Running Head: Black Men in America: Fear and Equality

Cultural Immersion and Agency Assessment: Black Men

Alicia Morgan

Wilmington University

Abstract
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Mosaic is a non-profit organization that has been around for going on 14 years, servicing people

with intellectual disabilities. While working on this Cultural Immersion and Agency Assessment

Report, Black Men in America the fear and equality, I was able to learn some new and interesting

information about the culture of the agency while researching the culture for this assignment. I

had the opportunity to watch the documentary 13th, which discussed the trials and tribulations of

being black in America; I also conducted an interview with someone from this culture as well.

That information provided me with a better understanding of how black men fear living in

todays society and I will discuss this information throughout this paper.

Population Served by My Agency

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My role as an intern began in February 2017, with Mosaic located in Newark, Delaware.

Mosaic in Delaware provides a life of possibilities for all people with intellectual disabilities.

Mosaic aims to fulfill the demands of all clients despite their race, social class, gender, ethnicity,

or sexual orientation. (Mosaic, 2017). The culture that I have had the least experience with in

my internship is African American males. I want to learn more about this culture because of the

current things going on in the media today, so this is why I picked this group to complete my

research on.

Populations History and Major Milestones

Many groups in U.S. history have sought recognition as equal citizens. Although each

groups efforts have been notable and important, arguably the greatest, longest, and most violent

struggle was that of African Americans. Over the years many people have attempted to portray

the black persons struggle that has occurred with the development of our world, but only a few

have been successful (History.com, 2017). Slavery was one of the most inhumane acts ever

instilled on a race of people in our world's history. People were taken away from their families

and were forced to live a life were their every move was controlled and monitored. To satisfy the

labor needs of the rapidly growing North American colonies, white European settlers turned in

the early 17th century from indentured servants (mostly poorer Europeans) to a cheaper, more

plentiful labor source: African slaves (History.com, 2017).

Despite efforts of the proclamation to steadily shift Blacks into citizenship, slavery

continued to be legal until the sanction of the 13th Amendment in 1865 (Nedhari, 2009). The

amendment declared that bondage or involuntary servitude was outlawed in the US except in

circumstances of punishment for crimes in which the person was found guilty (Nedhari, 2009).

However, it did little to transform to the culture in America, as Blacks were still thought of as
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second-class citizens. The rise of Jim Crow (1876-1965) endorsed anti-Black racism. Initiating in

former confederate states, the Jim Crow era was led in as southern states began steadily to

classify in law and state constitutional provisions the subservient position of African Americans

in society (History.com, 2017). Backing of segregation laws was followed by acts of violence,

known as lynching. At the altitude of the lynching period, Black males were the most targeted

victims; as lynchings were social forms of entertainment that often fascinated thousands of white

observers (History.com, 2017). As a result, for thousands of years, the certainty of life for Black

men in America would be well-known by a system of legal segregation, murder, and fight for

freedom (History.com, 2017).

Now, modern discrimination reveals itself through institutional racism such as, criminal

justice system, the educational system, the healthcare system and the workplace. Black men have

shifted from the institution of slavery, to the institution of the prison industrial complex (Younge,

2017). Of the 2.3 million inmates in custody, 2.1 million are men of that population Black males

embody 35.4%, the leading percentage (Younge, 2017). Across all age categories, black males

are incarcerated at greater rates than white or Hispanic male (Younge, 2017).

The black American male in the white American gaze has long been an object of fear:

excessively sexual, insufficiently cerebral, physically imposing, and instinctively criminal

(Younge, 2017). Its no mystery where these assumptions came from: if you enslave people,

break up their families, humiliate, brutalize and denigrate them and spend far more on their

incarceration than their education, then the mere prospect of them reaching their full human

potential will strike fear in you (Younge, 2017).

As a result, although black American males have faced many trials and tribulations there

are many accomplishments that they have made.

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On September 18, 1895, Booker T. Washington made his famous "Atlanta Compromise"

speech at the opening of the Cotton States and International Exhibition in Atlanta,

Georgia. Washington, the founder and president of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial

Institute, was the first African-American man ever to address a racially-mixed Southern

audience (Michigan State University Libraries, 2017).

On August 3, 1936, at the Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany, Jesse Owens won the

100-meter sprint, capturing his first of four gold medals. Over the next six days, Owens

won Olympic gold in the 200-meter dash, the broad jump, and the 400-meter relay

(Michigan State University Libraries, 2017).

