The most unstable topic that America has ever presented itself because of its own doing, is race. It is America's toughest, most hotbed, and confusing subject that has created intense problems for this country since its inception. It is America's yoke around the neck weighing down how it wants to be seen, versus how it really is, and was. And because of that yoke, the continued weight has actually increased, as this society tries desperately to catch up to the ideals and standards that it set for itself, but could never live up to, just because of what is now firmly woven into the fabric of this country's cloth. And just what was woven into this cloth was generations and generations of systemic injustices, brutality, covert behaviors, and efforts to correct mindsets that have been in place even long before this country was set in motion.This generation is the result of hundreds of years of wheels in motion that have run over people and created a country that was constantly trying to live up to the moral code of of its sunny promise, but was constantly getting weighed down by its own mud of deception, injustices, and nefarious behavior. Race unfortunately is the biggest stain on what is otherwise a stellar accomplishment of a relatively young country. But that stain made its way into the fabric, and created a rip. And that rip has continued to eat this country alive. What has transpired over the recent years has led us to a particular point in the saga of race, and has polarized people into factions. Those creation of 4 factions within this country, have grown immensely, with neither of them knowing what to do.
1)Those who believe that things have gotten better, and don't believe there is a problem anymore, and wish people would stop harping on it.
2)Those who believe that things have NOT gotten much better, because the laws of the minds have not changed, and wish that people would continue to harp on it.
3)Those who don't care, and really wish this so called "problem" would go away.
4)Those who straddle the line on any given issue, and just aren't sure about anything, so they look the other way.
All of those factions have people in them with one particular thing in common:
There are millions who don't even understand how this problem happened anyway, because they are completely ignorant to the history of America, as it pertains to race.
History has been glossed over so much in the past to hide America's role in the perpetuation of human indignities, that the information necessary to make educated judgments about just how bad things were, and how things evolved is severely skewed to the point where people cannot understand, and some think that it was a thousand years ago in an America that they can't possibly believe could have created this situation.
When I was young there was nothing in the history books that detailed slavery except for a few choice lines that described them coming over, working in fields, and then being freed by The Emancipation Proclamation. Nothing about the conditions of slavery, or how people lived, and survived, what they thought, and certainly nothing on just how inhuman it really was.Nothing about the psychological warfare that took place to keep slavery alive. Seeing Roots on TV in 1977 had an obvious impact on me as a child, because it helped me to understand a little of what my ancestors went through..Just a little. When I got older, and began to go to the library to read books on slave conditions, written accounts by ex slaves, and historical facts overlooked in history books, I began to see just how brutal the system of slavery was. Slaves were maimed, killed, worked to death, or beaten within an inch of their lives, while men were castrated alive, and pregnant women cut open, and their babies killed. People forced to watch and endure physical and psychological torture that we would today call "psychopathic behavior" on the part of the perpetrators all in the name of white superiority, and intimidation to keep people in line to control them. Absolutely sick and twisted behavior performed towards people who were labeled 3/5 people by the men who are considered the founding fathers of this country. There were no films of this behavior or else there would have been a different perspective of some concerning this part of history.This was considered a white man's country, and anyone who stood in the way of that philosophy was made to pay dearly. This mentality has been the core root of America since the beginning, where Europeans were the chosen ones to wield a new sword that created a new frontier. The Nigger, The "Indian", and whomever else would dispute that, was going to be cut down. In order for that mentality to thrive, a race of people has to feel superior, and decide they have the absolute right to feel that way, and conduct whatever behavior that supports this philosophy. Which means anyone not like them has to be put in their place. This is psychological warfare on a masterfully high level to initiate, and it was brutally enforced. We are talking about generations and generations of systemic superiority/inferiority complexes. Blacks in particular were powerless, and because their identities were ripped from them, their sense of self shattered, and their physical well being threatened even if they looked angry, they were lost as a people in a country that they helped to build. Blacks of course, are not the only race to have ever been persecuted, but The Black man in America is a special situation unique to this country. The dynamics have been manipulated so dramatically, where fighting for ones country still meant you had no rights, being more successful that a white man meant you might get killed, and your education system was gutted to keep you in the dark intellectually, are all symptomatic of this deep psychological castration that was perpetuated along with physical torture for some, that created this great race divide within the fabric that we have today.
