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.  

  

Getting Back To It

It has been a while but I have not abandoned my space here. I have just been taking the time to live and take care of health and to be completely present in the life of the most glorious person in the world. The darling love has graduated from high school with honors and will begin her next phase in life as a college freshman this fall!  Truly blessed and grateful.

I have big plans for this blog to continue. Shining a light on the world that Black people have to navigate is a major part of that plan. There has been so much that has happened since I have been away and I have to say that I have been left with feelings of anger, fatigue and disgust. Why do people have to make themselves so unnecessary to a sane existence? Ugh.

My plan is to begin a regular weekly posting schedule beginning September 2. Weekend postings may happen but they will not be a regular part of my schedule. There are other things that I am excited about and working on as well that coincide with my LOVE for Black people! I just want us to be great and some of y'all jokers are making it seem impossible but I am still on the side of Team Black People for life.

See you'll soon.

    

Colorism vs Racism: Should we view them differently?

Picture courtesy of Google

I have heard many black people say that it is different and that it is not the same thing.  Colorism was born from racism to accomplish the same goal of establishing superiority based on a sense power over those deemed inferior solely based on skin tone.  When black people decided to participate in colorism (the idea that the lighter black person is the better black person) it negatively altered how all black people felt about themselves and what they could do for themselves within their own race.  I will never understand a black person participating in this behavior considering the damage inflicted on all of our lives because of racism. 

The idea that colorism is only regional in the United States is laughable.  As if it is so impossible for colorism to majorly exist in more than the much talked about Southern region of the United States and not the others.  And considering the fact that we have allowed our popular culture to shape our views in very destructive ways we should all know that it is everywhere.  Southern people ain't got nothing on America as a whole.

I have seen colorism in all of the regions from many ethnic groups (as designed) and it at times seems unbelievable when you experience it even though you know it exists. Spending the second half of my formative years growing up in Northern Louisiana put me in a position to experience colorism often but not so often that it was able to damage my views on the issue.  It was frustrating to hear older people, boys, girls and even family members discuss the lighter skin/darker skin issue in a way that gave it more importance than it should have had. 

Colorism is something that I hate more than I hate racism because it is coming from not only the people that benefit from racism but it is also coming from the people that experience being negatively affected by racism everyday.  Black people destroying themselves with the very thing that their ancestors fought against is the definition of sad.  Wouldn't they be so proud that their sacrifice has brought about our slow and (at this point) certain destruction? 

We feed the monster, our current societal power structure, with our lives by choosing to support anything or anyone that tries to make this okay.  It is not okay for a person's self-worth to be defined by their skin color and for that skin color to be seen as anything other than God's plan for a beautiful and diverse society.

What do you think?  Is colorism and it's damage different from what racism creates?  Is colorism among black people self-hatred in practice?

2012 is here!

Well, long story short...  Illness and family concerns prevented me from caring for this blog the way that I have wanted to and now with the new year arriving (so fast that my head is still spinning) and health and family on the rise I am going to try this again!

This blog has primarily been a place for me to vent about things that really confuse me because they are so ridiculous and/or quite simply piss me off.  There will be more of the good things that are happening being shared in posts and not simply digested in order for me to maintain my congenial spirit. 

I want to try to approach this blog with the same level of passion for what is right while vehemently speaking against what I consider to be wrong.  I hope to do this with more temperance so that my words are not misconstrued and my message is not lost.  I will however maintain the same level of directness but I am deciding not to allow anger to take the lead.

Action matters and I plan to be more active than I already am in my personal life towards helping black people ascend and in realizing that we are better than "the little" that too many are willing to accept.  The action I take in my personal life extends to this blog.  I will be stepping on a lot of toes because we really need to get a grip on reality. 

So,  let 2012 be the year that you care more, do more and expect more!

Too Many Blacks Fail To See The Big Picture

Photo Courtesy of Google

This post is inspired by a comment that was left on a previous post I did on white privilege.  

Anonymous wrote:

I understand not giving in to the white world, I truly do, but let us not ignore the complete and utter reality of black communities in America. After five years in Brooklyn, it is very disturbing watching the overwhelming majority of behavior by American blacks, and to ignore that behavior will not help anyone. What people, black and white, fail to acknowledge is that a large majority of blacks in America are simply sociopaths that act less than most animals act. Literally watching people walk their dogs, the dogs behave better than most. Islanders are COMPLETELY ashamed of American blacks, but nobody listens to them. Blacks from Africa driving cabs won't even consider picking up a black. There seems to be a certain age group of blacks in this country that should literally be thrown away, along with their parents, who are the immediate culprit. So keep on talking about white this and that, and watch your people slip further and further into the cracks. Or, start taking responsibility for your children and taking control of your lives. It starts with education. It ends with education. I'm not saying forget about what happened in your history, that is not excusable, but wallowing in pity won't change anything. 

