Their Eyes-Sense of Community

In Their Eyes Were Watching God there was a great sense of community. Hurston wrote about neighborhood friends convening in one location almost everyday to talk about everything and nothing at the same time. In the South this sense of community in African American culture is still present. In Hickory, North Carolina there is more than one location to convene partly because this area is not as small as the communities present during the time of Their Eyes. Many of the men gather in the barber shop, or Uncle Johnny's fish camp; and the women usually are together at someone's home cooking and gossiping. Community gatherings give African Americans a sense of belonging in a world that hasn't always accepted them. It gives them a chance to relax and finally be themselves.

Their Eyes Were Watching God

In Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston wrote on a topic that is still seen in today's society. Many call the discrimination of others within the same race colorism, but in the South, African Americans have termed it as the Light Skinned complex. In Their Eyes Hurston illustrates a character by the name of Mrs. Turner, she is a lighter skinned African American woman with some Caucasian features. Mrs. Turner dislikes all Blacks who are darker than her and 'bows down' to those who are lighter than her. This event is not new to the African American community we are always criticizing each other for the complexion of our skin, the texture of our hair and even the our facial features. This has led many African Americans to taking steps in changing there appearances. Some of these steps have been as small as getting hair relaxers, others are more extreme such as in plastic surgery. I believe that since for so long African Americans have been told we weren't beautiful and we don't belong we have gradually changed our perception of beauty. We criticize each other for what we were given at birth instead of embracing the natural and unique beauty that we were blessed with.

Muliculturalism: Diversity in Medicine

A seemingly normal day in February 2009, marked the shortest doctor's visit my grandmother has experienced in her nearly 60 years of living. She walked in the office signed in, and in a matter of moments a nurse called her back to a room. After the nurse screened her she left, and my grandmother waited patiently for the doctor. When the doctor entered the room he simply looked at this old, tired looking black woman and said, "I don't treat negro skin, but there is a colored doctor about three hours away that should be able to help you," then he was gone. Now I ask you why should my grandmother, or any person of color for that matter, have to drive three hours to see a colored physician? According to Vijayo Rao and Glenn Flores, African Americans make up nearly 13% of the U.S. population, but we are poorly represented in the medical field (African Americans are only 4.4% of all physicians and surgeons). I believe that some aspects of the American society are indeed diverse, but the medical field still needs another seminar or two on diversity; seeing as though the 4.4% has remained constant for the last 40 years (Rao). African Americans have the ability to make up a higher percentage of the physicians and surgeons of this country. We have proven ourselves worthy to become business owners, lawyers, and even the President of the United States. So what is holding us back from becoming physicians?

Sources: http://www.nmanet.org/images/uploads/Journal/OC986.pdf Vijayo Rao and Glenn Flores

Pictured: James Derham, the first African American to practice medicine.

Post Racism

"America, a post-racial society," sounds good to the ear but is this statement possible? There have been mixed emotions and comments about the issue but in the opinion of many; America is far from being a post-racial society. We have come along way from slavery and Jim Crow laws, but as a nation we still have a long way to go before we can even begin to think of ourselves as "post-racial." According to Elizabeth Landau from CNN,"you may be more racist than you think." The article is on a study that was done on how people "unconsciously harbor attitudes, even though they see themselves as tolerant and egalitarian"(CNN). If this study is true America can not be post-racial because racism is still present, even though it is not seen.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/01/07/racism.study/index.html

Photo found in the New York Post, February 2009.

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