A Broken Dream
“I have a dream…”
Became the mantra for not only African Americans, but for every person who desires a better life.
As the days move forward I realize that no one plans to be homeless. No one plans to get on drugs or to get arrested. Everyone dreams of a good future, one filled with hope and happiness, never one of despair. So how do people end up on the street? How do people live in tents on sidewalks without hope? Sometimes it's just rotten circumstances but for the homeless African Americans it is many circumstances that probably has led to the run in with the streets-- this problem unfortunately is Racism and it is much deeper and much more serious than a financial crisis.
Forty percent out of the twelve-point-five percent of color people that live in this country end up on the street. As I did my research I found that my gut aligned with the facts-- a big portion of the homeless population being black is not a coincidence.
US Attorney Eric Holder called our country, “a nation of cowards” when it comes to discussing race. The color of our skin was originally supposed to be just the color of our skin but since the introduction of slavery and discrimination the color now represents culture and class. The opportunities that are presented to whites are not the same for minorities.
It is the greatest known secret that Caucasians are looked at more favorably than blacks, hence the reason why blacks and Latinos find themselves in low income neighborhoods.
There is a strive in our country despite all the negativity of the past to set all young and rising black adults up for success but when one is surrounded by turmoil it is difficult not to fall in line with the trend. I’ve seen on many occasions where young black men and women are intelligent enough to make a better life for themselves but they stay stagnant because they cannot see past the poverty and failure of their own surroundings. So even though as a nation we are trying to erase the wrongs of the past the truth is it takes a lot more than just tweeting and articles.
Most blacks in their neighborhood become attracted to the drugs and gangs and the vicious trend that heads right into homelessness is started. They get kicked out the house and are hauled off to jail and before they know it their dream has been destroyed, demolished.
There is also another vicious trend of “the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.” If your race has been set up for failure what chance is there of breaking out? Of course now the possibility for success for African Americans is becoming more of a possibility but it is ashamed that people fifty-four years after Martin Luther King's iconic speech are still dreaming and not living.
