Racial inequality can be felt everywhere in the United States, a country that was built from the past failures to realize it's dream. Everyday New Yorker's are confronted with negative comments, undertones and hatred from their perceived neighbors. Although African Americans are more unlikely to commit suicide, they are tormented each day with a hate that is all but skin deep. Why do so many New Yorker's act this way towards those of ethnic backgrounds and what can you do about it so you live a peaceful life. Here is a guide on how to live and get along in New York:

1. You are the lowest on the food chain:
This is evident by behavior of those who laugh as if this is a game. You know them they pass you on the streets as that nice stranger who is doing something to help or that new guy who just wants to introduce themselves. However, with every smile of the face an undertone is used to show you how they feel they differ from what you are. Let's review some of the terms you hear each day as an African American, when riding the train you may hear "Monkey" called out, this is a name that all too many African Americans are familiar with. They call them "Monkey" or "Nigger". Now although these two euphemisms can be traced back to before the 16th century America, a lot of them got there start from other cultures. Take the word Nigger which was a term meant to demean and make blacks who live in America feel inferior, however, if you read African history you will be taught that those of royal decent were actually referred to as "Negus" or the term it has evolved to today "Nigga" (a term of endearment) this word in African history could have been picked up from natives as they were separated from their families and thrown in to ships headed for American sand.

2. American history and the idea of Ethnic Profit
Although slave ships were docking on  American turf if you look at American history then you will understand that they even boast about stealing this land from the Native Indians, remember the Trail of Tears? Yes, American history is rooted in profits made from members of diverse ethnic backgrounds. If you take a stroll down to the Jewish History Museum there is an exhibit dedicated to ships, here Jews remember the experience of owning these such slave ships that carried prisoners to and from the New World. In this case the surviving Jews of the holocaust were given exile from Germany and Israel at the time Hitler came to power. Yes, America saw a way to profit and put this group to work and then used their creations to travel across the world and over to Africa. There is however, one contention that may be the root of this scheme, gold and land. In the early century whites settled on South America and had not discovered the treasures  held by the island until they met Kings and Queens of the two older tribes. At this time Africa was well known for having ivory and created the majority of it's art with this resource. However, as time went on the two tribes would eventually fall and leave the dispute about who truly owned Africa up to debate. It was not until the discovery of the first human remains dubbed "Lucy"  in 1950 that America was willing to give up the idea that all races originated from European decent; Leakey and his wife who was also a scientist discovered the remains and in examining it determined that it was of African decent. Although at the time America seemed on the verge of acceptance they have still rebuffed the idea that all bloodlines can be traced back to the African American descendants even with physical proof. Then why is there still racism?

3. American Revolution and Denial
America went through a revolutionary war when the North went up against the enslaved South and won. However, many historians agree that this could have been resolved more peacefully. A war was not needed in order to give the enslaved African Americans their freedom, in fact President Lincoln could have just signed the emancipation treaty and declared enslaved African Americans free. This is something all too true in American history as many remember when Europe began sailing to the islands of Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic or how the French took over Haiti and changed it's jargon to what has been coined "broken French". Yes the era of upper American classes dining while innocent African Americans worked their back yards, fields and took care of their children and homes was over. Now ushered in the era of denial. This is a common psychological idea that once the truth has been revealed only one of two things can happen the recipient can either deny or accept the idea and then deny change or accept it to move forward. However, American history is in a constant flux of accepting or denying it's history and background. Thus, rules like Jim Crow were created to segregate but not demoralize American culture; Jim Crow was later declared unconstitutional however, it showed the ideas that are all too clear in American culture: How Americans feel about people of other races. We have become known as a safe haven for other countries yet, our race issues have just recently been abolished. The draw back of this is an American who has lived in the previous era and now has to get along with those same people they consider themselves as above.