My response:

Foolish Enemy who commented as anonymous. A person like you perpetuates the problem within a society that LOVES to continually endorse white privilege.

What people, black and white, fail to acknowledge is that a large majority of blacks in America are simply sociopaths that act less than most animals act.

Really? As opposed to the sociopathic white privilege individuals that would kill in order to preserve "rights" gained through murder, oppressive behaviors and laws!

Islanders are COMPLETELY ashamed of American blacks, but nobody listens to them.

That is a quite interesting concept considering the fact that black Islanders and black Africans should have gratitude for black American's fight to gain access to rights and privileges (you currently enjoy in the U.S.) that were denied to us (black Americans) for centuries by your beloved white privilege. Why exactly are you here in America with us lowly black Americans and not in your island homeland fighting for the same thing black Americans died for here?

So keep on talking about white this and that, and watch your people slip further and further into the cracks.

You make me laugh... loudly. I am going to give you a clue since you don't seem to understand the blatantly obvious! In this world that we currently live in, white privilege doesn't see a difference between black American, black Islander or black African. They only see BLAAAACK and that black that they see, they see as a negative!

So until people that think like you realize this fact we all will sink or swim together in the waters that were polluted by obviously self loathing insecure white privilege endorsing people like them and you!!!

We are basically FIVE centuries deep into an insidious propaganda campaign designed by the United States of America at it's inception, to devalue and destroy black people as a whole.  That insidious propaganda campaign has rooted into the fabric of too many minds in a way that has unfortunately caused even black people to see themselves through the white racist lens that perpetrated the devaluing of us in the first place.

There is intrinsically more damage done to black people when WE are not united and fail to realize the challenges, deception and destruction that we are all presented with when we don't readily acknowledge the fact that WE STILL HAVE NOT OVERCOME!

Black people should never tolerate white privilege!

1500's- (murdering and enslavement of black Africans by white Europeans)

Declaration of Independence 1776 (didn't include black people)

U.S. Constitution 1787 (included black people as property)

Emancipation Proclamation (September 22, 1862 and January 1, 1863) (freed black people from bondage on paper but wasn't federally enforced)

Thirteenth Amendment 1865, abolished and prohibited slavery

Civil Rights Act of 1866, extending the rights of emancipated slaves

Civil Rights Act of 1871, also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act (to combat them organizing to kill black people)

Civil Rights Act of 1875, prohibiting discrimination in "public accommodations"; found unconstitutional (1883)

Jim Crow Laws 1876-1965

Civil Rights Act of 1957, establishing the Civil Rights Commission to ensure black voting rights

Civil Rights Act of 1960, establishing federal inspection of local voter registration polls to ensure black voting rights

Civil Rights Act of 1964, prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin by federal and state governments as well as some public places

Civil Rights Act of 1968, also known as the Fair Housing Act

Civil Rights Act of 1991, providing the right to trial by jury on discrimination claims and introducing the possibility of emotional distress damages, while limiting the amount that a jury could award

Five centuries later, I have the tolerance level of a people who have spent the last 500 years being treated and portrayed as inferior to those that share the skin tone of white European slave owners who enslaved black Africans.  

Black people have continually had to fight for everything that is our right as human beings and American citizens and those very rights we fought for are now enjoyed by many non-blacks.  Yet, in this screwed world sharing the skin tone of people who committed genocides on numerous countries around the world is far more prized than sharing the skin tone of those who fought to level the rights for all of us.

Non-white people should NEVER defend, excuse, perpetuate or succumb to white privilege.

The goal of slavery was to create a system that would continually feed the ideal that to be anything other than Anglo is meant to be shamed and destroyed.  The media(print and broadcast), texts, social history and policy have now taken the place of slavery in the mistreatment and enslavement of black people.  White privilege was spawned from the racism of white cowards that felt inferior without it, including America's forefathers.

Any non-white or white person that champions, defends or excuses a white person's ability to maintain a privilege in this world based on the color of their skin is a foolish enemy to us all.

Black people RESPECT yourselves

"The people formerly known as niggers"



Powerfully to the point! (h/t Ankhesen Mie)

Black people... subdued into a coma!

A coma... that has to be it! Right? It would explain why so many of us are behaving as if there isn't a hell of a lot of wrong going on in the way that this world operates when it comes to race... there is work to do and truths to be told! There are not enough people speaking out on BS (in any and all arenas) and too many are behaving as if it's okay that Black people and communities are failing-- and silence, deference and denial equals complicity.

