The Re-Cooptation of Us: The Power of Supremacy
The
Re-Cooptation of Us:
The Power of Supremacy
Where have all the flowers gone?
Young girls have picked them everyone
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Song and
Words from Music, Rights Folk Legend Peter Seger
As a Black American I feel rooted and grounded in my black culture. My journey to other people' lands and places, no matter how compellingly attractive, thanks to my upbringing by a strong black mother and father and yes, a segregated black community, I could never, and will never separate myself for not being able to state that "I'm Black and am Proud". Thank God for Jesus as well. He taught me what it means when He stated "I will never leave or forsake you". This is my message today that I will continue to freely give, "I will never leave or forsake you".
...the point is that if you ever
lived on my side of the track, I find it hard to accept other black people
forsaking other black people especially after years of being (and continue to
be) forsaken by a white ruling class...
I could
easily argue that this power of commitment, to a large degree, is based on my
sharing the suffering, indignation and cruelty suffered by black people for as
young as I can remember. Our very souls and our identity was systemically and
institutionally under attack 24/7. One poignant case in point was that
most of the blacks that I went to school with either consciously or
subconsciously emulated white people, white culture. Everyone was so
indoctrinated and overcome by this powerful force that it really was not much
one could do except to succumbed, or to be fair, I should say to not succumb to
white superiority as much as possible, to always try to maintain some degree of
blackness, even if it meant rushing home from school to be uplifted by the
Mahalia Jackson who sang a gospel song before the afternoon movies, or waking up
in the morning to see "Amos N' Andy" which, to me, satirized the disgust of
white imperial materialist racist.
Making a
long story short, the point is that if you ever lived on my side of the track, I
find it hard to accept other black people forsaking other black people
especially after years of being (and continue to be) forsaken by a white ruling
class that seemed to do everything to destroy the soul, identity, dignity, and
humanity of black people. Of course the feeble acceptance (by white
people) of their century-old white superiority act did come partially to a
screeching halt in the processes of the 70s and 80s, but the damage had been
done.
Because
of the fact that white people would never be able to rectify or totally
reconcile (or find the will) went their history and present day follies of
racism -even if they've given half-hearted through facade like affirmative
action who now they say is no more needed or arrogantly point to token blacks
who have taken advantage of capitalistic system [and might add, their own
people, too], it's time for blacks to stop expecting that other people can truly
understand our historical pain and uprooting.
While one would argue that
young black people don't even know what the fuss is all about, this really
reaffirms the truth that they don't because consciously and subconsciously
they've been robbed. I would argue that that robbery has been
instigated by both, a dominant white culture and whitewashed black people.
This is hard to see when you have star (or celebrities) people who are harshly
used to gloss over the state of race relations in America.
Yet, I propose that the cruelest facade that masks the pervasiveness of systemic racism is that of 'black and White Perception'. Like, if you see a black man and a white woman together, especially the likes of famous athletes, entertainers, highly placed public officials, it can easily be perceived as a silent message that helps to certify that black people are OK as long as they have white people to keep them in line.
No scientific research is available that I know that states that once black people prioritize his/her intimacy with the white counterpart over their love for their cultural origin, but you can pretty much write them off. And, for some, they never really got it - what blackness really is.
But isn't this this the way the enemy has worked since the beginning of time (in America)
Let's be clear, I've been a pioneer in cross-cultural communication and relations for many years, and even founded a nonprofit organization known as Cross-Cultural Organization to help educate and promote cultural understanding. And believe me, I've lived, played, worked, and loved many people from different racial backgrounds.
But, I'll
never leave or forsake you. Your beauty is deep, even after years of
scarring and abuse.
And, I
plan to stand with you until I can't stand no more because black is beautiful and so are you.
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Thank you for opting to join the dialogue on important issues. Be respectable - and watch your language.