Unique Challenges of Being African-American and Male in the US

Gendered Experiences of Racism

Being an African-American male in the United States is actually one of the most difficult things to be in today's society. With stereotypic behaviors associated with this particular group, it can be an arduous and tedious task to even find employment. Although not all African-American men go through the same thing, more likely than not an African-American male will serve time in prison, limiting their employment options even more (Eckholm 2006). Unfortunately however, because of this terrible statistic, all African-American males suffer, even those who do not have any association whatsoever with the poverty, neighborhood, or criminal activity, as was the case with Sean Bell. He got caught up in the stereotypical associations that police have of African-American men, and therefore was shot and killed without any documentable cause.

African-American females however, do not necessarily face the same challenges that the men do. Due to several policy changes to the workforce, and a more progressive format to assist females get employment in inner-cities or those who are from a low socioeconomic status, they do not suffer from the same incarceration and unemployment rates that African-American males do (Eckholm 2006). The initiative to get more African-American women into the workforce so that they could provide a better life for their children who end up living in the inner-cities, has worked to the extent that a noticeable and visible change in the unemployment and crimes rates throughout that group is apparent. However, because more likely than not an African-American female will be raising her children by herself, those African-American males grow up without fathers, and therefore, without an African-American male figure in their lives. It is the beginning of a very vicious and unfortunate circle (Eckholm 2006).

Out of any group, young African-American males are at an even bigger disadvantage. Because of extreme poverty, a lot of African-American males end up dropping out of high school so that they could make money to help support themselves and their families. This unfortunately brings upon even more problems since some African-American young males end up selling drugs on the street in order to be able to afford what they need (Swarns 2004). They also have children at a young age which adds an even bigger burden to this already growing problem among them. And because they dropped out of high school in the first place, they have the greatest probability of all, to end up incarcerated, continuing this never-ending cycle that their children will end up falling into (Eckholm 2006).

Although this case is seen among other minority groups as well, such as Latinos and immigrants from Africa, the outcome is not always the same (Swarns 2004). Among Latino males who do not finish high school, the crime, incarceration, and unemployment rates are no where near as high as they are for young African-American males (Eckholm 2006). Even among immigrants from Africa, these rates of criminality and unemployment are not as high as they are for the inner-city urban African-American males. The society in which they grow up in since they were born makes all the difference in this case. Different circumstances are endured and different cultural values are emphasized in African-American young men from the United States, than those who are from Latino or African immigrant decent (Swarns 2004).