The Voice - Student Newspaper

Black students know America's future rests partially in their hands

Is it safe to say that President Barack Obama has shattered the barrier of how successful a black person can be? Though, in the past, black people have been restricted in success, Obama's success has proven just the ticket to mark a significant step toward change in American history.

At Glendale Community College (GCC) alone, a physics class of 20 students holds nearly half that are black.

The GCC campus is hosts 27% black students and rising according to Collegeboard.com.

As many students were asked throughout the campus very few were undecided on a major, most prospective black students are pursuing higher education in career fields such as specialized doctors, advertising, business entrepreneurs, and teachers.

Among those that offered their educational aspirations like Jordan Mitchell, prospective Physical Therapist, proceed to inform that they plan to, "transfer to a university."

The success that many black students strive for isn't the easiest road. Robinson mentions, "It's easy to forget that it wasn't so long ago that people like Martin Luther King (Jr) and our grandparents were killed just so that I could sit in a class with everybody else."

The month of February is the time to remember the figures that marched the path towards change with Martin Luther King Jr. but February is also a time to acknowledge and respect the Black Community of today. They're raising the bar in education, business, and politics.

Enslaved, oppressed, discriminated, assaulted, and singled out; black people are still feeling the ramifications of the actions held against them in the past.

Will discrimination ever truly be dismissed in America? Robinson doesn't seem to think so, "It's a lot to expect out of one person, let alone everybody in the country, all it takes is one negative thinker. That's what America is all about, free thinking. It's just never going to happen like we all wish it could."

Most black people are prideful of their heritage, because it is who they are, it is what they have, and just like everybody else, it is something worth taking pride in.

It's common knowledge that publicly, people associate black people with "gangs", but if they stopped to ask a few questions they would find out that the same people that they are judging and discriminating against hold 3.8 grade point averages, help peers understand higher mathematics and science classes, are accepted into universities of their choice, and are pursuing the careers they want.

Black History month is the time to realize that these students are the future of America and the future success stories you'll idolize.

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