When Jackie Robinson marched onto Ebbets field on April 15th, 1947, Robinson became

the first African American in the twentieth century to play baseball in the major leagues

defying the color line, a segregation practice that dates back to the nineteenth

century (Michigan State University Libraries, 2017).

First African American U.S. Secretary of State- Colin Powell in 2001 (Michigan State

University Libraries, 2017).

First African American male president from 2008-2016, 2 terms, Barack Obama

(Michigan State University Libraries, 2017).

Indirect Immersion Experience: Documentary

13th, a Netflix documentary directed by Ava DuVernay in 2016 was the film that I did my indirect

immersion experience on. When the 13th amendment was ratified in 1865, its drafters left

themselves a large, very exploitable loophole in the guise of an easily missed clause in its

definition; that clause, which converts slavery from a legal business model to an equally legal

method of punishment for criminals, is the subject of the Netflix documentary 13th (DuVernay,

2016). Director Ava DuVernay takes an unflinching, well-informed and thoroughly researched
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look at the American system of incarceration, specifically how the prison industrial complex

affects people of color (DuVernay, 2016). 13th begins with an alarming statistic: While the

United States is home to 5% of the worlds population, one out of four African- American males

will serve prison time at one point or another in their lives (DuVernay, 2016). Throughout the

film, the director did a great job with depicting the pain, suffering and challenges that African-

American males have and are facing.

Throughout American History, African Americans have repeatedly been controlled

through racism and civil injustices that have appeared to die, but have been reborn with the

change in time. Several times throughout 13th there was a shock cut to the word CRIMINAL,

which stands alone against a black background and is centered on screen. This serves as a

reminder that far too often, people of color are seen as simply that, criminals, regardless of who

they are (Henderson, 2016). Between the lines, the documentary 13th boldly asks the question

if African- Americans were actually ever truly free in this country.

Since slavery ended, blacks have been labeled as aggressive and out of control. After the

civil war, African Americans were arrested in mass numbers (DuVernay, 2016). Throughout the

film, DuVernay showed the rise of the prison population from the 1970s when the population

was 357,292 to currently being over 2.3 million (DuVernay, 2016). 13th really is an exploration

through our history as African- Americans as it relates to oppression and racism and

criminalization, and how we come to the point where we have 2.3 million people behind bars,

not to mention the millions who are affected by incarceration and on parole and probation

(Henderson, 2016). The film supported the notion that, black people didnt have the ability to

define themselves because they were being wiped out by the criminal justice system. Even our

black leaders were being listed as criminals and placed on the most wanted list, with the leader of
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the Black Panthers being killed in the comfort of his own home because he was able to bring

Black, White, and Native Americans together to bring forth a change, so the FBI saw him as a

threat and took him out (Henderson, 2016).

In addition, the film explores the role of ALEC which was backed by corporations, that

has provided Republican state and federal legislators with draft legislation to support the prison-

industrial complex. Only after some of the relationships were revealed did corporations like Wal-

Mart and others receive criticism and dropped out of the organization (DuVernay, 2016). Many

businesses continue to make huge profits from prisons, including those providing telephone

services at high rates and food services that are substandard (DuVernay, 2016). Also, the film

explores the demonization of minority poor through these decades to serve political ends,

contributing to unrealistic fears of minorities by whites and to persistent problems of police

brutality against minority communities (DuVernay, 2016). In the 21st century, the regularity of

fatal police shootings of unarmed minorities in apparently minor confrontations has been

demonstrated by videos taken by bystanders and by the increasing use of cameras in police cars

or worn by officers; DuVernay ends the film with a graphic procession of recent videos of fatal

shootings of blacks by police (DuVernay, 2016). As a result, this film did a great job displaying

how the U.S. criminal justice system has been driven by racism from the days of slavery to

todays era of mass incarceration and police brutality.

Direct Immersion Experience: Personal Interview

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I had the opportunity of interviewing Ace Campbell on March 10, 2017 and the major theme of

our conversation was not feeling like his life, as a black male matters. Ace is a 33 year old

African- American male who grew up in Boston, Massachusetts with his mother and has since

relocated here to Newark, Delaware (Ace Campbell, Personal communication). So that I could

feel comfortable and have more a conversation than an interview, I prepared 6 questions to ask

Ace. Our interview opened up with Ace telling me how he feels as an African-American male in

todays society. Ace stated that at times he feels fed up and other times he is confused because

he is always being scrutinized; if he walks pass a white woman, she grabs her purse, when he

walks near a white man they cross the street (Ace Campbell, Personal communication).

