Black Rage: Whiteness and the Continued Socialization of White People- Part 2

Where do we go from here: Is it ever going to be possible to live freely without the constant onslaught of mental, physical and emotional violence that is inflicted on Black bodies? It would definitely require massive effort and sacrifice and a resolute unwillingness to stand down. What are we willing to do? Would we be willing to divest from a society that doesn't respect our humanity? What would or should that action look like? (Part I) 

Photo courtesy of Google

Undoing the damage requires more resistance. 

Life in Black skin in our current society means to live knowing that there could possibly never be a time that we can relax in our lifetime. Exhausting. The white supremacy imperialistic society that we have is one that hopes that we will become so tired that we give up and concede. White supremacists and by extension whiteness doesn't see Black humanity. Which is what makes it incomprehensible for them to understand that our humanity is what will continue to drive us to fight to have lives that include the agency, equality, equity and freedom all people deserve.

Cutting the cord with whiteness which is continually perpetuated by all of us is an action that too many of us aren't willing or ready to do. It would put most of us in the precarious position of having to choose to give up seemingly happy and comfortable lives. But if that perceived happiness requires us to conform to and sacrifice being our whole selves, due to the racist restrictions that are placed on our lives in order to prosper in this society, then is life really that happy or comfortable.

Complacency is an extremely dangerous mindset if living while Black. "If they just stay over there and leave me and mine alone" is a sentiment that is heavily ingrained within the Black community-- because it was required for our very survival-- but that attitude has devolved over time and created a dead end for all of us. There is no real escape if we continue this way because white supremacy will continue coming for us. We represent the "great" life that they could have if only we would make it easier on them and consent to be slaves.

None of us could ever imagine living the lives of our ancestors that were kidnapped from their homeland and brought here and to many other countries around the world. And yet that could be the future that we leave our children if we don't stop excusing white people's need and desire to remain unaware and unaffected by their actions. Stop choosing to cover them and challenge them on every racist, capitalistic, imperialistic and murderous degradation that they inflict on those who can't easily check their preferred box of white. No matter what box we check, choices and actions that preserve white supremacy are not evolved or humane.

Education, Economics, Health and Autonomy

I was born in Chicago and lived there until the age of 12. Most of my accessible memory of living in Chicago is from the time we lived in Morgan Park in a diverse neighborhood that was filled with Black people. Until this day I still remember the phone number because it was at a time in my life when I was expected to know critical information that would keep me informed and safe. It was a wonderful time but the area had its limitations. 

A busted furnace created some problems but it also created an opportunity for me to experience a predominantly Black elementary school for the 5th grade. Black teachers were everywhere I looked; there was morning assembly with the Black national anthem and posters along the hallways and in classrooms of people who had done great things and looked like me. Sure, my parents exposed me to some Black history information but to be immersed in it in a place where I spent the better part of my day was extremely affirming. What Black child could not use more of that? I went back to my former school for my last year in Chicago, completely engaged and critically aware of my surroundings.

We need our own schools and programs that combine an African Diaspora education with an improved secular educational system. An education beginning in elementary that includes Black histories around the world. An education that focuses on math, arts, sciences (including geography), and languages being taught by people that respect them, prioritize them and look like them. I am convinced that this is the primary way that our children will have great futures. 

What better choice than to give our children an education that includes critical awareness. To know that there is more to who we are than the dissected history and propagandized treatments that white supremacy chooses to emphasize. To give in to the truth that we are more than the meager existence that we have managed to cobble together in spite of them. To believe that we are more when we are united around the world. A mission like this would eventually overturn current society and create an enormous obstacle for those who would try keep us down.

Black Rage: Whiteness and the Continued Socialization of White People- Part I

For close to six hundred years, depending on the author, whiteness has been committing torturous acts of violence against Black bodies around the world for pleasure and for profit. So for our current safety and our children's futures let's no longer remain willfully unaware. Let us no longer subscribe to the idea that white people will ever willingly stop because they see the horror in what they have done and continue to do. Denial is a great life preserver. Values and morals be damned... to the victor goes the spoils.

Photo courtesy of Google

"Decolonization of the mind" is a phrase often used in reference to an affected person's need to undo the damage that came from the horrendous legacy of trauma, contempt and subjugation created by Europeans toward Black bodies. I hate the word d-e-c-o-l-i-n-i-z-a-t-i-o-n because it is a derivative of the word colonize which is a non-specific intentionally diluted word which unfortunately is now synonymous with progress in many minds. 

It is very difficult and very dangerous to live in a world that does not see you as a human being that deserves agency and autonomy. We are again living in a time where Black bodies need to be noticeably and violently eliminated because we are no more than uncooperative impediments to the sustainability of whiteness. When we are not solely for their personal benefit we serve no purpose. "Life was so much better and easier when they just let us own them", they cry. 

The treacherous society around the world due to white supremacy has created a corrosive living environment based. on. skin. tone. There is quite literally nowhere that Black people can go and not experience racism. "We don't feel safe", they cry. But they're not the ones constantly being terrorized wherever they go. Whiteness' incessant need to be "the best", "the first", "the one in control" has caused enormous amounts of ongoing tragedy around the world but Black people are considered the bottom of society???

