A young White man called my husband and me “nigger” yesterday. It surprised me so much that I was speechless for several moments. It’s not that in 58 years I’ve not been called nigger. I’ve certainly been called that behind my back and I’ve been called that to my face on occasion. This threw me because it was so unexpected, so out of the ordinary, so uncalled for that I was dumbstruck. That one little word reminded me that no matter what I’ve accomplished, no matter the number of degrees I amass, no matter the level of success I achieve, in this country I am first, last and always a nigger.
The terrorist act perpetrated at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church this past Wednesday was another way of reminding Black people we are less than nothing in this country. These words do not come lightly nor without thought but with the entire history of Black people in the United States.
Our ancestors came here as slaves relegated to the stature of property. Once the travesty that was slavery ended, the Jim Crow ushered in a different kind of slavery called sharecropping. Laws were instituted to keep Black people from achieving any modicum of real freedom. Black people were killed on a whim. They were lynched for any minor transgression as the system that was supposed to administer justice blindly did so as it was blind to the wholesale killing of Blacks. Those few who were able to rise above were generally athletes or entertainers like Jack Johnson and Bessie Smith. A select few writers and academics, notably Dr. W.E.B. DuBois and Paul Lawrence Dunbar, were able to fight their way through the inequities of Jim Crow to achieve a measure of success. Black engineers and inventors were accorded a degree of esteem because of their achievements but their names have been lost in the history books. Dr. Charles Drew who separated blood cells from blood plasma, Garrett Morgan who invented the traffic light, Alice Parker who created a new heating furnace that provided central heat and Dr. Daniel Hale Williams who performed the first open heart surgeries. These pioneering individuals have been lost to the history books. Some were never accorded their due. Yet even as our whole story is missing from American history, Black people are told to be good, law abiding, forgiving, peaceful Americans while in the same breathe those telling us these things are blaming us for economic downturns, a failing education system and over burdened criminal justice system and the general breakdown of American society.
It seems every month a new atrocity is visited among Black people in America. Another Black man is killed. A Black woman is assaulted. When we take to the streets, we’re labeled thugs and trouble makers. When we appeal to the justice system, we appear as sheep being led to the slaughter. When we speak of revolution, we’re seen as angry and unruly. When we speak of forgiveness, we’re coddled like good little boys and girls. At what juncture are we going to say enough is enough?
It is time we woke up and smelled what’s being shoveled. It’s time we awakened from the fallacy that the overall White society in America will like us or love us because we achieve or entertain or win athletic championships. It’s time we recognized that White American society is not going to save us. It’s time we realized we are always the ones doing the forgiving while others continue to harm, maim and kill us. It’s time we stopped being apologetic for loving ourselves and our people. It’s time we make America recognize that we, too, are full citizens of this country and that we will accept nothing less than all the rights and privileges that citizenship entails. It’s time we make America face the ugly truth that its history and its present are steeped in racism and that we call it out. It’s time we stopped playing along to get along. It’s time we stopped doing what we keep doing and expecting different results. That is the definition of crazy. It’s time for us to stand up straight and strong and make sure those who’ve gone before us did not die in vain. It’s time Black America. It’s time.
Author of Thoughts of a Fried Chicken Watermelon Woman, available on KarenFordOnline.com, Alibris.com, Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble.com and BooksAMillioninc.com.
That's so hard to imagine Karen. I'm a white guy; born and bred in South. When I was a kid in school (we're talking 1960's and early 1970's in the deep South), I went to school with black kids (and hispanic, Slavic, and Asian). My friends were Greek Orthodox, Irish and Italian Catholic, Baptist, Hindu, not to mention dirt poor and well to do or straight, gay or bi. We spent time at each others houses, sat together (regardless of signs and dared anyone to say anything to us) I even had black teachers. I can't say this was unusual since this was the typical makeup of my friends to this very day. I was known to get into a few fights when some other kids went after my friends. That was just the way it was. I even "dated" a black girl in the 8th grade, ca. 1974. There was no color or religious or any other barriers. We had each other's back. Period. I can't say that has ever changed. While I am sorry to hear of your experience, at the same time, I can honestly say I don't understand it (had I heard it, I may have been just as likely to fire back as you or your husband would). To say that term, and even use that type of language, has no place in society is an understatement. Perhaps he was just feeling cocky or "bad ass" or simply thought he could get away with it, or at least get a reaction, but that's providing him with an out;an excuse. Perhaps to simply laugh at him would have burst his ego. Regardless, we must get past this before it destroys us.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments, Paul. It was difficult to hear but on the other hand, somewhat expected. With all that has transpired over the past several years especially since the election of Barack Obama, I'm surprised it hasn't happened more often. People like that young man are using what's going on as permission to be as onerous as possible and believe the government has their back. I'm not speaking about free speech but the fact that government and corporate entities have been racist since the beginning and that blatant form of racism is roaring back. They seem to forget the rules of nature - never battle with someone who has nothing to lose. They have no fear.
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