Even after The Civil War officially ended slavery, and the Federals left the South dangling during reconstruction, a new systemic slavery ensued in the form of Jim Crow, and the brutality continued not only in the South, but everywhere else in the country. Free was not free for the Black man, and it would be another hundred years before the right to vote was even allowed in The South much to their unwilling endeavors. As it pertains to Blacks in this country, race has been overt and covert at the same time. From being called a Nigger to being followed in a store while browsing, to being rejected from buying a home. These overt, and subtle indignities have persisted within the black psyche for so long that it seems to be an innate sensitivity and perception to them. I have been called all kinds of names for no reason, been chased down a street, and have been followed in stores, or my motives were questioned when minding my own business. It is a psychological indignity, and it still persists whether people want to admit it or not. The Civil Rights movements of the South, and the Black Power movements showed Blacks just how powerful they are and how much they can take control of how they are seen, and heard, but the damage is still reeling its head in the form of broken families, neighborhoods and communities that were purposefully neglected, and children who grow up without an ability to trace back their heritage to claim an identity of self worth, and recognition.
The word 'Nigger" was an example of just how they tried to take back power. blacks started trying to own that word themselves as an experiment to take the power away from the white man. The word Nigger, and the treatment of the black race in general, and the black male in particular has one core goal... Male domination. That is precisely why black males were called "Boy", or any other word other than "Man". For if you want to control a people, you must dominate the male population, so by using that word, and brutalizing black men mercifully, the system was able to prosper, because the system was built upon male domination. Which is why one of the first things that black men started to do to take away psychological power, was to start calling themselves men, and then turn that word around. The philosophy was that "If we own it, and use it, it won't hurt anymore, and we will destroy it" Well many years later, it was obvious that the experiment didn't work, and the word still hurts. The problem is that that word is now not only in the white man's American lexicon, it is in the Black culture lexicon as well. The problem also is that it still has power.
The word Nigger is one of the most hurtful despised words in the English language born in America, because of not only the history associated with it, but because it is what I would call a "Throwback" term which reduces blacks back to a time when they were a compromise on a piece of paper calling them 3/5 of a person. So not only is it a name, but an acknowledgment by those who use it that an individual isn't even a person. That is precisely why blacks tried to take it away. It is a word that has been freely used in American society as an effort of once again controlling the psyche of a people.
That is why the word is so controversial even today. People wonder how come someone like Quentin Tarantino can use the word in his movie "Django Unchained" so freely and be to an extent a celebrated artist, and someone like some silly cooking show host can be derided for it. Both irrelevant in the scope of society importance, but the somewhat simple fact is that in this case, one is a period piece of film entertainment that would be a complete lie if the word wasn't used excessively, and the other is an individual that is using the word to describe her feelings of actual people.I personally would not have fired the woman..Let her show die a slow death..Who cares..If she was a public official, then it would have been a different story. Is anyone an angel when it comes to the use of that word? Absolutely not. Many people have used, and continue to use that word. That is why society has to be very careful who they publicly lambaste for that word. People are allowed to say what they want. They just have to realize that there are consequences to everything they say, but no one can police everyone.
And Black people really need to do some soul searching inside themselves when that word is used in rap songs, and slang, and then proceed to unleash fury upon those who use the word also. People may disagree with me vehemently about this, but there must be accountability in the Black community, before fingers are pointed where this issue is concerned. That said, I do not believe in banning any words, changing books or hiding anything. I don't even really believe in using the term "The N word" Say the word "nigger", and make people think. That is an important aspect of correcting any ill in society. Not censoring anything. The minute you censor something, you give it such a provocative power and attention that it can't help but to be used in secret like some giggling schoolgirl showing a note from a boy. People need education. Education comes from a knowledge of history, and how something got from a point A to a point B..The more you cover things up, the more ignorant people you create, and the more a society becomes a burden upon itself.
