Throughout history, it has been proven countless times that the communities that stay tightly knit are consistently the most successful. Thriving communities are characterized by a strong emphasis on education, hard work, and strong, tightly knit networking webs. It is imperative that the African-American community works together to address societal issues and shore up divisions within these two sections of our race in order to build this strong networking web. As an African-American high school senior who previously attended schools with students from low income families but now attends a very affluent school, I see a clear division in these two communities that is caused by both education and socio-economic backgrounds. Through online social networking platforms such as Facebook and HBCU connect, students from all types of backgrounds are able to communicate with one another and transcend any type of natural boundaries. It will be difficult to change the mentality of entire groups, but if inner-city youth begin to place more emphasis on their education, and the more affluent, well-educated youth stop segregating themselves from their inner-city youth, the community will improve vastly.
An ethnic group without a sense of unified community is doomed to repeated societal failures. Communities achieve power and clout through creating well-knit webs of networking, and by working together for the good of the community. If a race is as fragmented as Black America is today, the section that is left behind will not only continue to struggle, but they will bring down the overall perception of the race as a whole. Though this is not necessarily fair, it is a reality that the African-American community must address by bridging the gap between the socio-economic classes. Without this sense of community working together, our race will continue to be at the bottom of the list in terms of average salary and percentage of college graduates, and we will be continued to be looked down upon. Due to this societal truth, it is imperative for Black America to rebuild a sense of strong community. If this community wishes to improve itself considerable and would like for the outside perception of them to be improved, they must have a tight-knit community in which all members help each other up the ladder of society, and this development can start with the internet.
Along with the intentional social segregation of classes in the African-American community, there is also a clear physical separation between the two that is not necessarily as deliberate. While the more affluent Blacks live in the well-to-do suburbs, the less fortunate live in the inner city, and the two often are not able to connect because of this. One way to transcend these barriers is through online social networks such as HBCU Connect and Facebook. These web sites allow for people to be connected through economic and social classes due to circumstances such as mutual friends or by reading others members’ posts on blogs that they may not necessarily know. Through these platforms, people that would not ordinarily have a change to communicate with one another are able to talk to one another. Conversations such as inquiring what college students are planning on attending may begin, and an inner city youth who may never have even thought of college may begin to think of higher learning as a possibility. This course of online action can significantly augment the natural communities, and can work to have more young people focused on achieving success in school.
If one looks at a thriving community, they characterizing facets that they will see are a strong emphasis on networking and working together for the benefit of all. In a community that is successful, large percentages of youth go on to higher education, rather than being stuck in the mire of minimum wage work after high school. Societies that are successful in this respect are viewed as overall placing a high emphasis on education, and as hard workers. In order to achieve this type of success and build upon the societal view on Black America, African-Americans must stress the importance of education within the community, and eventually the outside perspective on them will improve. If this goal is completed, it will be easier for future generations to achieve success, and therefore a much more successful community will have been created.
In order to have a successful community, the constituents must place a high emphasis on education, hard work, and networking. Black America today, and specifically the economically-disadvantaged portion, generally does not have these qualities, and therefore is falling behind other ethnic groups in the country. Therefore, it is vital that the African-American community works together to make these values prevalent and bridge the seemingly insurmountable socio-economic boundaries. These boundaries, which are based on education and relative wealth, will hold the community back from achieving the strong networking web that it so desperately needs. One remedy for this gap is the current wave of online social networking web sites, which have the capacity to connect students from all types of backgrounds. These platforms could get the less fortunate section of the community to view education in a more positive light, as well as create networking webs between the economic classes. The social networking phase, if used correctly, could be an enormous stepping-stone to garnering large amounts of success for Black America.
