For many today is a day of remembrance. Today is a day to think of hope. This is a time to look to the future and see a better America. For just as many today is just another day. A day that holds no glimmer of hope, no potential for better and no end to the sometimes harsh conditions that every day brings.
The differences in those 2 thoughts tends to be age and education, in my opinion. For many of the youth of today there is no understanding of what happened some 40 years ago. The youth of today have never been beaten for sitting in the wrong seat on a bus, based solely on the color of their skin. They have not had fire hoses placed on them because they tried to go to school, but had the wrong race to be allowed in. The youth of today have never been lynched because they dated, or looked at, someone of a color not their own. For too many of the youth today these are all items of ancient history, perhaps as relevant as the War of 1812, perhaps slightly more when a movie starring a favored actor is seen.
This is not entirely their fault. I cannot say I am greatly different. I am not different in that I did not suffer those same things. I had the benefit of growing up after that time. After the sacrifices of Dr. King, and Mr. Malcolm X and many others, most who were not famous enough to have their names recorded but sacrificed all the same. The difference is that I am old enough to have heard the bile in being called the N-word. I am old enough to have had a Mother, and uncles and a Father that did suffer those events. I am old enough to know that some have, and continue, to value the color of a person’s skin above their actions. I am old enough to have experienced the problems that go with that mindset. And that makes me understand that these things aren’t history, ancient or recent, but current in the world.
On this day I think to the breakthroughs we see. My own past success in becoming a stockbroker (a vestige of the ‘old boys club’ mentality still but not quite like it was), in traveling the world, in being able to attend a college (of my choice), and to live in places I chose. I see the things that have changed in the world. Actors and actresses of African American and Latino/Hispanic decent that are able to lead films without having to portray the villain, the drug dealer, the gangster or prostitute. I have seen characters on television that are Black that portray the American President, doctors, and leaders of industry. I have seen celebrities embraced throughout the world, and this nation, with skins ranging from dark to light. I have seen entertainers step back to their roots and enrich the lives of all there.
Yet I must say that with each step that has improved there are those steps that have gone backwards. I have heard the famous words of Dr. King often quoted and played, yet I’ve seen few continue them. Let me be clear, as much as the world is better for Black Americans it is also worse. And part of that worsening is the fault of the Black community and culture.
... end of part 1
Continued in part 2
No comments:
Post a Comment