Looking at a cure not the symptom - 4.10.2007.5

Continued from part 2...

Slavery in America was unlike that forms found of nations throughout the world. Unlike other forms human beings were made equivalent to mere property. This is a fact. After ending slavery [which was not a priority of the nation though it is promoted as a critical factor for the Civil War – that’s just romanticizing of the true historical facts] Black Americans were restricted, and isolated with Jim Crow laws and segregation. The nation made no apologies, and tried to hide from what happened to those who were integral to creating the foundation of the nation, by ignoring and shunning those individuals. That too is a fact. That lasted until the 1960’s. And during this entire time anger festered in the belly of the nation. The result of that festering appeared in violence and inequality on all levels.

Today we still suffer from these effects. Yes there is Affirmative Action and other laws that attempt to level the playing field. Of course if equality was actually being espoused there would be no need for such laws, minority or not, man or woman. The fact that I as a Black Puerto Rican have laws that seek to help me gain employment or adjust my ability to get a greater education exist proves that it is not. That is to say nothing of my experiences, which have required me to be better than necessary just to be considered equal to my peers.

But an infection that is let alone does not just stay in one place. It affects the whole in the same destructive manner. While the nation hid from its responsibility in the same way Mr. Imus has, African Americans have hidden from it as well. Drugs have become so prevalent that they are commonplace in the community. Children are born into single parent households in numbers never seen before. Young men are more likely to be killed, on drugs, jailed, or a combination of the above than to graduate high school or live to 25. The legal system is so biased that it creates flashpoints of anger that has decimated cities, and virtually guarantees a conviction and harsh sentence to a person of color, even if they are innocent. Politicians throw away money to undeserving individuals to keep them docile and placated, and as an unspoken penance for past actions. It’s a system that is corrupting everything from the inside out. And corporations feed the fuel by promoting blatant criminals with minimal vocabularies as stars spouting bile.

We need to heal as a nation. I had a good friend who asked me, “what can be done, and where does it end?” I’ve thought about that for decades and I have one answer. You may have seen parts of it in my posts, I’m sure you will see it in future posts. The most important thing and the first step is an apology. We must look in the face of the past, directly, and tell those of us that are the descendants of the builders of all we see and use today that we are sorry for what was done. It may sound simple but it is hardly that. Even in the last several months there continues to be vehement refusals by State governments to even agree to expressing regret for the past.

Finished in part 4...