America is the same as it has always been toward Black people. Its racist systemic laws and practices meant to consistently undermine, demean and condemn Black people to lives lived under constant scrutiny and forced subjugation are its foundation. In a country that white people stole and subjected to 400+ years of murder, slavery, propaganda and appropriation; I am at a loss as to why far too many Black people would care to be seen as understanding in any way towards a white supremacist culture.  

We are living in the 21st century and we are still dealing with the heinous creation that is white supremacy in a way that is more about coaxing and coddling white people into doing the right thing and less about destroying the foundation that continues it. I am tired and over it. I want white people to be uncomfortable and to feel unsafe because it is exactly the life that the have inflicted upon Black people and others for centuries. Maybe that feeling will motivate its accelerated destruction. Doubtful. Whiteness has to be intentionally and systematically dismantled. 

Our disconnectedness and complacent choice to be indifferent towards the lack of humanity and socialization within white culture are the reasons why we are still dealing with the complete disregard for our lives and the lives of our children. We continue to allow violence against us to be portrayed as benign when we choose to be civil and understanding. Whiteness has never been civil! 

No more Black people losing their lives for general purpose. That means all Black lives matter.  

  

Shaking Off A Whiteness Defined World

A whiteness defined world establishing itself as the norm perceives other races as lesser or insignificant in comparison.  This is the world in which we live.  A whiteness defined narrative is what makes it difficult for non-white people and white people to see and effectively challenge the truth about America and the world as we know it.

We live in and condone a world built on lies, degradation and the destruction of all things counter to the whiteness narrative.

Word choice has been an integral part of  marketing and propelling the whiteness narrative.  For example colonialism or colonization are the words that have been used to define what happened during the time that Europeans invaded other countries and instituted means of control through mass murder, demonization and then appropriation. The use of the words colonialism/colonization allowed for the white narrative to be molded into one of heroism instead of terrorism.

Imagine for a moment if more accurate words (invade, kidnap, torture, murder) had defined the atrocities that took place in order for white people to ascend to a position of power.  There would have been little chance of white people being able to adopt the position that what they inflicted around the globe could be labeled as "progress".  It has been difficult to fight against that which too many sees as a positive.  I have heard people say "Well our lives are probably better off here than we probably would have been in Africa if not for the slave trade."  That is a colonized mind speaking and because the Europeans saw fit to take away our ancestors options we will never know.

What more could the continent of Africa have been by now if some of its most precious resources had not been taken forcibly (many dying en route) to enrich other lands?  How might Africans have enriched the continent with fair trade deals in place? 

With terms like colonialism/colonization being used whiteness had it's narrative foundation allowing for white people to be portrayed as "hero" or "savior".   Those words allowed the re-imagining (read: fairy tales) by covering the atrocities that took place with a veil of lies that stated colonialism/colonization was a necessity.  The choosing of these words was intentional because these words are benign compared to more specific, more accurate words that really define the actions that took place and those seemingly benign words are every bit of the problem with our history and our present.

"Progress" didn't include all people and to continue to see and portray it as a greater good for everyone is the problem that continues to plague this world.  Colonialism/Colonization created a white defined violent laden society that would ultimately need to be maintained through more violence.

There hasn't been any good that has come from minimizing the magnitude of the devastation caused by the idea and consequently the indoctrination of a white defined world.  Why are so many people (non-whites especially) still on board with it?  Placating a narrative that has done nothing but destroy the lives of millions of people has been no less than a declaration of defeat..

Cause and Consequence: Trayvon Martin's Death

It's been three weeks since Trayvon Martin was murdered and his parents have yet to see the man responsible arrested.  The 911 tapes have been released and they show that Trayvon was targeted and that he was not killed in self-defense.  This was a hate crime.  This young man did not have a chance against this person that was intent on ending his life.  He was walking back from the store after buying a bag of candy and an iced tea.

Black men have been propagandized to be the most feared in the world but they are definitely not the most dangerous. Why?  Because a society that is conditioned to go out of it's way to allow white males/white-identified males to grow up in a world that will justify and condone their horrific actions makes white males the most dangerous and all non-white people are at risk.

When the white supremacist power structure spends centuries making sure that the world believes you to be a threat to personal safety (from birth) then you create a world that is capable of anything to ensure your elimination.  Trayvon Martin is one of many Black children that have died due to racially motivated assaults.  

Black parents have a very real problem on their hands.  Black children are not safe because their lives are not valued.  We can continue to believe that it's "that child" and "it won't be my child" but we will do so risking our children's lives in the process.  It could have been any of our children!  Teenagers wear hoodies all of the time (male and female) so it could have easily been my daughter in Trayvon's position.  This a civil rights, child welfare and personal safety issue.  

When white males are allowed to write and enforce laws that disproportionately ensure that they will be allowed to do anything that they please with impunity then we have created society's most dangerous individual.  White males consumed with the white supremacist power structure are the ones that pose a threat to all of us and cause the most harm.  To be silent is to be complicit.  Sign the petition.

Trayvon Martin did not deserve to die but George Zimmerman deserves to be punished.