k anyanwu's blog

maybe what I write about is too adavanced for eth member sof this site, or maybe people feel intimidated to comment on my posts. I need some intellectual debate on the issues that I discuss. Or at leats feedback!

Do you even know what Affirmative Action is? because so many peopel really don't dont!!! FINANCIAL AID AND AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IS NOT THE SAME THING U GUYS!!!!! Just because you are Black and poor doesn't mean that you are going to get admission into a college. The problem is that a long time ago, people of minority groups, whether they were brilliant and rich were discriminated against and not admitted into colleges and universities. Do you think without Affirmative Action, there would be so many minorites at Harvard? So affirmative action was created, forcing universities to have a certain percentage of minority grousp enrolled at their school, it doesnt matter if they are of the elite black community in Chicago or poor farmers down in Talahassee. c'mon guys.....read a book.

Do you even know what Affirmative Action is? because so many peopel really don't dont!!! FINANCIAL AID AND AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IS NOT THE SAME THING U GUYS!!!!! Just because you are Black and poor doesn't mean that you are going to get admission into a college. The problem is that a long time ago, people of minority groups, whether they were brilliant and rich were discriminated against and not admitted into colleges and universities. Do you think without Affirmative Action, there would be so many minorites at Harvard? So affirmative action was created, forcing universities to have a certain percentage of minority grousp enrolled at their school, it doesnt matter if they are of the elite black community in Chicago or poor farmers down in Talahassee. c'mon guys.....read a book.

When  I first read Black No More, the idea of colorism seemed foreign and extinct. However, looking at our Black community today, colorism is still very present. My friend who attends Spelman College (a HBCU) in Atlanta, Georgia once told me that years ago, Spelman didn’t grant admission to women who were darker than a brown paper bag. In the present day, on TV and in magazines, you seldom see a dark-skinned black person. Our culture is still being led to believe that having lighter skin makes you a more desired person. Today, black children having white G.I. Joes and Barbie dolls with blond hair and blue eyes reinforce colorism. It is also strengthened by the absence of dark-skinned black people on TV and in magazines. If you ask any black boy to name a female celebrity whom he finds attractive, chances are you will receive responses such as Halle Berry, Alicia Keys, Eva Pigford, and Mya. Celebrities such as Lauryn Hill, Serena Williams, and Kelly Rowlands probably won’t even get mentioned. The absence of dark skinned women on the T.V. in videos and in the magazine leads to further division and self-hatred. I remember back when I was younger, my dark skinned friends wanting to marry White or Hispanic men when they grew older so that their children would have “good hair”. Sounds just like the fictional post-Harlem in George Schuyler’s Black No More. Things haven’t changed much at all.

Schuyler’s satire proved to be effective in pointing out the institution of colorism among the Black community. It’s is something that has existed long before our time and still exists today.  At this point Black people almost rely on that color-based hierarchy; and will always look for some way to create division within the race. Instead of dividing ourselves, we need to join as a community to battle important issues such as HIV, drugs, violence, and international matters; there is too much in this world too worry about, skin tone isn’t among them.

When I sit back to think about the impact AIDS and HIV has on the black communtiy it makes me cry. AIDS has become one of the leading causes of death amoung teh African American community, especially in women. And its such a preventable disease. The porblem is there is such a social stigma concerning sex and STDS that prohibit frank discussion about contracting AIDS and safer sex. Young adults need to know that the only 100% effective way in preventing AIDS and other STD is abstinince.