Black Men Today

African American men make up six percent of the U.S. population.  We live in big cities and small towns in every part of the country.  Some of us are college graduates, factory workers, or white-collar employees seeking the American dream.

We also fight for our right to exist in this country and realize our dreams despite the many obstacles we face.  Without doing so,  we would be less than men in a world of opportunity. 

It is the hope of our forefathers that pushes us to be great, or not to give up.  We are expected to finish school, raise our sons, and be faithful to the community we call home, regardless of what others may think. We are pushed to lead in the military, on college campuses, or in the sports arena that men so love.

Despite such high expectations or faith in tomorrow,  society or those who may feel uneasy by black men target us. They do so with fear of a corrupt legal system that is supposed to keep us down or prevent us from rising to the top.  So, they restrict employment, arrest us en masse, or knock down businesses we have started, like during Jim Crow or a faulty notion called integration. The system also doubts our achievements or role in building this great country and the world. Worse than that,  those in charge seem to saddle us with government assistance instead of expanding the economy to include the inner city or rural America, which could help end senseless poverty everywhere.

However, as black men, we can be our own worst enemies.  It is not always outside forces wishing to control or disrupt our lives.  Black men make the decisions to break the law, leave their families, or drop out of school in record numbers, which breeds poverty in places where it is needed the least.  We have also failed to participate wholeheartedly in the free enterprise system in recent years, like other minority groups. If we don't acknowledge our faults, nothing will change or improve the black man's standing in America or the world.

I love being a black man. I always have. I love our style, politics, and determination to succeed. My only hope is that we realize our full potential or educate ourselves to the fullest so we can assume our rightful place in businesses, government, economics, and science, as at the turn of the twentieth century.  To have his own is what every man strives for.

The future looks bright for black men in America. A wealth of educational and economic opportunities awaits him in a growing economy. I am confident he can continue to prosper or feel good about himself in a world that may be indifferent to his background, culture, or appearance.  He will rise above it all like generations past and be proud at the end of the day.