Urban Culture's Social Influence on the Black Community

Historically, the so called African American race has been a group that has suffered unlike any other in this nation. They been put through cruel bondage in the form of slavery, had their liberties assaulted through Jim Crow, and fought the long war that was the civil rights movement. They have survived in spite all of all that, resisting and enduring until today. The evils of the past are gone, but the modern African American community has a demon of their own to face, one that is more subtle and more dee rooted than Jim Crow ever was.

That demon is the sub culture that has risen and spread through the African American community. The culture that glorifies gang violence, drug use, and crime. The culture that leeches off the people like a tapeworm, growing larger and preventing any progress from coming about. The culture being referred to is the “Urban Culture” of the black community, and it is the single largest hindrance for African Americans today.

Though some may argue that Urban Culture is completely benign, it is clear that it results in increases in poor life decisions due to its influence over the people it ensnares. Urban culture is a massive determining factor for the black community, as those ensnared are significantly more likely to make poor choices in later life.

Those involved often join gangs and the whole slew of other problems associated with such activity. One has to look no further than the first line of the popular song, “Tiptoe”, by the artist Lil “Gang gang on everything”, to see the source of this propensity for gang owing that the gang mentality can seep into every aspect of life and corrupt everything with this phrase.

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When many of the most well known role models are criminals and drug addicts, it is no wonder such activity is impressed upon the youth. Crime can be considered another poor life choice and it is even more significant than those previously mentioned. In this extremely competitive society there is almost no place for those with criminal records, as even one blemish on one’s record can result in a lowered chance for employment and loss of many opportunities in life (or even life itself). It is clearly demonstrated in crime statistics: “75% of murder victims are black, 71% of murderers are black”. Once again, these huge numbers can be attributed back to the Urban Culture, as killing and gun violence is glorified in many popular works consumed by the black youth of today such as the song “187”, by popular artist Lud Foe “We start shooting in the club, if you’re scared to tote a gun you can’t hang with me”.

This is clearly a negative influence on society. Never before has there been such a huge assault on moral values as seen in modern day Urban Culture. This culture can be clearly seen encouraging negative values in the primary members, black youth. It is important to take a deeper look at exactly how this affects black youth. One article attempts to explain this with the following statement “teaching young blacks that a thuggish adversarial stance is the properly ‘authentic response to a presumptively racist society, rap retards black success.” This culture teaches the wrong response to society, and as a result it perpetuates the failures of the past and stagnates the people. “Likewise, a disproportionate number of black people in al live in poverty, lack a job, struggle with drugs or are in jail.” This is stated in yet another article, showing how significant this influence is on the culture. That being said, Urban Culture is not the sole cause of all that is wrong with the black community, but it certainly is a huge part of the problem. On the other side, some might argue that the Urban Culture is not a cause of the problems within the black community. Instead, it might be said that the culture harmless, or that it is simply a product of these problems rather than a cause.

These are both demonstrably false statements. Saying that the culture is harmless directly goes against all studies relating to how society influences people. “Social influence in short is the effects of the way you think and act as a result of various associations in society.” As stated, society changes one’s thoughts and actions, and from there almost anything can happen. It is no wonder that Urban Culture holds so much power over the black community. As for the second argument, it is true that to a certain degree this culture is a product of the problems in the community. Just the same, it causes problems through the influence it holds over the people. As shown, the social influence of Urban Culture makes it the biggest problem the black o face. This is extremely negative, and harms the black community immensely. While some may argue that this is not the case, it has become evident through observation and reason that it is. To conclude, the biggest problem the African American community faces is the internal problem of urban culture, as it is a negative influence causing poor life choices and poverty among its participants. African Americans as a whole need to band together to put a stop to this culture to move past the “veil” and truly reach a state of progression in the country.