4. Mental Slavery and the New America
Yes, slavery was abolished in 1863 and Jim Crow law was in 1964 by the Civil Rights act. This act saw all no matter the content of their color as being an American citizen and deserving of the rights this encompassed. However, it left the door open to African Americans being shunned from "Polite Society"; blacks were not allowed to attend the ivy league colleges nor were they invited to the well known "Miss America". Lots of blacks felt burned, like they did not know how to move forward. It was not until the 2nd World War that Americans decided to allow the gates open to women workers. It would take another 10 years before they decided to open corporate positions to those of ethnic backgrounds. Wondering what professions these cultures worked in? They were the Receptionist, Data Entry, Facilities associates etc. they would accept the lower paying jobs just to keep some food on the table. Now more than 30 years later they are still being held back from their true potential. Of the nearly 1000 employed CEO's in America only 5 of them are from African American decent. Only 1 percent of corporate America has worked to include black Vice Presidents. This is a travesty in the face of the great America we are trying to build. If you read your daily news no one has suffered more than the Millennial ethnics, with rates as low as 20 percent less payment in careers verses those of the 1990's. This means that even with a college degree the "New America" can barely find a position that keeps food on the table. As if this isn't enough the competition is tight and high society America has now come up with another way of getting over on the Ethnic races it's called "Undertones"

5. What is an Undertone and how is it used?
An undertone is a low or subdued utterance that is put out either out of fear of the person who will hear it or fear of the person who has stated it. This is used constantly to keep people of ethnic backgrounds "down" in the position America likes to see them, more commonly the past used the illiteracy of the African American race to play a part in the destruction of their self esteem. At one time blacks were not allowed to read or learn, they were held as prisoners in shacked located in the back of the "masters" home. They were not allowed common freedoms like soap or clean water so they see themselves as beneath the clean washed American. Today they are not given adequate help nor instruction on how to deal with or combat this so they are therefore helpless to the destruction of their personal rights as well as their dignity.  The average working American will hear the word "Nigger" more times in his/her life than they will hear promoted. The average American growing up will hear the word "Monkey" more than they make a year in gross salary. So  how do we combat this form of Mental Slavery and keep our dignity intact.


6. Identity awareness and Self-Esteem
Being fully aware of  who you are helps to combat the everyday ramblings of those who are not keen to your success. Think of it this way, it is not the idea of simply ignoring the issue so much as it is acknowledging it and then moving forward. If we think of ourselves as Animals then we will only be allowed to move so far as an animal moves. Now let us think of ourselves as Humans, in this idea what do we see,  science will tell us that we are at the top of the food chain above those of all other species on earth. Therefore, thinking of yourself as a human and not a primate can help you to combat those ramblings, not only are you included in the food chain but you have been recognized as being on the top. Now move on to the idea of being a "Nigger" to understand how to combat this you must first understand the meaning of the word, some time ago the webster's dictionary defined this word as someone who is ignorant or a good for nothing person. More recently however, the term has come to be described as a derogatory way to describe a black person or someone of darker skin in this Western region. The previous definition has almost disappeared in the words attachment to the American culture to the displeasure of some individuals. This means that people from all over the world can search the term and find it to mean a description of being black or someone of ethnic decent. Even in American culture it is explained that the word was not only used for African Americans but also Native Indians when settlers first came to the New World. Thus, this term is not only associated with being black in American but being someone who is darker skinned in any nationality connected to America. Therefore strike this word from your vocabulary and  disassociate it from your true self. To do this you must gain an idea of who you are as a person versus what the  world sees you as physically.


7. Developing a Spiritual persona
Development of a spiritual persona means digging deeper. To be in this world means that you have the ability to understand or comprehend things that are seen and unseen, for instance you know it's windy outside but you will never see or hold the wind. Therefore it is something unseen that is very real here. Thus, you have a part of yourself that psychology has termed the "Ego" that you can dig in to and will help you to better understand who you are and what you are here for. To do this one must have a greater connection to the earth, it's inhabitants and the beyond. Many cultures have utilized religion as a basis to get this done. Thus, whatever God or Deity you serve, dig deeper to find the true understanding of it's teachings and only then can you develop a persona that will embodies who you see yourself as both on the inside and outside. For me that one thing is God, no I am not a religious nut but I do happen to believe that I was created for a reason and that no matter how bad things get because I have a reason for being here, I will get through them. This helps me to stay strong in the face of so much uncertainty that is thrown in the face of so many young African American women. Moreover, as a woman I am under constant attack each day for just being that, now couple this with being African American and that is a recipe with disastrous consequences. So how do I get up each day and manage to keep a smile on my face and still look forward to the future? Simple I have a spiritual persona that is much stronger than just an outward appearance. Therefore this allows me to demonstrate who I truly am through a sheer focus and an eye toward the future.

