PLEASE HELP ME MAKE THIS GO VIRAL. As a black man, Im gonna jump right in this... no matter what color you are, this is a conversation for ALL to consider. To All Americans: Racism. Hate. Prejudice. There is an audacious fallacy that Americans who are not black or dont identify with that struggle are forbidden from making commentary on its existence. Nothing could be further from the truth. In the United States, we are a sometimes dysfunctional family but a family nonetheless. Black, White, Native, Asian, Latino... we are a family. Families talk. Strong families listen. Even stronger families critique and advise. Just as we are a colorful and capable family of differing ethnic backgrounds, for the sake of our childrens children we deserve reconciliation that comes from the consideration of Americans of all colors. There is no dirty laundry that holds such taboo that it is beyond reproach. Some of us are the descendants of slaves. Others are descendants of slave owners. Big deal. If we are to move forward TOGETHER, we must allow this to be an AMERICAN issue that is able to be solved by Americans - not just a black isssue. If youre involved in a vehicle accident, you get out of your car and exchange information in order to solve the issue at hand. Some propose that the solution to racism is to stop talking about it. That concept does not work and is among the most incapable and idiotic remedies for a Nation seeking normalcy. There exists no cancer or illness that can be effectively addressed by pretending that it is a figment of our imaginations. In truth, there is an entire conversation on race in this country that is overdue and yearning for our dialogue. TALK about what hurts. Black and white, lets discuss the stigmas that have kept us apart and indifferent, void of understanding for too long. White People: If you think that racism doesnt exist, you are blind. If you somehow think that racial profiling never happens, youre living in a fairy tale. If you are under the impression that the disparaging plight of so many black Americans is entirely their own fault, you are misinformed. If you dont understand how the American institution of slavery was designed to have lasting effects including the demise of the black family, you need only read the purported words of one Willie Lynch. If you expect the great grandchildren of this countrys single worst atrocity not to be harbor any bitterness, confusion, or still be reeling as a community from the EFFECTS of once-legal policies that targeted their very existence, you are naive. Policies that effected healthcare, unleashed controlled substances in a calculated onslaught, stripped masses of students of quality education... those debilitating effects transcend generations. If youve ever heard of such terms as Crack, Syphilis, Planned Parenthood, CointelPro, Jim Crow, youll come to see that the anger and social status allotted to so many are not entirely unfounded. However, this is not an excusatory disclaimer or crutch with which to write off negligence. These are contributing factors to the seemingly misguided and broken unit that we call the black community. Walking in the shoes of another doesnt necessarily require a prince and pauper type of trade. It only needs UNDERSTANDING. We cannot simply generalize this issue into oblivion by deducing that the problems of the black community all originate from a broken home, or incarcerated fathers, or lethargic trends. If you dont know, shut up. If you want to know, ASK. Stereotypes offer little fuel to a better outcome. All brown-hued Americans are not enrollees of the school of hard knocks - neither are we all recipients of welfare. Perhaps the first step in understanding and reaching a viable and lasting solution for any people is to remove those types of polarizing perspectives that give birth to stereotypes. Black People: So who do you blame? Where do you cast your anguish for past misdeeds in a Nation that hypocritically begs to eternalize 9/11 but asks to simply forget slavery? There is no person alive of lighter complexion that you can logically blame for any present misfortune. A person in a more favorable financial position is not the reason for any lack of wealth or unfavorable circumstances. Unfortunately, the pain endured so long ago lasts through generations and through misapplication, it has poisoned the psyche. But that pain can also be a catalyst for a more enabling mentality. As we approach the holiday season, I am reminded of one of the Seven Principles in Kwanzaa that taught me kujichagulia or self determination. At what point do you begin to live in the present? At what point do you look at all that has been torn down and take it upon YOURSELF to rebuild? At what point do you look your brothers and sisters of all colors in the eye and claim THIS Country? Langston Hughes wrote, I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong. Tomorrow, Ill be at the table When company comes. Nobodyll dare Say to me, Eat in the kitchen, Then. Besides, Theyll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed— I, too, am America. The kitchen is no longer your dining room. Accept that. You are and always