The Emancipation Proclamation gave all African Americans freedom for the first time in the history of the United States. Despite being equal by law, African Americans continued to face numerous challenges to fully unite with society. The Civil Rights movements of the 50s and 60s brought about great strides to ensure equality for African Americans in their day to day lives. Among the most prominent of figures at the time was Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Junior, who became the face of a struggle for freedom and equality during the turbulent opening decades of a Post-World War II United States. In King’s 1967 speech One World House, he outlines the struggle that African Americans experience when trying to assimilate with society, and the need for society to unite in order to evade eventual social disaster. Modern day writers Paula D. McClain and Sabrina Hope King present modern challenges in assimilation that the African American community face in a post-Dr. King world. Each author explores a different challenge the African American community faces when trying to unite with society, and go on to stress how once these problems are solved, African Americans may begin to thrive in the one world house they share with society.

Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speaks of the need for society to avoid disaster by uniting as one people despite the differences that exists between races. King states that, “We still have a choice today: nonviolent coexistence or violent co-annihilation. This may well be mankind’s last chance to choose between chaos and community (King).” This conclusion is interpreted as an ultimatum towards the entirety of mankind, where society may choose live in a united harmony, or repeat the endless circle of violence against one another. The choice to any rational individual is clear, society is best off when violent domestic conflict is limited, allowing greater opportunity to those marginalized by the racial conflict they find themselves preoccupied with. This interpretation is furthered by King’s assertion that society benefits exponentially when energy is used towards universal progress rather than racial deprivation. “A genuine revolution of values means in the final analysis that our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies (King).” King explains that the progress of mankind as a whole rather than the progress of an exclusive race will yield the best results for society in the long term. He is arguing that society is on the brink of a new level of success, success that cannot be realized until the racist individuals of society stop discriminating against African Americans, and begin playing a role in society’s overall success by adopting a fraternal mentality towards all individuals. 

Throughout much of the former Confederacy, large populations of African Americans continue to struggle behind other races financially. For African Americans in environments where two races meet in a large urban area, this can be a particularly difficult problem to overcome, as society is often clearly divided between the opposing races. Duke University graduate student Paula D. McClain writes how the racial divide between Cubans and African Americans in the Miami area has led to Cubans flourishing and while African Americans struggle with poverty. McClain examines how the root of this problem has stemmed from Cuban-exclusive government aid, which gave Cubans a major advantage when migrating during the Cold War era. “The effect of massive federal financial assistance to the new Cuban immigrants was not lost on Miami’s black population, who were not able to participate in the programs established for the Cuban immigrants (McClain).” Cuban-only Government action led to a decline in Black entrepreneurship while Cubans and Whites in Dade County received 90% of all Small Business Association loans by 1980. The situation for African Americans only worsened as a 2003 survey found Latino’s to have more negative views towards Blacks than Blacks towards Latinos. Even worse, that same survey found foreign born Latinos to be the least tolerant of African Americans. McClain writes that poor relations between the two communities will only hold one another’s success back. She suggests that providing government aid towards poor African Americans can be the catalyst towards inciting a similar positive reaction from the Black community. “Approximately $2 billion was spent on Cuban resettlement activities (McClain).” McClain believes that had the 2 billion spent on Cuban immigrant aid been spent on bettering Dade County for all, the community as a whole would be experiencing lower levels of crime and poverty for both the Cuban and African American communities. However, at the barebones level, McClain explains that each community must garner an appropriate level of respect for the other. Positive collaboration will only arrive once the entirety of the Dade County community commits to bettering itself regardless of racial background.  

The American Educational Research Association published an article by University of Chicago student Sabrina Hope King, outlining how the limited presence of African American teachers in the country’s school system is among the greatest challenges for modern day African Americans. The African American community itself has identified education as the most effective means to improve one’s personal circumstances and to spark positive change. “The Joint Center for Political Studies expresses that African Americans have strongly affirmed the role of education as the most prominent factor in improving the life circumstances of African Americans and promoting social change (King).” King also clearly states that it is also widely known within the African Americans community that educators are among the most venerated of figures in their community due to the strong impact they have had historically. “[The JCPS] notes that historically the largest group of African- American professionals to provide leadership within the African-American community has been educators (King).” King hypothesizes that perhaps the greatest step the African American community can take towards uniting with the rest of the country would be to focus on increasing the number of African American educators in the American school system. Positively affecting the community at a grassroots level will pay dividends in later years as a better educated youth is the ultimate catalyst for change. 

King Jr, McClain, and King all agree that in order for the African Americans to thrive, they must overcome the modern day challenges presented to them in society. Should the right attitude be taken towards improving race relations and making a greater effort to produce quality teachers in the educational system, the African American community will begin to see change as it strides to become a valued member of the one world house.
