Alright, hold the…up ya’ll. Caucasian Americans tripping because I’ve got the unmitigated gall to talk about doing anything while being overtly African American and African Americans tripping because I would choose a book written by Caucasian Americans for an experiment in applied functional unity. Huh? And then you want to tag me “enemy” and call me threat or brainwashed? Okay, so I’ll admit it – I confuse easy, but all that rhetoric sound ludicrous to me.
What is it about any proud, productive, overtly African American undertaking that terrifies and offends some fear centered, guilt ridden, responsibility avoiding white folks? Why do some choose to loudly believe that anything pro me is dangerously anti you? Bottom line: that’s impossible.
The Bible and modern psychology agree that a house divided against itself cannot stand. Can we too agree on that simple truth? Thank you.
In my personal microcosm, some of my best relatives (Uh-huh, thought I was gonna say friends didn’t cha? LOL) were white. Daddy’s dead now, but he married my mom and they spent 35 years together demonstrating the cruel dysfunction inherent in the American experience.
Did ya’ll know I got myself ostracized from the Black Student Association in the early 70’s? Don’t think I’ve told this one publicly. The mantra back then was “Burn baby Burn.” While dramatic, it was also counterproductive, at least as far as I was concerned, and I made the mistake of saying so. Still, I think my logic was and is sound. First, arson often entails incarceration and I’ve no affinity for jails. But more importantly, a simple glance in the mirror indicates the solution is easily attainable without violence. The science is simple. The genes which produce Caucasian traits like pale skin, eyes and hair are recessive. Obedience to the mandate to make love not war drastically reduces collateral damages and making babies is just more…ah fun…than making bail bonds or caskets. Anyway, I digress.
In the macro, still operating from the agreement that a house divided against itself cannot stand, the science is again simple. To the best of our, humanity’s, current knowledge life began in Africa. Am I right? And the traits, physical and social, we label Caucasian are simply the adaptations of Africans’ migration to cold and brutal climes. Yes? That means, Caucasian Americans that you are the progeny of our collective roots; like me, you are a child of Africa. I am wise enough to know that in a fight against anyone one stands only to lose oneself. A house divided cannot stand.
All that said, with America being America and Caucasian Americans operating in the delusion of separatism as they do, one look at my picture will ensure you my experience has been decidedly African American – schizophrenic, complicated, ever evolving and glorious. Like my gender, my pigment is an obvious and irrevocable truth of my current existence. And you know God’s got faith in you if you were born an African American woman; don’t know what I mean, check out Job. Anyway, all that to say, that after all these years I still don’t get the concept of “black enough” but some of you have made it crystal that whatever it is, I ain’t it.
Now, I’ve already admitted to confusing easy, so if I plead no lo contendre’ to all my perceived inadequacies might I bother you, my brothers and sisters, with just a few questions? Again, I thank you.
How is struggling against fear utilizing fears’ tools, anger and hate, working for you? For us? For the world? Do a cursory history review or just open your eyes and take a look around. Perhaps you haven’t noticed the human race is teetering on the precipice of ultimate destruction? Yeah, that would be extinction and it renders the tried and tired political rhetoric of hate more that a little moot.
I ask you to remember this “system” is fear made manifest and remember fear feeds on itself. Actions, even those with the best intentions, rooted in/fueled by fear and its cohorts, anger and hate, serve and strengthen the beast. African America, the very idea of us against them is a by-product of the divide and conquer, pillage and plunder mentality from which America was rather heinously born.
I submit to you that active, intentional love is quicker and more effective. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – fighting fire with fire only produces a conflagration. I’m not talking about syrupy sweet, hugging everybody and accepting anything love. I’m talking about love that has the courage to be true to itself and its inherent divinity. We possess the power, ability and authority to simply revise the process. Why don’t we? I read somewhere that love casts out fear; I submit we dedicate ourselves to proving the veracity of that hypothesis. Commit here
Eliminate “them” and “they”, whoever them and they are, not just from the equation but from our vocabulary. Will that not render the concept of us against them empty and ineffectual? It is as simple – simple and easy are not the same words – as refocusing.
Like I said in my last post, our minds are wired to produce viable answers to any and every question posed. So, I challenge us to approach the tried and tired “system” with some new questions. Discover how
What changes if regardless of circumstances or the choices of others we resolve to act from a place of integrity? What happens if we commit our choices to the standard of honoring, self, community and Divinity – not necessarily in that order? What happens if we stop fighting against those who we perceive have or want to take something from us and focus our battle on being the best we can be? What if just for today, we collectively make a personal decision to forget to be afraid? Can we honor ourselves, our similarities and our differences and silence the haters with love?
I enjoyed your point-of-view. Of course, we have choices in how we deal with one another from day-to-day. As an African American, I tend to believe John Henrick Clarke who said that we should "study our enemy." Now, enemies, just like friends, come in all shades, but can we afford not to study the people (some of them, and particularly the status quo) who make our lives miserable ON PURPOSE just because they can and have been taught since they were children, to do just that. The worse thing we, as African Americans, can do is not study the people who have been in power and causing us hell here on earth. While I realize that not all whites are racist, there are enough of them -- especially at work and in school -- that we need to understand where they are coming from. That way, we can deal better with the drama. Peace.
Thursday, November 5th 2009 at 6:41PM
Brenda Bratton
I totally agree with you the worst thing we can do is study the current and historic power structure with the intent of emulation. However, when we attempt to fight our battles with the weapons of fear isn't emulating exactly what we're doing? I submit that like satan, our "enemies" are small and ineffectual, that their power is amplified by our attention and that our power lies in purposefully and intentionally returning our focus to us.
Thursday, November 5th 2009 at 7:04PM
Michelle Diane
