African American Women 's Assimilation Into White Culture

Assimilation is achieving wealth or economic status, allowing African Americans to immerse in American culture. Some examples of assimilation include having professional success, being in an affluent family, and living in a wealthy neighborhood. The problem is the majority of African Americans struggle overcoming numerous hurdles involving money, class, etc. African Americans need to deny their heritage to fully assimilate because it consumes time and energy to economically and socially progress.

Humans who share a common ancestry, genetics, physical traits, relationships and social relations form a race. Racism on the other hand is the belief that one race is superior to the other. Racism results in prejudice and discrimination of the inferior race. Eventually, this leads to resentment and hatred on the superior race. A fallacy on the other hand is simply an error in argument or reasoning. Racism fallacies in America are to this point the mistaken arguments put forward to validate or invalidate racism in our country. To investigate this interesting topic; we analyze five fallacies common in America. In America, fallacies of racism

If a black woman had dark skin she would resemble a man, therefore making her ugly in society’s standards. This pressures black women to constantly be "compatible with the white female standard of beauty" (Ashe 580) in order to be socially accepted in society. Intuitively black women understood that in order to be considered desirable, the less black they had to look. This unfortunate perception of beauty stems from a long pattern of "sociohistorical racial injustices" (Bealer 312) towards darker skinned African Americans. Maria Racine states in her review that since slavery black people who approximated closer to whites were sexually sought after by black slave men and white plantation owners and were considered to live a somewhat "easy coexistence" because of their appearance (Racine 283). Since it’s start, colorism laid the pathway of racial prejudice towards dark skinned individuals. The result of treating dark African Americans as subhuman beings led to the altering of the black psyche by creating a "pervasive hierarchy" of beauty that black woman constantly combated or were forced to accept. (Bealer 312).

In the context of physical appearance, black woman are only featured with body parts- mainly their “large, rotund behind” (Perry 137). The presentation of the face is mainly limited to white or lighter-complexioned women. The highest idealization of women is one that possesses a “‘high-status’ face combined with a highly sexualized body read by the viewer as the body of a poor or working-class woman” (Perry 137). Perry further substantiates her claim by stating that “women are created or valued by how many fantasy elements have been pieced together in their bodies” (137). She debunks the opposition arguing that the bodies of black women are appreciated by pointing out that only a minority of black women have such attributes, and those without are pressured and struggle to achieve such proportions.

In “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” Peggy McIntosh argues that racism can be found imbedded into the culture of society; conferring and denying certain privileges on some rather than all. This is a dangerous cultivation; endowing a strong expectation that white privileges are naturally deserving. Furthermore, making the cornerstone of McIntosh’s main argument; that white privilege is just a less aggressive synonym for dominance. When you receive privileges for looking a certain type of way, the recipient becomes immune; often not being able to acknowledge their advantages. As a result, this creates a cultural divide, between racial groups.

Spirituality plays a very important role in African American culture. As we know, traditional healing practices and spirituality are closely related. This deep spirituality comes from their motherland African culture but was reinforce during the rough periods of slavery and enforced discrimination. Spirituality makes people of believing that only God is responsible for health, illness, and healing. Thus, spiritual beliefs provide comfort and are an effective way for remaining healthy, coping, and healing (Johnson, Elbert-Avila, Tulsky, 1992). Giger, Davidhizar, and Turner (1992) recalled that a number of African Americans still linking good health with luck or success and disease or illness with bad luck, fate,

The woman who raised and loved him did not know him any longer. This is one of many instances that illustrates the white society’s “lack of mercy and compassion” (22). Malcolm X blames whites for robbing his mother’s dignity, for separating his siblings, and for “disintegrating” his home and unity. Therefore, Malcolm X states he has no compassion for “a white society that will crush people” (22). The word “crushed” imparts the same horror he feels on the audience to illuminate the extremity of racism so that the audience can sympathize with his reasoned anger. Being called the ‘n-word’ in his life is another factor in Malcolm X’s belief that white society is demeaning to blacks. When Malcolm X told his English teacher that he wanted to be a lawyer, she replied, “That’s no realistic goal for a n-word” (118). The teacher’s statement is a clear portrayal of the widely accepted sentiment in that time period that African Americans are too incompetent to have good jobs and have ambitions. As a result, this incident deeply affected Malcolm X and has contributed to his disapproval of blacks being servile in a white society. Malcolm X appeals to the audience 's sense of horror and hatred by sharing his experiences in order for paint a more illuminated picture of racism.