Currently, Ace does not feel like his life matters because too many people that look like him end

up dead, lying on the street like an animal. He then went on to say that on paper, he has the same

rights as a white man, but in reality if he goes in to the same place as a white man the

mannerisms they receive are different. He is treated like a thief, and the white male is able to go

along with what he is doing and not be bothered (Ace Campbell, Personal communication). Ace

feels as though opportunities are there, but with the way the system works he feels as though he

doesnt have the same resources Its not what you know, its who you know. When asked how

he feels as a black male with our current president he replied, that he doesnt acknowledge him

as his president, but as 45 (Ace Campbell, Personal communication). He feels that President

Donald Trump is full of hatred, bigotry, and is here to push an agenda that will divide the people,

not bring us back together. Ace feels that no other race understands how it feels to be black

because they know there is an issue, but nobody wants to step in to help fix it (Ace Campbell,

Personal communication). As a result, Aces hope is that as a country we can fix the injustices in
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the world and make a change to the system we are in so he can breathe again because right now

he feels like he is being choked (Personal Communication, 2017).

Summary and Synthesis

Many groups in U.S. history have sought recognition as equal citizens. Although each groups

efforts have been notable and important, arguably the greatest, longest, and most violent struggle

was that of African Americans. This culture immersion paper gave me the opportunity to view

the culture of African- American males in a different way. As a result, I have a better

understanding of why some African-American males feel the way they do. African- American

males are represented in the group homes of Mosaic, but not so much in the business office of

Mosaic (Personal Communication, 2017).

Assessing the Field Work Agency

Mosaics business office is located at 261 Chapman Road, Suite 201, Newark, DE 19713.

Mosaic can be found in the Stockton building on the second floor among other business. Its next

door to a busy shopping center, University Plaza. As well as the business office Mosaic also has

17 homes in Delaware, 16 in New Castle County and 1 in Kent County (Mosaic, 2017).

Agencys Community

Driving by Mosaic, one would notice that this is a busy area of town. There is a large shopping

center next door where you can find a grocery store (Acme), WSFS bank, Wendys, 2 gas

stations, several hotels, a few town home communities, an apartment complex, a hospital nearby,

and several restaurants both dine-in and take-out. The agency is also on a bus route, so one could

take the 23 Dart bus to get there.

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Access

Mosaic can be accessed through public transportation, with a bus stop located directly outside of

the building, or by driving and there are an ample amount of parking spaces for employees and

guest. In the homes, the staff may transport their clients when they have activities or call for

transportation to pick them up as well. While clients stay in the homes, they sometimes come to

the office to visit and the key is privacy and confidentiality. Information regarding the agency

can be found, online on the website, email, direct communication, text, brochures and word of

mouth (Mosaic, 2017).

Receptivity

As stated early, Mosaic is located in a corporate building among other organizations. The waiting

area of Mosaic can be found of mix dcor. The office has many rooms with and without

windows which allows for natural lighting and the ability to take in the sites of the great

outdoors. All the office rooms have at least one desk, a chair, a computer with a printer and a file

cabinet or some type of storage. In the staff lounge you can find a coffee pot, a microwave, a

refrigerator, and a cabinet filled with snacks, coffee, tea, plates and silverware that are all free of

charge. When you walk into the office you are greeted by a reception who is sitting at the desk,

as you tour around the office you can view art from clients and pictures from previous events. I
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do see myself reflected in the staff; however I view my culture I picked for my paper as a

minority as they are not represented in the office.

Administration and Staff Training

Cultural sensitivity is something that we spoke often about in class and this is something that is

big at Mosaic. Mosaic employees are anticipated to attend all training and meetings provided

throughout the year to develop and maintain skills for the greater good of the organization.

Employees of Mosaic are passionate about working with people with intellectual disabilities.

Employees are of different race, but the all the employees in the office are women.

Funding

Mosaic in Delaware is licensed by and financed through the Delaware Health and Social

Services, Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDDS) as well as Fundraising (Angela

McCloskey, personal conversation). In addition, during my internship my role has been to apply

for future grants and sponsorships for the organization as well.

