Okay...so this was supposed to be a special that would show what it was like to be Black in America. However in my opinion it showed little to none of my experince as a Black woman in America. First off, I thought that the segment lacked focus. The topics were all over the place with little explanation of why or how the people were in their situations. It does nothing to show poor, sick, and uneducated Black People with out a thorough explanation as to why they are in that situation.

Black in America failed to explore the factors and comparisons of White privilege in this country and how it has affected the Black community. Why show a poor struggling black family and not explain the barriers they faced as to why they are in the situation? Never mind the fact that dating back to slavery times white people separated the children from their parent before they were even one years of age. Never mind the fact that Black people were once not allowed to get married. Never mind the fact that white slave owners had complete control over the minds of Blacks that were bore into their property. How can a group of people progress when they never had the same priviliges White people were born into?
In order for people of other races particularly white people to begin to understand the Black experince they must first admit some things to themselves. Admit that being White at any point in t he history of this country means being born into privilieges that Black people do not have. Admit that the reason we all have the lives we have in this country right now is due to the fact their families had free Black labor to build it up. Most importantly admit that the core of the problems and struggles in the Black community stem from years and years of White oppression.
It all starts with education and we are in a point where some of our Grandfathers were not even allowed to go to school. The progression of White people in this country is through family inhertitance and connections with each other. While I realize that not every White person's experience is tha same, as a whole they still benefit as a whole from inherited privilige. So my main issue with the documentary Black in America is that there was not enough digging deep as to why the people's stories they showed were in that situation. There was a glazed over denial in the whole tone of it.
There's needs to be a heavy discussion of how crack cocaine affected the lives of so many Blacks in America. It was a devastating blow and turining point of a progressing Black nation. The effects of this drug to this day continues to plauge and stifle our progression. In closing, I will say this.... In order for a nation to move past race relation barriers they must cry together. White people must face and admit the devastation they and their ancestors put on Blacks instead of ignoring it and not understading how it had affected us. Blacks must come together and build our communities up. Restore the Black love so we can progress.
So we can look at the sob stories and the success stories. But we must examine our own roles and come up with solutions to move forward. Let's talk about it and heal everyone.
Peace
Sonya