General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: If you're honest, you'd realize that Trayvon Martin was an "All-Amercan Boy". [View all]MellowDem
(5,018 posts)that the perception of young black males as the "other" continues as long as they continue to be locked up and arrested in disproportionate numbers and shown through numerous other mediums to be dangerous. Nevermind the circumstances that cause this to be the present reality is largely beyond their control. It's a vicious cycle.
I think the perception of young black males is slowly changing, very slowly though. Until many of the gaps between young black males and the rest of society are lessened more and eventually eliminated, negative perceptions will remain.
What's sad is that these gaps haven't closed much at all since the Civil Rights Movement, and in some cases have only grown. History, continued segregation, the War on Drugs, concentrated poverty, etc. have all been working against any gaps being closed, and keep the negative perceptions present, and continue the vicious cycle. It angers me that we haven't been able to get the political will together to address these issues, and what scares me about Republicans is that their policies will only exacerbate these issues, as they live in their fantasy land where "everyone has an equal opportunity" and "anyone can make it in America". With that kind of delusional thinking, it's no wonder many Republicans have very low opinions of young black males.