While watching television one night and seeing another African-American man standing trial in a court of law for the murder of another civilian. I began to wonder why a certain segment of our population still chose to remain on the path of uncertainty and destruction leading to prison or death? In order to answer that question I had to look within and from my introspection here is what I found out.
An African-American child born today would be exposed to what is arguably a Renaissance and rebirth of the Black nation. He/she would also see a significant increase in the number of African-Americans who hold Bachelors and more advanced degrees at well over 1.1 million strong, a robust and formidable economic powerhouse, worth well over 50-60 billion. Already seated in office, the nation’s first African-American president, countless Congressmen, Mayors, Governors both past and president, Doctors, Lawyers, Judges and Entertainers who occupy every rung and segment of this society. Every continent that you would travel to in this world contains an African presence, from the Black Filipinos to the Black Iraqis, from the Untouchables on the outskirts of India to the Aborigines of Australia and the Black Brazilians of Rio. Each culture has its own unique character and struggles for equality in their respective societies but it can be argued that none are more analyzed, dissected, criticized, despised and revered than the African-American people here are in America. We are successful, yet we aren’t; it’s a paradox that has baffled the world, it’s not a simple concept like class rich vs. poor is irrelevant in this context. The problem is much more complicated than that and since I don’t feel that it’s been addressed properly hence all of the ignorant statements that emanate from African, South American and European culture it’s time to set the record straight and educate.
Now the strides that African-Americans have made would seem like a dream come true especially to those who were born during the Jim Crow era and witnessed firsthand the brutality visited upon people of color back then in the 60s, but on the surface the reality is every major city in America contains an underclass of poor, impoverished African-Americans who aren’t living this so called American dream; who come from fractured homes with no ambition of ever achieving anything in life, who saw their father beat their mother or were born to Pimps, Thieves and Hustlers. Also those role models that they see on television don’t live in their neighborhoods but reside in affluent gated communities far away from the kids who desperately crave role models to help set the example when the parents just aren’t there. This is the other reality of America and the question is how do some succeed while others fail? Upbringing could have something to do with it but not always, even kids from middle to upper-middle class stray down the wrong path and get incarcerated, I’ve met a few in my lifetime and the question is why? Now this brings me to the crux of this discussion.
Back in 1776 when Thomas Jefferson and the rest of those guys signed the Declaration of Independence, you know the document that talks about the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Well guess what? When they signed that document Jefferson and the other co-signers held our ancestors in bondage. Yes they were slaves and weren’t considered human, but chattel; so they were excluded from possessing the same rights as White folks and what many people fail to realize also is that less than 50 years ago African-American’s could not own property; this included houses, cars, jewelry and relationships were skewed at best. I don’t care how resilient you think you are, when someone deprives you of the basic necessities of life, takes away your liberty, exploits your family, whips your kids and takes liberties with your wife it is going to affect you; it is going to affect the entire family that is one of the brutal legacies left behind by slavery. Forward to the sixties, now you are stigmatized as being less than intelligent and not only that the law is against you so even when you are treated inhumanely, guess what? You can’t fight back because the law is going to take the side of the majority every single time; you come home to your wife and kids feeling like less of a man because society doesn’t respect you even though you are an educated man. How would that make you feel today in 2009? There is no way in this world that you would not be affected unless you were a robot. But guess what? Despite the African-American’s progress, throughout the many facets of life this mind state continues to exist, even today so in a sense millions of African-American’s are living in this country but are really not a part of it. I guess you can compare it to being invited to a picnic but being told that you have to sit on the bench within an arm shot of everyone else. Sure the racism is not as overt in some places as it was at one time but if one has been told all of their life that education is the key and they go out and get that education and apply for a job only to be told that they aren’t qualified for the position even though they clearly are, that is subtle racism and one could argue that it is just as damaging and insulting as if someone had called you a N***** to your face.
Now all that I’m doing here is making an observation and proposing a solution because the only way to affect change and in effect change the negative mindset of both black and white (because some of our people have bought into the notion that an African-American’s life is worth less than a penny as well) for one is to address it, because it is not going to go away on its own. A disease can never be healed without first diagnosing, identifying and aggressively treating it. Sure some segments of society are trying to come to grips with past injustices but the reality is in order to create a truly Democratic society that the Declaration of Independence should have intended, the people must amend the document to include African-American’s in order to correct that past injustice. That would go a long way towards facilitating the healing process within other communities around the globe and more importantly it could have the potential to truly unify and uplift those left behind in the quagmire of hopelessness and poverty here in America’s ghettoes. Sure there will be resistance, people who have had the truth withheld for them for a long time only to finally have it revealed later on in life would suffer an identity crisis an assault on a flawed mentality if you will; this is my perspective.
Posted By: Lonzo Lucas II
Saturday, February 28th 2009 at 3:35PM
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