How_Far_African_Americans_Have_Come_so_Far_in_History

Running Header: Twenty first century history How far African Americans have come so far in History Laura VanDee Kaplan University John Ragan August 10, 2010 How far African Americans have come so far in History President Barack Obama II has changed history that has been in the making for the past 200 years. Who would have ever thought that we would have an African American for President' As Barack Obama stated in his first speech to the nation “If there is anyone out there who doubts that America is a place where anything is possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight here is your answer,” Obama declared. (Johnson) “It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America,” he said to a long roar. (Johnson) He is right there have been changes and some have been good and then you still have the people that can’t see the good in what he is doing. The part is it doesn’t matter if the President was Hilary Clinton the first white women to be president. There still would have been a big issue that she was a woman and that would have been another big change in our history. Stereotypes of African Americans go back as far as the colonial years when we were just starting up are settlements. The African Americans back then was describe as being joyous, naive, superstitious, and ignorant this is how the whites seen them. This is to believe to justify why we had African Americans as slaves we were doing them a favor by giving them a place to work and serve us to keep them alive. Even today Blacks are still stereotype as being poor, lazy, very religious, criminals, and violent. The characteristics of the term "Mammy" which is the dark skin, a heavyset frame and large bust, and overall matronly appearance, complete with an apron around her waist and a kerchief on her head (Wikipedia's). This character was used in Gone with the Wind she was portrayed as the Mammy for Scarlett O’ hare. This movie opened up a lot of eyes on what we thought about whites and blacks I thought anyways. Barack Obama’s grandmother being typical white person had made a confession that she had fears of black men who may have passed her on the street. This was said this is still a common reaction for somebody to have special if you don’t know who the person is. It is just bred into us to have these reactions. I hate to omit it but my father a several occasions made it very difficult for me to have black friends. I was so scared to go against him that I made a friend of mine sit in the back with a friend of ours that was black because if my father seen me sitting back there with him I probably would have not been allowed to go out ever again. This made me more determine never to be this way with my own children and to this day we have friends that are Black, Hispanic, Vietnamese people I believe if we want things to change it starts in the home and it starts with one person showing others what needs to be done to change to make this all go away. In having Barack Obama in the White house I believe this is sign that there is many more changes that will come in the future. Reference: By Alex Johnson Reporter msnbc.com updated 11/5/2008 3:10:53 PM ET Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization