Bridge the Gap

I live in San Diego, CA and have witnessed the deterioration in relationships between the African American and Hispanic communities. My community is mostly Black and Hispanic and for some reason the two races don’t get along. In schools, fights break out among students due to racial insults and some African American’s don’t accept Hispanics for wanting to adapt to the Hip-Hop culture. Because African Americans no longer needed to fill low wage jobs, Hispanics now fulfill these positions. Some where down the line immigrants began to hate and revere African Americans. I have witnessed Hispanics in customer service positions, where their service to African Americans is haphazard. To me, it appears that Hispanics who have customer service jobs refuse to give African Americans quality customer service, or will ignore a Black person for service. Usually they will turn their backs or walk away. Now when I go to a store, I fear I will be "dissed" by this behavior. The bottom line, they are not willing to give quality customer service to Black people. Ironically, they do not know or care about the fact how hard blacks fought and died so that all people would be treated equally as demonstrated during the Civil Rights Movement, which was by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I believe there are three ways in which African Americans and Hispanics can resolve their differences and strengthen our communities.

• Accept the fact we all live in America and we can strengthen our communities by having forums, cultural events, and other social gatherings so we can learn from one another cultures.
• If Blacks or Hispanics feel they are disrespected they need to bring it to the person’s attention and let them know their behavior will not longer be tolerated.
• Remember, we are people of color in this country and have a common cause which includes taking care of family, making a living, and learn to accept the differences in others.

African Americans and Hispanics can learn a lot from one another. It's time to bridge the gap and set aside differences and bias to reach a common goal and that is to both share equally in the American Dream.