The problem did not just begin in Ferguson, or Sanford, or in a dark lot in Sunland or a parked car in Riverside, or in the streets of Jasper or Staten Island. Further, we have little memory or no awareness of Red Summer, or the East St. Louis Massacre, or Black Wall Street of Tulsa and many others, where the perpetrators of riot, destruction of property and countless acts of violence against people of color were white people. Our country’s history makes it clear that this is not new. These events are real vestiges of historic atrocities and the myths of white superiority and black inferiority. We ignore or forget that privilege for some has been at a great human cost for many others. I cannot justify it, but some of our white heroes were also mass killers, rapists, cruel monsters and destroyers. Try to understand Columbus Day from the view of the surviving descendants of indigenous people or slaves. I have thought we should change the day to include and consider their lives. We ignored their stories as if their lives did not matter and we miss the bigger picture. If we celebrate this day at all, maybe we can begin to say both, “These things happened” and “These things happened, too.” We can purposely take a step forward, over boundaries and in respect of our common humanity, and deliberately say how interconnected we are. Years ago, I took an informal poll and asked African Americans, “Did any predecessor, in any way, at any time, tell the stories of slavery in a good or positive way?” Not one said yes. You should know, some white people romanticize the era of slavery as happy times, and that they are misunderstood by those outside their culture. They tell stories of how, after the Civil War, “Some of ‘em loved us and stayed,” or, “We sang songs together,” or, “On Sunday mornin’ we ate biscuits and syrup together.” Understand, whoever tells the story can put their spin on it. My wife, Sandra is African American. When San was in 4th or 5th grade in Alabama, her teacher taught an American history which characterized the KKK as a gentlemen’s group that protected the values of the South. At 9 or 10 years of age, she came home and told her father what they taught her in school. He hit the roof. Why? Because he knew firsthand of families that were burned to death in their own homes. He knew of various lynchings and hangings. As a result, he taught his kids how to shoot, so that if any cross burned on their property, after the shooting was done and the smoke cleared, the perpetrators could easily be identified simply by looking under the white sheets where they dropped. Without her father’s words, she would have received a slanted, heavily redacted history, very lean in the truth. Do you know who paints a rosy, happy picture of slavery in America? Not the sons, daughters, or grandchildren of slaves. It occurs to me that we do not understand justified anger in the African American community. Consider this: ten days after the death of Michael Brown, with protests, dangerous unrest and provocative response, even with a National Guard presence, Mr. James Knowles, the Mayor of Ferguson said, “There’s not a racial divide in the City of Ferguson.” When asked if that is the sentiment of African Americans in his community, His Honor responded, “That is the perspective of all residents in our city. Absolutely.” The man thought he heard, thought he understood. But he failed to hear so many, it was as if the voices of people of color did not count at all. Presumption is a danger we should all avoid. Contrast this with how Former Missouri State Senator Jeff Smith summed up his own observations with one question, “Will white St. Louis listen?” Frank Robinson Letter To White America
Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 16:52:33 +0000
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