Barriers to Rebuilding the African American Community

Preface

From police killings of unarmed citizens to America’s most controversial president, and now the resurgence of American White Supremacy groups such as the alt-right and other neo-Nazi organizations, it seems as if race and politics in America are spiraling out of control. Now, more than ever, is America divided with black and white racial tensions along with polarizing political divisions with new weekly developments.

Whether you are a Republican or Democrat, you will find this book to be both an interesting and a thought-provoking journey into the history, heart, and the roots of the black American plight. This book is distinct from the stereotypical social justice text because it is not an extended gripe about white oppression, but rather is an elaborate background investigation of how medical science, culture, and social policy can propel or subdue an entire people group.

You will be amazed at what research has uncovered regarding Adverse, Childhood Experiences (ACEs), which affects all communities regardless of race. Whether you take the liberal or conservative position, this book addresses a wide audience on issues critical to all Americans and social service providers. Get ready for an exciting and well-researched exposé into a momentous, intelligent look into one of America’s most electrifying socio-political movements. Most have forgotten which team won the Super Bowl in 2002, or the World Series in 2009; however, many will remember the Black Lives Matter and the #Metoo movements in the United States, ten, twenty, and even a hundred years from now. These movements now have a permanent place in both American and world history.

Acknowledgments

I want to carefully acknowledge my amazing wife K. Ajani. She is a wonderful wife, mother, educator, and scholar. She diligently supported me in this project. Her labor is greatly appreciated. I tremendously love and thank her. I want to also acknowledge the eminent Jesus of Nazareth; not as a religious figure but rather as a social worker and civil rights activist. He was one of the first and premier leaders of the ancient world to love, serve, and validate the equality of women and to care for the civil liberties of the poor. Jesus cared about the Samaritan people who were both considered and mistreated as the African Americans of his day. His leadership and selfless service was countercultural and is worth further examination.

1

The Crux of the Matter

“The United States is a country with systemic oppression-centuries of genocide, 336 years of slavery and legal segregation, in about 85 percent of U.S. History (1).”

—Drs. Joe Feagin and Zinobia Bennefield (sociologists)

On August 9, 2014, African American teenager Michael Brown was fatally shot during a scuffle with police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. This was not an isolated or unusual incident as dozens of unarmed black people have been shot and killed by police officers throughout American history. However, this particular event lit a fire of outrage that has perpetuated increased distrust between African Americans and police across the nation. The primary reason is because Michael Brown was an unarmed eighteen-year-old boy when he was shot and killed.

African Americans have long been targeted by police officers for two primary reasons. The first reason is due to the continual animosity between African Americans and Caucasian (White) Americans, that has lingered since the colonial slavery period. The second reason relates to the negative stereotype attributed to black culture in general, and more specifically to African Americans (men in particular) being linked to prevalent violence and criminal behaviors. Unfortunately, this stereotype has led to racial targeting by local police officers often resulting in more frequent traffic stops of African Americans, compared to other racial groups, ←1 | 2→and has led to an onslaught of recent killings of unarmed black male and females. Due to this particular wave of unarmed African American civilians being killed by police offers, a new civil rights movement called the Black Lives Matter has emerged. This social justice movement has become the face of the new American civil rights movement.

Approximately sixty years after the civil rights movement, the dominant majority group continue to expect African Americans to wait idly for justice to prevail while in the meantime, experience colossal oppression, police brutality, and unprecedented racial mistreatment. Psychologists Dr. Alicia Fedewa and Dr. Thompson Prout said, “in the United States, White Americans are considered the ‘dominant’ reference group, so in the conformity stage, an identification with White American values is preferred to the minority racial/cultural heritage (3).”