8. Watch what you focus on
9 times out of 10 the reason we get caught up in what can now be termed the "Name Game" is because we are not focused on what is important to us at that moment. When you get caught up in the moment life can be a revolving door. You are at work and someone uses an undertone to throw you off of what you are doing. You could say to yourself "I am doing a great job" because common belief is that if you don't have someone criticizing you, well you aren't doing anything right. Take a look at your work, goals or career path. See where it is you are and determine how far you have to go to get to where you want, then decide what goal you will set in order to get to that path. Once this is done you will have a clear vision for the future a vision that if you allow yourself to "daydream" can take you to many places. However, let's say that you have no vision and all you can see is the right now, then it is clear that you will be stuck when confronted with such a situation and probably end up in the revolving door. Most likely the second example will end up being fired, laid-off or worse. The first person will keep their position but always looking forward to the future. It all comes down to the famous quote "What a man thinks, so shall he become", thus you must ask yourself if you are only think of the positive things why get hung up on something so trivial as "the Name Game".


9. Sociology and Psychology
To get rid of the feeling of shame for being someone of a darker ethnic race one must first understand the sociological issues that face not only people of color but people all around the world. One must understand the reasoning behind the perceived hatred, sociology teaches us that there are a number of external factors that affect how we interact on a daily basis with people from different class or ethnic backgrounds; poverty, wage, weather, location and background of one group can have negative affects for the next. Thus we are not only separated in to a race of people we are separated by gender, class and upbringing; even world events like war can have a direct affect on how an individual interacts with someone of another background at that time. It is equally important that we understand the psychological state of others, someone could be having a bad day and lash out at the next person to "give them attitude". It is very important to understand where the hatred is deeply rooted and to combat this by swaying the person to act kindly or "more like themselves". In example Kelly could be having the worst day of his life and see Teya just laughing and having fun, Kelly decides he would like to insult Teya and uses an undertone to do this, Kelly now thinks he can feel better about his day because he has taken the smile off of Teya's face. However, if Teya doesn't let go of her smile and if she instead of hurling one of her own undertones goes to Kelly and tries to make him smile he might feel better about his day. Now you know what will happen Teya will feel better about herself because not only did she resist the urge to hurl an undertone at Kelly but she also made him feel better about his day. Using her understanding  Teya was able to defuse the situation and come out on top.


10. Emotional Intelligence vs. Mental Intelligence
There are two types of intelligence, the one that we are taught and the one we must teach ourselves to master. Of these emotional intelligence is necessary to be taught, it is taken better when it is taught young however, in adulthood one can see themselves a lot more as they are in the eyes of another.  Emotional intelligence is the bringing together of the present situation and end result. That's right this goes back to setting a goal and keeping that in mind rather than letting your emotions get the best of you in the present situation. Let's take another look back at Teya and Kelly, here you will see that  Teya used her emotional intelligence to keep the smile on her face because she realized the situation was unimportant, more over the idea of getting mad at someone for "the Name Game" is not one that is advisable as it will lead you back to the revolving door. Mental intelligence teaches us that we must know all or at least quite a bit of the teaching of (for this articles purpose) the "playground" whose sandbox you are playing in. That means you must know the game inside out, from start to finish and be able to not only play it but develop a style and moves that are all your own. Thus, mental ability cannot help you here rather you will want to use your emotional intelligence to help to combat this.

Summary
What have you learned? We learned the history of undertones, the history of racism in America, how that history has helped to shape America today and 3 ideas of combating the "Name Game".  Don't use only  your mental intelligence when you are so much more; you are a spiritual creature, you are someone who has an eye towards the future but most importantly you are a human being who can use their emotional intelligence when faced with some much ignorance. I applaud you and challenge you to use my methods to get to the bottom of this. Let's all meet at the goal line together.


If you like this article and would like to read more from me please do not hesitate to comment or leave some feedback. This issue is very real and hopefully by writing about it for the first time we can come to an understanding.