Research Paper

Sample Research 2

Research Paper

Growing up in America as an African American male has always had its challenges.

More times than not, those challenges became obstacles due to a common factor of my skin

color. Unfortunately, I am not the first to face these challenges and neither will I be the last and

there are many more who have endured similar obstacles if not, far more difficult obstacles than

I have. From this common struggle, we can shed some light and find some beauty in that,

because as a group we may have faced similar challenges, our perspectives within the group help

create a beautiful and enriched culture seen amongst African Americans since the first landing

onto American soil.

My interviewee is Mrs. Vincent, an African American Women, is a longtime family

friend who is the mother of four children and is currently obtaining her law degree here in

California. She is an older generation than I am, so her experiences were different in some areas,

but for most of the interview there were many things we came to a commonplace at. Only for the

fact that, much of the prejudiced she faced growing up in America and her children were also

presented in my life as well. We had an enriching conversation because her prospective came

from the view of a woman and raising women in her household. Some of my questions involved

if she had experienced any forms of racism or discrimination at her school or place of work, and

any challenges she faced raising women of color in today’s society.

Based on my first question, she gave many instances to where she had been a victim of

racism and discrimination. She described that when in a classroom, there wasn’t any explicit

racism, but from the energy in the room she felt that some students had directed a feeling of

unwontedness towards her. She also noted that some professors viewed her as less or

incompetent. Unfortunately, most of the racism she experienced in school was implicit and often

Sample Research 2

times she found it hard to “prove”, especially when pointing it out to someone who wasn’t black

or someone who didn’t relate. It was pointed out in the interview that most of her experience

with racism and discrimination came from within her workplace. There were incidents where, for

example she may have given an idea for change in her workplace and her input was either

dismissed or rejected completely & her nonblack counterparts would give the same input or

similar input & their input would be accepted and/or praised. Other times she felt her co-workers

didn’t view her as credible even though her track record within the company was spot clean.

Perhaps the most surprising comment she made was that, most of the outwardly behavior of

racism towards came from Hispanics as opposed to whites. She said the problem was that

Hispanics claim to be minorities within her place of work but don’t receive the brunt of the hit

from discrimination. Meaning that it is less likely for them to be put in a position of racism and

not be met with a force of resistance because of the collectiveness of Hispanics. And in some

cases, she has seen Hispanics add more fire to the fuel by either agreeing with the implicit racism

or sometimes explicit discrimination and/or not reacting to such violations towards her at her

workplace.

On the second portion of the interview, we began to go into great detail being that we

were discussing personal issues concerning her family and the upbringing associated with it. My

second question was asked in two parts. The first part of the question referred to her difficulties

raising four black children (3 girls, 1 boy) in today’s society. She said, “I often fear for my

children’s lives every time they step outside the house”. “I don’t know if society is going to treat

them for who they are or for the color of their skin”. Like many other African American families,

those worries and fears have a common place that runs deep into many households across the

country. The constant reminder that somebody can take your child’s life based off a stereotype or

lack of understanding can be very dauting especially to any parent; Or even in a school setting

Sample Research 2

where your child is being bullied and harassed by other races because they’re black or because of

their hair & the psychological effects it can have on a child growing up. In Mrs. Vincent case

specifically, she remembers a time when her daughters would come home crying because boys

didn’t like them since they were black or didn’t have long hair. Even the black boys, and

unfortunately this is a result of the European beauty standard placed generations ago that still has

a strong impact on the ideas of beauty in America. (Kuo)

During the second part to the question I asked what types of strategies she used to help

alleviate the fear and negative stereotypes that comes with raising a black family in America.

One of the strategies she had mentioned was to continually tell her kids that they were beautiful

both inside and out. She wanted to instill confidence within her kids at an early age so that they

could become aware that regardless of what society tells them that are beautiful and intelligent.

Another strategy she replied with was the ability to “kill with kindness”. She told her kids that

the negative insults they were receiving was to incite a reactionary emotion that more times than

not led to violence. “When you don’t succumb to that initial reaction then all their efforts

become wasted”, according to Mrs. Vincent. But above all the great advice she gave, perhaps the

biggest one was to encourage her kids to be successful. She said, “Success is the sweetest

revenge; they can’t take away or damage your success”. And with that type of advice, it isn’t a

surprise why her kids attend some of the top universities this country has to offer and majoring in

courses such as law and biology.

My interview with Mrs. Vincent was a wonderful experience. We covered more topics

involving race and upbringing aside from the questions I had already asked her which gave me

massive amounts of insight and knowledge. I hope to find that one day my children won’t have

to go through this type of fear and disregard of human life everybody born into this life is

entitled to. We still have a long way to go, but lifting the veil(Chaney) along with uncovering

Sample Research 2

truths about black history and identifying with good and not evil can help set ablaze a new path

onto the right direction.

Sample Research 2

Works Cited • Chaney, Nikia. PowerPoint presentation 5. The Veil. W.E.B Dubois. Class 2017

• Kuo, Rachel. “4 Ways Our Socially Accepted Beauty Ideals Are Racist.” Everyday Feminism, 5 May 2017, everydayfeminism.com/2017/05/beauty-ideals-racist/.

•