Breaking Silence

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We live in a diverse society. We have a myriad of races, cultures, languages and beliefs. It is natural that we live different lives and we face different hardships and struggles. As human beings it is our obligation to be considerate of our differences and struggles. We have the responsibility to ensure equality and justice within our society. To have a society that ensures equality and justice there must be equal distribution of opportunities. Sadly that is not the case in America; certain groups in our society do not have access to the same opportunities that others do. In our society people of color and minorities are subjects to racism, poverty and discrimination. These barriers are extremely difficult and not a lot of people surpass them. Those who make it out of these harsh conditions must consider themselves responsible individuals who represent the struggle their people face. In the essay “Letter to my Nephew” James Baldwin discusses issues regarding racism and silence. Baldwin makes it clear that people of color are responsible to respond and resist when challenged with racism. Because we are the hope of our own struggle; we are all that we have. We must exploit and break the silence regarding racism and discrimination; and we must do that with solidarity.
In his text “Letter to my Nephew”, James Baldwin conveys strong messages regarding love, responsibility and guidance. The letter was written on the one hundredth anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. This famous piece of history was written to Big James, Baldwin’s nephew; who was born and raised in Harlem, New York. Big James is not new to segregation and racism; growing up he has experienced all the adversities Harlem has to offer. Throughout the letter Bal...

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...hey will not be accepted by majority of the white communities; perhaps this explains the reason why white people are afraid to break silence. They don’t want to lose the privilege that comes from their well-being; because fighting for equality means sharing ones privilege.
In order to have a society that ensures equality and justice, we must destroy racism and hatred. We can do that by speaking up, informing and teaching white people about racism. We must have a form of solidarity with white people so that we can all come together and deal with racism. Racism can only be ended through a collaborative work of people of color and white people. Just as Baldwin states, we must accept white people and accept them with love; because that is the only way we can bring change within our society. We must live our daily lives breaking those silences which perpetuate racism.

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