Black Privilege; A Mutation of American Exceptionalism

From a contextual perspective, the black community has been perpetually oppressed by one means or another since the onset of slavery centuries ago, and the case could be made that white privilege is the result of national social norms of the 1970s disavowing racism conflicting with cultural historic norms promoting racism in white society. Black privilege follows a similar but distinctly different dynamic based on a desire of black people to be viewed as socially and economically equal to white Americans, ignoring the contradictions that exist in the American dream and ideals of equality and inclusion that they are subject to as well.
When the erosion of the black community is discussed, the primary focus goes to the black household, when in reality, it’s the greater community in which that household is rooted that influences the individuals inside most. During the Reagan-era crack epidemic when crime reached an all-time high across America, namely in predominantly Black areas, a focus on themes such as individualism towards the end of safety became a norm that has been maintained within our community to this day as the biggest driving force behind black privilege.
Individualism in the modern era dating back to the 90s stems from forums such as television and social media, which have effectively created outlets for second-hand perspectives on the reality of the world around us. Every facet of American life has been commodified into media and programming, with environments such as sports and entertainment becoming a driving force for shaping perception among the poor and middle class; the perception that we as individuals have all the power and influence that we could possibly need to institute change in meaningful ways.
Getting past the how and into the what, black privilege in present America is plainly the conscious ignorance of the context of our people’s historic struggle in favor of stock in the nationalist, capitalist machine that is the American free market. When we talk about black exceptionalism, it is unmistakably influenced by American exceptionalism in the sense that we truly believe through hard work alone, even the historically disenfranchised have a fair shot as anyone to strike gold and achieve the American dream.
Let it be understood that it’s black people who have historically been the foundation of the world’s greatest industry and most bustling economy, because who would think; not having to pay a labor force that accounted for nearly the entire nation’s agriculture and hard labor for over three hundred years does wonders for upwards growth and productivity rates.
If any group has worked hard enough to justifiably want a fair share and say in how this nation that we’ve been forcibly made to invest into goes, it should be the black community. This needn’t necessarily be in the form of individual checks or cash reparations per se, but rather substantial investments in the infrastructure and quality of living within our communities via education, wages, healthcare, and housing.
This blind belief that we as individuals all have the capacity to move mountains and change the world based on the number of hours we work or self-help books we read is a beautiful story and metaphor told to us as children. Practically, however, power is wielded by the wealthy and political elite almost exclusively, and only unified action from a community-driven collective can institute substantial change.
In short, black privilege in practice is settling to assimilate into the majority and earn enough to where the systemic ills of oppression no longer concern us on personal grounds, and that is the goal of nearly all Americans because of the myth of American exceptionalism, we may yet remain divided and perpetually oppressed for decades yet to come.