Jaden is a 17-year-old Black American and a college student living in Washington DC. His parents died when he was in high school and his older sister, married to a White American can only cater for his needs, reluctant to take him in. Jaden, like most other people, seeks part time employment to ensure he is able to live a comfortable life, gain experience and also gain a competitive edge in the labour market. Every day he walks out of his apartment earlier than would be expected, takes a bus to school, seats through his classes then crosses the street to the restaurant where he works till evening for extra income. He then goes back to his house, tired. To ensure that he passes his exams he spends a great deal of his evenings studying only for him to sleep late in the night.
For Jaden, the tight schedule is something he has to get used to. It’s important for him to graduate and get a real job as he aspires to get into the legal profession. Racial prejudice against the blacks has constantly put his life on the line. Once, he was almost mistakenly accused of shoplifting for an incident that happened soon after he walked out of his house. Jaden hates that just because he is black, the society labels him as dangerous. Often, he is associated and suspected of committing distasteful things such as theft and rape. He occasionally wonders why most people actually think so little of all young black American men (Evan, n.d.).
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According to Welch (2007), racial stereotyping of criminals is rampant in the US and especially against black young men. The problem is that such prejudice is deeply rooted in the minds of people that the problem won’t be solved through a few lawsuits by discriminated persons fighting for their rights. However, if the society could learn to empathize with what victims of such racial prejudice felt, perhaps significant changes would take place and enable them to be treated equally (Knight, 2015). With time, like the rest of us, Jaden hopes he would be able to walk down the streets with no fear of being accused of committing a crime he knows nothing about.
References
Evan, J. L., n.d. Stereotypes of the young African American male, s.l.: s.n.
Knight, D. J., 2015. Beyond Stereotypical Image of young men of colour. The Atlantic.
Welch, K., 2007. Black Criminal Stereotype and Racial Profiling, s.l.: s.n.
