Mark Neal

In chapter 1 of Mark Anthony's book, "New Black Man" he discusses stereotypes of black men. He says that many people believe that if one black man does one bad thing then the whole race is also just as guilty. In this chapter, Neal talks about the crisis of black men in America and the stereotypes that exist in society. He says that the hip hop, MTV, and other forms of entertainment all have bad reputation. He argues that just because one black man did something wrong in the past, like Tupac, then it doesn't mean that you should say that all blacks are as bad as Tupac.

Mark Anthony Neal

In my opinion I agree with what Neal had to say regarding the over-generalization of black males when it comes to their sexuality. Since Nushawn Williams committed so many sexual acts with various women, society overgeneralizes that black men are too sexual and are more likely to commit sexual acts. In today's society because a bundle of black people are loud and "ghetto", the other races place a permanent "fact" that all black people are loud and ghetto, which is not true because I am an exception. I know how to be civilized when its necessary. On to the point about hip hop music influencing young black males is 100% true, all the guy friends that I have that are interested in music think they can go through life without a college education and fall back on a music career. I would rather want to see my race getting an education and not satisfying the myths that are placed upon them.

Neal - New Black Man

In the first chapter of New Black Man by Mark Anthony Neal, the author describes racial profiling and how the act of a single individual may affect the reputation of that individual's racial group.  Neal uses a strong word, "demonization," to describe the effect that one black man's actions can have upon the entire race. Neal uses the example of Nushawn Williams - a black male who infected over thirteen young woman and girls with the HIV virus between 1996 and 1997 - to show how Americans applied racial demonization to all black males after word spread about Williams' "sexually perverse, predatory behavior (towards) unsuspecting and defenseless victims" (Neal, 7). Neal's point, I believe, is that people should not base his or her opinion of an entire race off of the acts of one individual or a group of individuals.

There have been times in my own life when I have had an unpleasant interaction with some type of person and jumped to conclusions about that race as a whole. In the moment, when you are the person doing the racial profiling, it seems justified. However, if you think about the racial profiles that other people may apply to you before speaking to you or getting to know you, you realize how unfair racial profiling truly is.

New Black Man by Neal

In this chapter, Neal talks about the crisis of black men in America and the stereotypes that exist in society.  Neal argues that music, television and etc demonstrate black men as a failure. He said “it was perhaps easy to isolate Tupac Shakurs, Allen Iverson, “pookies” and Nushawn Williams of the world” and make them the reason behind of this failure. As an example Neal points out Nushawn Williams who infected a number of young women and girls with HIV. Furthermore, Neal talks about the black men of upper-class which were known by “the new talented tenth” and the lower-class ones which were “the hip-hop thug”. I agree that some mistakes might have really bad consequences and the damage sometimes may be irrecoverable, but at the same time I think there are different types of stereotypes in today’s society and we can’t judge everyone based on a mistake that some few people did in the past.

Neal

Neal describes that race and patriarchy has put the black men into an “invisible” category. This category establishes the Black men’s identity as the “New Black Man". In the upper middle class, Neal explains the formation of masculinity represented by "The New Talented Tenth" and the lower class is represented by the “Hip-Hop Thug” stereotype. This reminds me of my writing 140 class when we did an essay on intersectionality. There are many different factors that effect people based on their gender, race and class.

Neal - New Black Man

This chapter shed a lot of light on black stereotypes and how people from different races respond to these stereotypes and reputations. Neal talks about the "talented tenth" which is the small portion of elite, educated black population that continues on to be successful in the job sphere. This concept reminded me of an interview with Magic Johnson. In this interview, Johnson encouraged black teenagers to stay in school and not be so focused on finding other quick-fix routes to success. He talked about how the majority of publicized success stories in the black community concerned athletes or hip-hop moguls and this leads black teens to think that they can only be successful through athletics or hip-hop music. This relates back to Neal's point (of the "Strong Black Man") that when a stereotype is thrust on a community, many people will fall in to the reputation of that stereotype simply because that is how they think they should be acting. The concept of the "strong black man", as Neal describes, is progressive and aimed towards bettering the perception of the black male, but it leaves very little room for flexibility. Thus, a very rigid template is constructed for black male masculinity, which effectively stigmatizes black homosexuals or other identities within the black community.

New Black Man by Mark Anthony Neal

I personally had an extremely difficult time understanding the point Neal was attempting to make in Chapter one. However, from what i understood, he was trying to say that the black man is in trouble due to the racial stereotypes that many people associate with him. Neal gave examples of Nushawn Williams who infected many girls with the HIV virus. He said that Williams met the fear that many individuals attribute to the black male-- about their "sexuality, interracial relationships, and sexually transmitted diseases." I think he was trying to say that we stereotype alot in today's society; I agree with him in this aspect. I do not think that just because one individual did something--we should attribute that behavior to a larger group of people--in this case we are referring to ethnicity. In other words, just because Williams engaged in such behavior doesn't mean every black man will--it is very ill-informed of us, i personally think, to infer that. Neal also talks about hip-hop and its relation to black man and how black man fail to take part in alot of university activities and have a tendency to move towards hip-hop and "away from realities of life." He talks about "talented teeth," a group of elite and educated black men described by the activist W.E.B. DuBois. However, it is important to note that women are not included in this concept, which leads us to note gender discrimination.