Where we are now in this country is at a race quandary. What is happening right now is "White Backlash" where whites are tired of feeling guilty for being white.They are angry when race is mentioned. This "Anger" stems from many things. America is becoming a more increasingly Brown nation, where European descendants will soon be the minority. This has stoked a complete panic and fear with some, because the "Face of America" has through hook and crook the last 200 plus years, been a white one. That perception is changing radically. Yes a black president was elected by an overwhelming amount of Blacks in the hope to see progress, (not reverse racism) and by a significant amount of whites also, that truly believe in equality, the hope of progress, but another specter arose quickly after that election:
The factions of people who didn't want it to happen got bolder and louder, infecting the language of race again. It was no longer chic to be a racist, so the code words of the past were once again used reminding many blacks of language used against their elders.."He's not like us" "Not an American" "Take back our country"..These things were said many years ago, and although a person may not be a racist who uses those terms, they are ignorant of the hurt that those terms allude to.There are many people that believe that racism is over because we now have a Black president, and "Blacks should be happy".. If someone sees nothing wrong with those terms or sees no racial overtones within how this black president is depicted by some, then they are either ignorant, or blind. It is there, and not because anyone is looking hard for it. It is in lock step with the historical dialogue and portrayal that an idea of "fear unites" can portray. The rip in the fabric has created distrust, fear, suspicion, anger, and hatred on all sides of the fence. This is not a white problem, although initiated by Europeans coming here. It has efficiently morphed into the great plague of America that permeates all races, and their the problems of trying to define themselves after a society has done it for them for so long without asking. Perceptions are skewed everywhere you look. Not every white person is a racist, nor is every black person looking for racism. Enter Hispanics, Asians, People of the Caribbean, and people of Middle Eastern descent into the mix of society .America is changing, and for some, it is a frightening turn of events. People are people, and that has been lost within the ripped fabric, because for so long the superiority/inferiority machinery was, and to an extent still is allowed to run at a high capacity. White folks believe that the race problem has been milked to death while Black folks believe that the more things change, the more they stay the same. The truth bounces between both sides on any given issue, but the problem is far from being solved, or over.
Racial problems have gotten better to a degree, but begrudgingly so where some are concerned. The white backlash that is ensuing is a result of many people thinking that we are bending over backwards to be sensitive. And to a degree I understand that. Race relations will never get better if we can't say honestly how we feel, so it can be discussed. If people are silent because they don't want to be labeled a racist, then how the hell will we ever learn about one another in a deep way? How will we ever acknowledge how we all see the world? So race today in 2013 is a polarizing powder keg, because we have still not learned to recognize the hurt, laugh at the differences, and acknowledge the history. Instead of people saying what they feel, code words are now used, or looking around before speaking, and lying to someone's face.What good is sensitivity training on paper? Understanding has to come from interaction. I appreciate honest people, and if someone doesn't understand a race of people, then say it. If someone doesn't like a race of people then say that also..Maybe they can get educated, or worst case scenario, those at the butt of the hatred know to stay away from them. There will always be a rip in America's fabric because the history of this country's initiation of equality for all, was hypocrisy. A hypocrisy that was left to fester, thrive and contaminate all around it. Also a hypocrisy that was never fully recognized. Everyone keeps saying that it is a discussion that needs to be had, but no one wants to touch it with honesty. Perhaps because no one can truly and fully accept how deep and how damaging it has truly been. And that it was allowed to be here.And that is what everyone is truly afraid of.
Afraid of facing the things that this country has allowed to happen all in the name of freedom, liberty, equality, and justice. How can we truly have a deep discussion about race in America when we can't even handle the truths about race in America if presented. You can neither run nor hide from history. You also can't wash it, or change it, gloss it over, or avoid it. It is history. And the problem of race in America is that we continue to try to do all of those things, and the result is always going to be failure. So do you think that this country talks too much about race? The real reason that we are in this predicament is because no one has talked about it enough. And that is the hard truth. When we can finally do that, then race will be unchained, and we can start to sew the fabric again.
