I believe it is very difficult to be a person of color in America even after years of “freedom”. The media plays an important role in helping to perpetuate stereotypes of the black man in society. He is often shown as just an athlete, a rapper, or a criminal and this helps society perpetuate the idea that he is just those things. Although many people want to believe that we have overcome societal levels of discrimination and prejudice, we have only moved on to invisible prejudice and discrimination. Society has not decreased its prejudices, but has only found new ways to hide them. This can be detrimental to the self-determination of the black man/woman because he/she is fighting this double consciousness. He/she must constantly dispel the negative stereotypes and stigma associated with being a person of color in America. Having to do this can cause the black man to lose himself mentally, socially, and physically because he cannot be who he truly is. He is forced to assimilate into the dominant culture and consequently loses a part of himself. On the contrary, he is able to understand things from both sides