The idea of being accepted in the coloured society at the time was to be to adhere to the customs and culture pertaining to the native. If singing a tribal song was a proud part of some African cultures, the second and third generation slave children who were hybrids did not find their old customs appealing which created a void in an already fragmented African society. The notion that a black child and a white child had the same level of thinking and understanding between them because they followed the same set of rules and aspirations made it a grave task for the other to stay true to his/her culture as the fight between which culture to adopt, adapt and discard created discord between a few sections within the other. While on one hand

All American females live in a society that puts undue pressure on women to accommodate an unreasonable ideal, and the Euro-American standard of beauty has dominated popular culture causing devastating economic, physical, and psychological effects, particularly on African American women, who should embrace their natural beauty. African American women make destructive changes to their body that will break down their bank accounts, and the woman's physical body appearance to the naked eye. Rhinoplasty, breast augmentation, and botulinum toxin are just some of the costly surgeries that have major changes and that can cost up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Physically, African American women begin

Throughout this course we discussed the Jazz Age, cultural appropriation, racial and gender differences, and African Americans and Parisians during the interwar years. We looked at many African American performers and performances that had a huge impact on France’s cultural identity. After learning about all of this in class, I wanted to take my research further. I decided to research female foreign performers who have had a major influence on the Jazz Age in Paris. I decided to focus specifically on three foreign females, and they are: singer and dancer Josephine Baker, dancer Molly Spotted Elk, and dancer Ada “Bricktop” Smith. Each of these female performers had a large impact on taking the Jazz Age in Paris to another level.

In this articled will attempt to explain the historical oppression of the Nigerian woman in her home country and how each little Nigerian girl is brought up to submit to the men in her life for her entire life span ,living in the background without a voice but many duties. It will explain how this woman moves to America and finds new freedoms and is presented with the option of assimilating into the new culture or maintain her country’s ways. The identity formation, issues and challenges are subjected to the theories of personality and social change. As the Nigerian woman finds herself in America and trying to understand her new surrounding and to adjust to the new freedoms that she encounters, she must also make the

The way advertisement and pop culture portrays women affects females. Ad’s basically creates there image as perfect to death, meaning that on the advertisement you’ll see a women but that isn’t her real face it has been altered by makeup and a lot of photo shop. This affects women because they measure themselves against this image every single day, which cannot be achieved. This image is impossible for everyone yes but more impossible for women who aren’t white. In pop culture women are only considered beautiful if they are fairly accurate with the white idle. In this culture black women have to stand by the Caucasian standards from straight hair to light skin, for instance, Beyoncé has bleached for an ad. Yet, when an African American women

The “soul wounds” that continually affect Black women are best exemplified by Malcolm X’s argument of

Colorism is described as discrimination based upon the tone of one’s skin. Colorism is a global issue that affects an array of people around the world. Although colorism is a worldwide issue, it is unique to African Americans due to the experience of slavery and its long-term psychological effects. African American men and women both experience colorism but the psychological effects are more prominent in women. Women in the black community are greatly affected by colorism starting at a young age. This is due to the history of the European standard of beauty in North America which plays a big role in how it affects their self-image, self-esteem, social status and relationships, and opportunities; all of which leads to overall psychological damage.

Women across the globe face this pressure to live up to a certain standard of beauty. Women will dye their hair, wax their eyebrows, and some even spend thousands of dollars on plastic surgery, all in an attempt to fit society’s perception of “beauty.” African-American women and women of color in particular struggle to embrace their own unique beauty, especially when dealing with things such as skin complexion, hair, and Afrocentric facial features. People have grown up in a society that leads them to believe that beauty can be achieved if you have fair skin, straight hair, or having the ideal body Societies views on what is attractive, can persuade another person’s views on attraction. Attraction is partially biological, but also social. Which is why it is important to have a vast selection of beautiful women to show case that not only Eurocentric features are attractive. African American women and other women of color need more representations of women that look like them in the media. We need more shows and movies, portraying images of woman of color as beautiful.