Similarities Between Black Freedom Fighter In Steel And Boyz N The Hood

The book Black Freedom Fighters in Steel by Ruth Needleman and John Singleton’s movie Boyz N The Hood had a lot of themes in common. The two showed stories of racism, discrimination, and success in the African American community. The most prominent theme I found with the two was institutional racism. The way society was forced a lot of African Americans to live in many different ways. Institutional racism affected African American lives in justice systems, school, workplaces, public activities, and more.

George P. Kimbley who faced a lot of racism in the south did not expect to see as much or bigger racism when he moved to the north in the Calumet Region in February 1920. He did not expect a lot of racism from northern people who he
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Before Young held positions in the Union, he worked in harsh conditions in the mills. When Young was hired in at Inlands, there were very few blacks who worked there. Many of the workers were European immigrants, but the majority were Mexican Americans. The Mexican workers were placed in labor groups with Spanish-speaking supervisors. Needleton states in page 40 that the company preferred Mexican workers because they work hard, did not speak English, and lacked the community support that already had been established for most ethnic groups. This shows some racial institutionalism within the company. The company also preferred workers from Poland because they came from the poorest regions in Europe and were most desperate for work. A worker not being able to speak English and being poor makes it easy for the company to take advantage of the individual and be able to put them in job positions that they want them to have. Young said that a black worker could keep a job at Inland if he learned the equipment and did whatever the foreman asked. Like Kimbley, he kept quiet, did his work and listened carefully. In Inland, the foreman relied on Young to train newer workers for positions he himself could not get. “I was forced to teach people jobs they wouldn’t give to me. I could operate cranes. I had taught three people to do the straightener
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“...I know every time you turn on the TV that’s what you see, black people, selling the rock, pushing the rock, pushing the rock, yea, I know. But that wasn’t a problem as long as it was here, wasn’t a problem until it was in Iowa and it showed up on Wall Street where there are hardly any black people….” This is an explanation of the TV media showing mostly blacks selling drugs and getting arrested or killed because of drugs. Furious puts the blame with this issue on the whites, who transported them into the United States. “...They want us to kill ourselves. You go out to Beverly Hills, you don’t see that shit. But they want us to kill ourselves. Yea, the best way you can destroy a people, you take away their ability to reproduce themselves. Who is it that dyin’ out here on these streets every night? Y’all. Young brothers like yourselves….” In this part of his speech, he talked about the gun shops and liquor stores that are in every corner of the community. Furious claims that violence would not be as high as it is if it were not for the easy access of alcohol and guns near the communities. It is not that way in the Beverly Hills communities, so why is their community set up like that? Furious tells other blacks to take care of themselves and their futures. Making the right decisions will make them more successful as a community. He wants