Are things really getting better?

Lives for African Americans have been extremely difficult compared to the lives of white people ever since slavery began to exist. Since that time, many protests and marches have occurred to better the lives of African Americans. Women in general are highly sexualized not only in entertainment, but also with friends and coworkers. In "Selling Hot Pussy" by Bell Hooks, Hooks describes the heightened sexuality for black women. "Their body parts were offered as evidence to support racist notions that black people were more akin to animals than other humans." Hooks states that because of the bodies of African Americans, people could support the idea that they were more similar to animals than humans. Hooks continues to tell of how Josephine Baker, an entertainer, had an emphasis of her rear when she danced. This led to an oversexulaization of black womens' rear ends. Eventually, popular culture decided it was time to take the behind back and "protrude their buttocks with pride and glee." Today, all women are sexualized and seek to protrude their own behinds. Is it an improvement in society to have the buttocks idolized for all women instead of just black women? In the next reading, "Black Awakening in Obama's America", we are told the names of some of the many African Americans unjustly killed from police brutality. With the movement of Black Lives Matter, there were many improvements in society within the span of a year. Police are now forced to wear body cameras, many police officers were fired and others were arrested for murders that had previously gone unpunished. These improvements give hope for a change in treating blacks as equals. We take a step back when we discuss the murders of black women. Mr. Carson spoke to us yesterday about Black Women, White Women: Their Bodies in the Age of Trump and Black Lives Matter. Mr. Carson noted a fact that black women are two and a half times more likely to be murdered by men and more than nine out of ten of these women, know their killer. This fact makes me question whether society really had improved in how African Americans are treated and specifically, African American Women.