“Their futures are hopeless. All but a few will remain trapped in generational cycles of poverty and crime-infested neighborhoods. Their lazy, drug-addicted, government- dependent single parents care little about their schooling. Consequently, they inherit from their families and communities a staunch carelessness for learning and educational attainment. More appealing to them are guns, gangs, fast money, and one pair of career options (either becoming rappers or professional athletes). They are to be feared, stopped and frisked, and mass incarcerated, as they are the antithesis of law-abiding citizens.” Harper et al. (2014)

This is the heart of the problem, and now this is more relevant than ever before. Now, we are at a point as a society where a failure to dispel this characterization of minority men in America may have absolutely disastrous consequences. In America under Trump, before he has even been inaugurated, hate is becoming tolerated.

Internalization of stereotypes and low expectations has begun, and it will inevitably begin young. As Harper’s study shows, culture of black and hispanic masculinity is not one sided, two sided, even ten sided! Certainly, there are prevailing norms and challenges. But we need to look at motivation. To the degree that these qualities characterize many urban young men of color, individual human beings (human, human, human) become trapped under systematic oppression perpetuated by the same society that demonizes them. And the problem is not as simple or limited as uneducated bigots; it is also the typical white American blinded by privilege. Of course, these young men are individuals. They face certain challenges as a result of circumstance, but as this study proves are more than capable of being anything and anybody. However, if we as a society want to break the cycle of poverty and the direct and indirect effects of it on young minority males, we need to fight like hell against the increasing (terrifying) culture of racism.