The increase in **** and racial tension between African Americans and Hispanics in the United States helps neither party; and if there is one thing African Americans and Hispanics need it is help – politically, culturally, and financially. African Americans and Hispanics make up the largest group of underclass citizens in the United States, yet they are at war because of race. A major divergence between African Americans and Hispanics occurred because of cultural differences and as a result there is an increase in racism, tension, and **** between the two minority groups. All over the United States, in major cities, African Americans and Hispanics targeted one another in “random” acts of racist ****, but the media reported very few of the crimes, despite the lack of compassion and the level of cruelty displayed in these heinous acts. If African Americans and Hispanics worked together as one community rather than two, despite their cultural differences, the media would be forced to change its outlook of poor African Americans and Hispanics, portraying them positively, affording them with opportunities to work in media, and change their communities. The issues troubling the African American community trouble the Hispanic community as well and together African Americans and Hispanics can work to change political, cultural, and community issues to better suit one another. When working together, minority groups were successful in gaining/changing civil rights, affirmative action, laws against discrimination, immigration laws, and equal opportunity employment. Millions of Hispanics now live in what were once predominantly, low-income African American communities and as a result these Hispanics have inherited the same poverty-stricken, low-income, tenement, and polluted neighborhoods. Hispanics living in those neighborhoods will receive the same harsh treatment and negative stereotypes associated with African Americans, unfortunately. If African Americans and Hispanics who live closely together and under the same strenuous conditions worked together, then their individual and collective political, cultural, communication, and community issues would likely receive much more time, attention, and be deemed primary concerns, as opposed to secondary or tertiary matters in the United States. African Americans and Hispanics should work together as minorities to address political, cultural, communication, and community issues to ensure that their plight as minorities in the United States will be viewed and altered for the better by politicians and community leaders who have the desire to change the lives of all minorities. African Americans and Hispanics must come together and acknowledge the strengths and weaknesses of one another to change the conditions under which they live, there is no other way. African Americans and Hispanics tried to change their living conditions, which includes a lack of healthcare, a lack of job opportunities, sub-par schools, and gang affiliation as a means of survival, to no avail for they still suffer with the tragedies of living poor in the United States. If African Americans and Hispanics expect that their rights will be changed they have no other choice but to united and rely on one another, no other race knows their predicament and is willing to challenge the current state of oppression under which millions of African Americans and Hispanics struggle through daily. African Americans and Hispanics suffer from a severed relationship for quite a few reasons the most important being stereotypes, race and cultural relations, and competition. African Americans and Hispanics must be willing to ignored negatively perpetuated stereotypes about one another, simple minded stereotypes created by neither minority. For example, in high schools across the nation African Americans mistreat and disrespect Hispanics because they do not speak English and Hispanics disrespect African Americans because of their history and negative stereotypes associated with African Americans. To strengthen the relationship between the African American and Hispanic communities, stereotypes must be ignored and each minority group must take the initiative to bond with the other despite prejudices. Another step towards strengthening the relationship between African Americans and Hispanics is to improve race relations. The idea that there has been racism between minorities in the United States is bizarre and several community leaders cite the reason for the **** between African Americans and Hispanics as a result of gang affiliation. However, statistics from the Los Angeles county Commission on Human Relations prove otherwise; for example, 73% of the suspects in anti-African American hate crimes are Hispanic and 80% of the suspects in anti-Hispanic hate crimes are African American. Several Hispanics target African Americans in hate crimes in an effort to scare African Americans from moving into “Hispanic” neighborhoods, Hispanic gang members have even stood trial for their involvement in the murders of African Americans in their scare tactics to establish territory. African Americans and Hispanics must realize that their battle to establish territory or superiority in the United States will not make either group equivalent to their Caucasian counterparts. When African American and Hispanic communities lived separately there was little or no ****; however the blending of cultures created tension and ****, instead of working together to break down language barriers and ignore negative stereotypes the minority groups made those barriers and stereotypes stronger by upholding them. There are areas in Los Angeles where there are stores that are “off limits” to African Americans and neighborhoods Hispanics “know” not to enter. The idea is foolish, breeds tension, and encourages **** in the African American/Hispanic communities. All over the United States millions of underclass African Americans and Hispanics are in competition with one another. Hispanics compete with African Americans for attention; African Americans compete for respect from white Americans and tell Hispanics that they cannot come before them, and African Americans still suffer from a **** mentality. African Americans and Hispanics must realize that by fueling a competition between them they are not changing their social, political or financial rank in the United States, rather they fall further and further behind economically in comparison to their white American counterparts. African Americans and Hispanics have to come to the agreement that they are one people and accept the fact that they are minorities in a country where their circumstances only affect one another. African Americans and Hispanics are two of the strongest minorities as seen in the effects they have on all of American culture such as music, fashion, language, personal style, and the workforce, together these two minority groups could change their socio-economic rank and receive the respect they deserve. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) can do two things to continue to support the needs of African American students and the growing needs of Hispanic and afro-Hispanic students in the United States: 1. Make attending college affordable, this includes tuition, room and board where applicable, and college textbooks, and 2. Emphasize that attending college is the most beneficial route for minorities to take. Oftentimes there are minority students who cannot afford to attend a post-secondary institution of any kind because their parents did not save enough for them to go to college or university or vocational training or they did not receive enough grants or scholarships to attend. In any post-secondary institution the fees are extremely high and many have to give up their dreams of attending college or university because of financial circumstances. Many HBCUs are private and the public HBCUs have annual tuition hikes, so many minority students have to drop out of college after one or two years, some remain in college for years because they cannot afford more than two or three classes a year. If attending an HBCU were more affordable, then more minority students might consider enrolling in college at least part-time. In addition to making college affordable, HBCUs and the African American community in general, should make attending college seem just as fruitful as dropping out of high school or working full-time after high school graduation. HBCUs should continue to support the needs of African American, Hispanic, and afro-Hispanic students because a college education is one of the only guarantees that one may be remotely successful in America. Too many African Americans and Hispanics do not graduate high school and do not return for the General Equivalency Diploma. HBCUs should continue to support the needs of African American, Hispanic, and afro-Hispanic students in the United States because they invest in the future of the country by encouraging minority students to do well academically and define themselves in corporate America. HBCUs have the responsibility of supporting minority students, alumni and supporters of HBCUs donate thousands of dollars each year to provide minority students with the resources other accredited institutions have. HBCUs are vital in the education of minority students and it is important that the professors, legislators, and alumni of these institutions make their importance known to all students.