Staff Sensitivity

The staff appears to be culturally sensitive to the client population and all comply with the values

and ethics of the organization. Cultural sensitivity is something that Mosaic takes serious

because before I started my internship I had to complete training on cultural sensitivity and

understanding how to interact and engage the population we serve.

Agency Programs and Services:

Mosaics mission is To Embrace Gods call to serve in the world, Mosaic advocates for people

with intellectual disabilities and delivers opportunities for them to enjoy life (Mosaic, 2017).

They offer residential support, vocational support, senior living services and child service with

each plan being unique (Mosaic, 2017). Each person at Mosaic will get quality service
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delivered in excellence. The Residential Supports include individual living, group homes, and

host homes. In each of the homes clients have round the clock provision if needed. Each service

strategy is built around the individual, so each one is unique (Mosaic, 2017). Vocational Support

provides, day service, competitive employment opportunities, supported employment and

chances for entrepreneurship (Mosaic, 2017).

Effort

The director of the agency seems open to suggestions for programming and improvements that

will enhance the level of service for its clients and employees. Mosaic reaches out to the

community and its population by phone, events/activities, home visits and word of mouth.

Mosaic also collaborates with local churches, and companies to be able to provide adequate

services to their clients.

Quality

Mosaic uses surveys and forums to gather feedback from their employees to see how things are

going. By using these methods, it allows the employees to become engaged in assessing the

overall quality of the organization.

Effectiveness

The target population comes to Mosaic to support and to make a difference in their lives. Mosaic

affords meaningful services in the method of residential support, vocational support, senior

living services and child service with each plan being individualized (Mosaic, 2017). Mosaic

continues to advocate for their clients, so no persons need goes unmet.

Efficiency

Mosaic works closely with the Delaware Health and Social Services and Division of

Developmental Disabilities (DDDS) to make sure the needs of the clients are being met. With
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our new President, Mosaic continues to advocate for their clients and make sure their voices are

heard. Within the next week, clients of Mosaic and a few workers are actually going down to DC

to advocate for the population of Mosaic and making sure their voices are heard.

Personal Cultural Competencies

In conclusion, as I reflect upon my personal competencies during my internship I must

say that I have grown. I was raised to be a caring and compassionate person and it was instilled

in me that you always respect people, regardless of whom they are and where they come from.

Writing this paper helped me gain more knowledge on African-American males; it also showed

me that I must implement what I have learned because silence is not golden.

The Codes of Ethics that will keep me focused are Standard 10 and Standard 11.

Standard 10 states that: Human service professionals offer services without discrimination or

preference in regards to age, ethnicity, culture, race, ability, gender, language preference,

religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, nationality, or other historically oppressed

groups (National Organization for Human Services, 2017). Growing up as a minority I know

what it feels like to be discriminated against and after completing this paper I have an even

greater understand and this is why this standard will always stick with me. In addition, Standard

11 states that: Human service professionals are educated about their cultures and communities

within which they practice. They are mindful of multiculturalism in society and its influence on

the community as well as individuals within the community (National Organization for Human

Services, 2017). As a result, every professional should possess a cross cultural understanding of

the cultures they work with so that can have a better understanding of the clients that they

interact with.
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References

DuVernay, A. (Director). (2016). 13th [Motion picture].

Henderson, O. (2016, September 30). 13th. Retrieved from

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/13th-2016

History.com. (2017, March 10). Black History Milestones. Retrieved from

http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-history-milestones

Michigan State University Libraries. (2017, March 12). Milestones in Black History -

African American Studies Research Guide - LibGuides at Michigan State University

Libraries. Retrieved from http://libguides.lib.msu.edu/c.php?g=95622&p=624423

Mosaic. (2017, March 10). Mosaic in Delaware | Mosaic - Serving People with Intellectual

Disabilities. Retrieved from http://www.mosaicinfo.org/location/mosaic-delaware

National Organization for Human Services. (2017, March 12). Ethical Standards for HS

Professionals. Retrieved from http://www.nationalhumanservices.org/ethical-

standards-for-hs-professionals

Nedhari, A. (2009). In Search of Manhood: The Black Male's Struggle for Identity and

Power. Inquires Journal, 1(11). Retrieved from

http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/32/in-search-of-manhood-the-black-males-

struggle-for-identity-and-power

Younge, G. (2017, January 17). Being a black man in white America: A burden even Obama

couldn't escape. The Guardian.