Sociology 255

Yesterday, I was watching current and they showed a video about Debt relief in third world countries. The G8 in all it’s generousity has offered to completely cancel the debt of poor countries. The HIPC (Heavily Indebted Poor Countries) initiative while apparently a benevolent gesture on behalf of rich countries is actually quite condescending rather than helpful. Rather than simply forgiving the debt of poor countries, HIPC has them keep the money they owe. However, it is HIPC which determines how that money is to be spent. I see this as a thinly veiled attempt to maintain control over the economic resources of third world countries. From this perspective, we see the ‘aid’ and ‘relief’ which trickles down to poor countries as nothing more than PR. We can see in the video that HIPC has done nothing more than plaster their name on toilets and wastebins which, I think, is exactly where this kind of meaningless gesture belongs. To give aid to those in need is admirable. To say that you know the problems of these people better than they do is utterly repugnant. Seen against the backdrop of the legacy of Imperialism, we see HIPC for what it is- the first world asserting that the third world lacks the intelligence to make proper use of its own resources.

I believe Black Americans are still under internal colonialism, although much of it may be hidden in a way. Let’s consider the definition of internal colonialism: one group within a nation controls political, economic, and cultural systems of another less powerful group within that nation. Keeping that in mind, we should also consider two more things: 1) What does it mean to control something, and 2) the quote Whitney read in class, which I do not remember verbatim, but it said something to the effect that black visibility is not the same as equality or acceptance for blacks.

That being said, think about the most visible Black Americans and then think about how much control they actually have. BET (Black Exploitation Entertainment Television) was sold (out) to Viacom years ago. Black athletes are seen as powerful figures, but have you taken a look at the people who own the teams? Speaking of sports, I can’t think of a football season that’s gone by without discussion of the shortage of black quarterbacks and the plights thereof or the difficulties black candidates face when trying to get a head coaching job and the unfairness they face when they try to keep that job. Just a few months ago, Turner Gill, a black coach was denied the lead job at Auburn, losing out to the less qualified and white Gene Chizik. Two white coaches in the SEC actually said that he lost the job because he is a black man married to a white woman. It definitely sounds to me like there’s a dominant group pulling the strings in this situation.

Back to entertainment though. While black artists may boast of their bling and Benzes, the top record execs are white. You may say, “Well, they only produce and publish what makes money, so the consumers control the trends.” That may be true, but statistics show that white people are actually the biggest consumers of rap music, so the trends are dictated by whites, AND the final decisions are made by whites when it comes to this form of expression that’s supposed to reflect “our culture.” But does it really? How many times have we seen this happen: A rapper comes out, and his first album is all about how hard it is in the hood and how he wants to do better and get a better life for his family. He talks about the trials he’s faced being a poor black man and how he wished he didn’t have to go through it. Then, album number two comes out, and all he can talk about is money, cars, and hoes. All of a sudden, being from the hood is a good thing and he’s praising the very drug dealers he previously claimed had ruined his community.

And don’t get me started on the underrepresentation of minorities when it comes to lead roles in TV series on major networks…

All I’m saying, is that while black people may have come very far, in this country, we don’t have the kind of control we like to think we have. Another, more dominant, group has that control which is why we are still under internal colonialism.  Sorry so long.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree or disagree? Does anyone have any other points to add to this?

Today we talked about colonization and its effects on various countries and the people of these countries.  To continue this dialogue, I offer this horrifying and amazing picture.

This is the physical border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.  Can you guess which side is which?  Both of these countries were colonized by European and American powers, including France and Spain.  However, Haiti is the only nation gained by a slave rebellion and was also the first black led post-colonial state.  Today, Haiti rests in a constant state of turmoil and governmental difficulty, which is why there is rampant deforestation as opposed to the environmental laws in neighboring DR.

Does this example offer us some empirical evidence to question the debate of slavery in colonialism from class?  Does this example have any worth in this context, what can it tell us?

Today in class we discussed whether slavery led to a better situation for blacks within present day society. I believe that it is not possible to assess this situation completely, since you can not know exactly what the results would be. It is obvious that blacks rights and lives have improved since slavery, but the question is whether that improvement would be enough to argue that blacks have benefited from slavery, no matter how ridiculous that sounds. There are some many factors within this idea that it is difficult to assess. Are we assuming that african americans would be put back into present day african society, or that since there was no slavery or external colonialism that Africa would be a much better more prosperous place today? Putting all the different situations aside, today the Untied States is mostly a much better place to live than is Africa. So perhaps it is better for many African americans to live in the United States now and to be here due to slavery. What are your opinions with this idea or argument?

I believe that blacks are definitely still under internal colonialism within the United States. Though some can argue that Barack Obama and other successful african americans are examples of how African Americans have escaped from this internal colonialism, they are only a few individuals of a group of people. Yet, it is more important to look at the black population as a whole and not try to focus in certain individuals on either side of the spectrum. Purely, economically black people are shown to be unequal to whites within the country. There is a tremendous income gap between the two races that has existed since the end of slavery. In 2004, a typical black family had an income that was only 58 percent of a typical white family’s, while 30 years earlier, in 1974, median black incomes were 63 percent those of whites. In addition, the incomes among black men has actually declined in the past three decades, when adjusted for inflation. In fact, the only reason there was an increase in average black income since 1974 is because there were great gains in income by black women. It seems that somehow blacks have lost some economic power since the 70s. When looking at these stats how can there be any evidence for equality for blacks within the United States. 
Looking at the situation from a political standpoint, it is also evident that black americans are not equally represented within the national senate and congress. There are an estimated 12.8% percent of black people out of the 300 million US citizens. Yet, within government there is not 12-13 percent black representatives. Though some can argue that since these are elected officials their race is irrelevant since all the races have elected them.
Furthermore, I would like to address the idea that all of the successful black people within the US have acted “white” to become successful. How can anyone act “black” or “white”? I could be completely wrong but I do not know how someone’s actions can be categorized within a race. Hopefully someone can address this or explain it to me. 

Hey Everyone! Let’s continue the discussion from class: Do you think that African Americans are still under the oppression of Internal Colonialism?