will be AMERICAN. Not Black-Americans, not African-Americans but proud citizens who stake full claim to a reachable dream. The pain is deep and by all cultural accounts, it transcends time. Your forbears felt that pain firsthand, however, you are in no way excused to carry any virtual pain into the present; by instilling that hurt and victimization into your children, you dont enrich them, you cripple them. Your ancestors were once contributors to vast empires and the dreamers of proud kingdoms. Will you let that legacy die on the account of restitution? No matter the disparity, you are not allotted any reparation or coupon for the terror that your ancestors endured. Im twenty-eight. It was only my mothers generation that by code drank from segregated water fountains and rode on the back of the bus, but some are still taking a seat in the back of this American experience. Some are by CHOICE still drinking from bitter waters. How are generations expected to work through Acknowledgement, Apology, Amendment, Atonement and maybe most importantly, Acceptance without having the courage to MOVE ON? I feel thats a question for us to answer collectively and constructively. There may never be an official apology for past grievances. Harriet would say, Keep on moving child. What is Forgiveness but the greatest weapon? Clinging to the past leaves one far behind. Have you ever asked, through the trials of the Middle Passage, through the horrors of Jim Crow, and through the lynchings, WHY are black people still here, in this Nation that would not exist without the impressed labor of your forefathers? You are part of a greater community and part of an even greater plan. Look down at your feet. Behold the soil upon which you stand. You have come a long way and in your journey, there is Purpose. Perhaps the answer doesnt lie in casting blame or looking for an entity to fault. In all actuality, YOU are entirely responsible for THIS moment, THIS day, and the person staring back from your own mirror. Maybe the strength you need to move on resides in those centuries of anguish that helped forge what you are today. Not necessarily in the pain itself but the resilience with which it was possible to overcome it. What you have always done best is persevere. Ask Wilma Rudolph. Ask those Red Tailed pilots. Ask your elders. If by its faults, the children of an African heritage become extinct, who will it blame? What will be said about its true accomplishments? Greatness has always had its place with you. There is a new day waiting. In the words of Frederick Douglass: Fortune may crowd a man’s life with fortunate circumstances and happy opportunities, but they will, as we all know, avail him nothing unless he makes a wise and vigorous use of them. It does not matter that the wind is fair and the tide at its flood, if the mariner refuses to weigh his anchor and spread his canvas to the breeze. The golden harvest is ripe in vain if the farmer refuses to reap. Opportunity is important but exertion is indispensable. . . When we find a man who has ascended heights beyond ourselves; who has a broader range of vision than we and a sky with more stars in it in than we have in ours, we may know that he has worked harder, better and more wisely than we. He was awake while we slept. He was busy while we were idle and was wisely improving his time and talents while we were wasting ours . . . I am certain that there is nothing good, great or desirable which man can possess in this world, that does not come by some kind of labor of physical or mental, moral or spiritual. A man, at times, gets something for nothing, but it will, in his hands, amount to nothing. What is true in the world of matter, is equally true in the world of the mind. Without culture there can be no growth; without exertion, no acquisition; without friction, no polish; without labor, no knowledge; without action, no progress and without conflict, no victory. A man that lies down a fool at night, hoping that he will waken wise in the morning, will rise up in the morning as he laid down in the evening. … From these remarks it will be evident that, allowing only ordinary ability and opportunity, we may explain success mainly by one word and that word is WORK! WORK!! WORK!!! WORK!!!! Not transient and fitful effort, but patient, enduring, honest, unremitting and indefatigable work into which the whole heart is put, and which, in both temporal and spiritual affairs, is the true miracle worker. Everyone may avail himself of this marvelous power, if he will. There is no royal road to perfection. Certainly no one must wait for some kind of friend to put a springing board under his feet, upon which he may easily bound from the first round of their ladder onward and upward to its highest round. If he waits for this, he may wait long, and perhaps forever. He who does not think himself worth saving from poverty and ignorance by his own efforts, will hardly be thought worth the efforts of anybody else Without friction, no polish... This message has been on my heart. Please share. - Charlie Delta
Posted on: Tue, 09 Dec 2014 16:55:19 +0000
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