students.

            More importantly, these uneducated adults find it difficult to feed their families when at the nation’s minimum wage of $5.85, you would have to work approximately 99 hours per week to keep your family above the poverty line.  Out of desperation, some under these circumstances choose a life of crime. This crime puts food on the table, but only sets up the next generation for a life of crime, and eventually generations and generations that can do no more than get by. Perhaps before you tell someone born into such a situation to break the cycle, you should show him how.

            Obama confirms that what he calls the “cycle of violence, blight and neglect,” is rooted not in self-destructive tendencies of the black population, but in racism. Racial discrimination causes the achievement gap. The achievement gap causes crime. Crime reinforces negative stereotypes. Negative stereotypes lead to more racism.

            We are all too familiar with the anger this hopeless cycle causes, but Barrack mentions the white resentment as well. The wrongs we’re fixing are not the wrongs of this generation, but the repercussions of the past. Thus, on the individual level, whites may feel slighted. A white man that never committed an act of hate is forced to watch the black man given more opportunities, and resents him for it.  In an age of competition, “in which your dreams come at my expense,” the white man feels the black man took his spot in a university.  Nevertheless, affirmative action and all other acts meant to bring minorities closer to equality cannot stop. Hopefully the next president will pull us out of this recession so that we won’t be forced to live in the competition that breeds this resentment.

            Us Ethiopian Americans were born into this racial turmoil without a clue as to where we fit.  As a child growing up in America, I felt the need to belong to some group, and never quite found it. I had plenty of friends, but the childish questions of how I should act, who I should hang around, and what activities I should join echoed around my head without answers. I assumed I was black, yet the African-Americans in my school saw me as different. They saw my big eyes and long hair, and labeled me foreign. Yet as much as I wanted to consider myself Ethiopian, I had little in common with actual Ethiopians, as we come from opposite ends of the globe.

            Sixth grade came as a shock when I entered a predominantly black middle school. While it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what made the school segregated, no student could deny that the main factor in social life was race. Only that could explain why the lunch tables seemed color-coded.

            I was the only Ethiopian in my school.  Not only that, but half the students had never heard of Ethiopia and tended to assume I was Indian. I had no choice but to group myself with Black Americans. While we had much in common, I noticed our differences more than anything else. They mispronounced my name and had never heard of injera, both shocking to me.  And of course, they noticed the differences as well.  The issue Obama mentions of acting “too black” or “not black enough” hits close to home for any Ethiopian-American.  The fact that children in America feel compelled to measure themselves against the stereotypes attributed to their race is proof in itself that racism still exists.

            I heard that I was Ethiopian. While I liked the sound, I wondered how on earth I could live up to the name when I had never set foot on any ground but America’s. I asked how I could be Ethiopian when I could hardly speak the language. I asked how I could call myself Habesha when I was so immersed in western culture.

            While I recognize I had problems with racial identity, I will never forget the encouragement I received from my parents to learn about and embrace the Ethiopian culture. While some adults laughed when I attempted my broken Amharic, my parents always encouraged me to keep trying.  Though they themselves felt no racial confusion, as they were comfortable calling themselves Ethiopian, they always understood that I was struggling to find my identity.  This encouragement from parents is essential to raising a first-generation American.

            I finally found my identity when I traveled to Ethiopia for the first time last summer. I was surrounded by my people, my food, my language! To see nothing but people like me was mesmerizing, and I had to fight the urge to wave at everyone I passed. I learned about my culture, picked up Amharic, and felt I could finally own up to the label “Ethiopian-American.” More importantly, however, I realized that it’s not about being black enough, or being anything enough. You don’t have to measure yourself against others.  You don’t have to conform to a stereotype. All you have to do is be what you are. I am Ethiopian. I am black. I am proud.

            Now that I am comfortable in my own skin, I ask myself why the question of racial identity was so important, and find the answer in racism. I have realized that America’s strong racial stereotypes force each American to find a comfort zone; a group to help guard against the pain still felt from slavery that ended centuries ago.  Unfortunately, finding this group sometimes means sticking to this group, which leads only to more separation.

            Blacks can continue to be angry about racism, and whites can continue to resent efforts to fix past wrongs. We can continue to take sides. But Obama offers a solution: he says let’s stop limiting these discussions to “the barbershop or around the kitchen table,” and bring them into the political arena. Let’s put these issues in the open because hushing our voices has only led to prolonging the racial stalemate. The day we cease to be Black Americans, White Americans, Asian Americans, and Hispanic Americans; the day “American” ceases to be a mere term and becomes an identity; the day each American will be educated, hired, and befriended without regards to color, the fight for racial equality will have finally been won.