Who
has not laughed at Eddie Murphy
or
tapped their foot to Scott Joplin
or
to our recently departed icon of rock'n'roll Chuck Berry
or
lived daily with some invention of George Washington Carver
or
marveled at the cosmos listening to Neil deGrasse Tyson (I knew he was a Vulcan)
or
wondered if Michael Jordan has to get pre-flight clearance?
They are us. Period.
Having saved your Confederate money did no good.
First a disclaimer.
Should this author ever refer to African-Americans as
"black" (as in Black Lives Matter) and it offends- apologies.
He lived
in Jamaica a number of years and they referred to them selves as "blacks".
Obviously, they were not African-Americans.
In fact, they seldom referred to their
race and were more proud they were Jamaicans.
It is also necessary to remember
the description has evolved over the years.
In this author's youth, they were
referred to as Negroes (Spanish for black) or "colored people".
Something
to do with Nigeria or or the Niger River back in colonial days
During the era
of consciousness, the sixties, they became "blacks" and proud of it.
After
Alex Haley and "Roots", a consciousness of origin appeared and they took
note of where they sprang from and became Africans.
Today, they are politely referred
to as "people of color".
From "colored people" to "people
of color". Ain't the English language something?
(Are they now lumped in
with all the other "non-whites" and marginalized?)
If you are reading
this and picking apart semantics instead of addressing issues think about it for
a second.
What about the "n-word"? Loaded with intent and none of it
good. But they reserve it to use for themselves sometimes. Go figure.
An anecdote.
This
author went to visit Germany in 1980. His girlfriend (German) admonished him NOT
to use the "n-word" as it was very offensive.
Agreed. Advice well-taken.
What is the German word for folks of sub-Saharan African origin? Neger.
What is
the Swedish word? Neger. What is the Russian word? Neger. What is the Dutch word?
Neger. What is the Norwegian word? Neger.
From these the most tolerant, humanitarian
societies on the planet. Again what's in a word? Intent? Obviously.
How to address this dilemma we've visited upon ourselves?
First, educate
the dickens out of them (or into them if they appreciate Dickens).
Hard to oppress
an educated person.
Second, adjudicate them fairly. Absolutely equal access and
treatment under the law.
Give them equal access to monies to brighten and improve
their neighborhoods. Slums breed slums.
There are many areas to address, but start
with education and equality.
Lift them from poverty? Ain't gonna happen.
Poverty is the new norm for
everyone regardless of skin color, race or ethnicity. Equal rights for all. None
for all and all for some!
Doubt it? Just ask any rich person how much more they
want. (All of it.)
Some have suggested reparations. That's a non-starter.
First, because of
the entrenched power base and second where is the line drawn?
Women were an oppresssed
minority until even more recent times. Are they owed reparations?
Are black women
owed double? (That might be a good investment.)
Better to eliminate privelege
and enforce equality. That will more readily get traction.