The frustration and anger that I feel when I see the lukewarm concern about the negative way too many of us view and treat ourselves and each other, and the negative way we are portrayed en masse is overwhelmingly deplorable. I am a Mom (of a beautiful daughter) and I tend to always think about the world living up to EVERYTHING that it should be and in order for that to happen the "status quo" is NOT sufficient.

Regardless of how much we accomplish individually, love it or hate it, we live in a world that places people in "seemingly" identifiable groups based on the color of one's skin. What exacerbates that aspect "of life" in this world is the fact that a person's worth and potential is still attached to the color of their skin and not the 'content of their character'.

America will forever be soiled with the blood of a people that endured kidnapping, familial separation, rapes, beatings, murders and disenfranchisement [due to a government complicit in Slavery, Black codes, Jim Crow and Redlining] until it does right by the generations of people who were wronged. America's character is currently defined by the destruction of a people who built it and received less than what they should have in return.

For the record: I have no problem with people noticing the color of my deep mocha skin but I have every problem with being treated as less than or invisible because of it!

Truth To Be Told

1. We live in a white paternalistic sociopathic society that unfortunately continues to thrive.

2. Education for the children of America in regards to history-- is whitewashed, hollow and riddled with benign truths and horrendous lies. Why has that never been challenged on a national level? An unabridged and limitless education for our children is but one of the many important steps toward righting the wrongs that have been done and continue to be done.


I'm not finished... just getting started!

To the 30% of You'll That Haven't Died Off...Yet.

I have been telling Black people for a long time that no matter what we do to better this country there are still a good majority of you'll (well I think its actually a smaller portion as more of you racists continue dying off..wooh-hooh) that will always consider the people who physically built this country as perpetual outsiders and yourselves as the rightful inhabitants of these United States of America. After all isn't that why history was "reworked" so that it favored the white race as the best thing to happen to the Americas;-).

That wonderful racist vitriol (you know like the word Ni**er) that always sits perched on the tip of your tongues just waiting for the opportunity to let it roll [leaving way too many of us Black people ready to fight] has me thinking about the quality and longevity of our relationship. I have to be honest and say that it is rather sad that after well over 400 years of us getting to knowing each other so up close and personal that Ni**er is the best that you've got...but hey...a well-rounded education hasn't really been a primary concern for a lot of you.

We are in the 21st century and there is a problem that I do have to make you aware of and that is the fact that we (Black people) aren't going anywhere. You'll have had well over three centuries to work this race based stupid shit out for yourselves but you're still lagging. Are we not trying to be helpful with your process as only we can in showing you what is possible by getting the first Black President elected. Get over it already! You people (If I may borrow one of your expressions) have continued to pass down to your generations the ridiculous idea that because our melanin levels are different that you are better.

I am just going to offer a little friendly advice. You should probably stop raising your clans to be racists-in-training because...well...time is moving on very quickly and soon you will be the minority (oops sorry, I know you'll don't like that word being applied to you) compared to those who actually do have common sense. Oh yeah right...education...education...education hasn't been a very big priority for many of you. So, to those of you that are receptive and want something more from your life (because it is past time) you have to step outside of your comfort zone and take the steps necessary to help yourself by pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps.

Well as long as those straps stay on your boots that is... because we wouldn't want you'll to get hurt out there in these different times and all.

POC (People of Color): What's it all about?

I know that this is a yet another term that is supposed to be more unifying and more politically correct but I don't know how I feel about it and I have been thinking about this for a while. Why are we always labeled in some way that no matter what words are used it still says "other".

Person of Color (plural: people of color) is a term used, primarily in the United States to describe all people who are not white. The term is meant to be inclusive, emphasizing common experiences of racism People of color is preferred to both non-white and minority, which are also inclusive, because it frames the subject positively; non-white defines people in terms of what they are not (white), and minority, by its very definition, places the subject in a subordinate position. "Person of color" has a positive connotation and has often been preferred by people of color in the US. (Wikipedia)

This terminology is used because it is considered to be preferred by "people of color" in the US...I don't remember getting a vote. I'm not saying that the word choice is necessarily a "bad" thing but I am questioning why it is necessary at all. It still references classifying "white people" as the norm and everyone else as "other". Think about it...if everyone else is classified as "people of color" then what are white people considered.."clear". I could accept the term "people of color" if it includes us all.

Being "Brown" is not a bad thing which is proven in society everyday. A majority of white people in this world go out of their way everyday risking their lives tanning in the sun and in tanning beds just to be a shade of brown. The cosmetics industry is making millions every year from "bronzing" products so that white people can feel better about their looks by being a shade of brown. Make no mistake about it...bronzing aka browning products were not created for Blacks, Hispanics, Arabs, Native Americans or Asians.

White supremacy has operated under the belief that white people have a higher level of worth in relation to black people simply based on levels of melanin in the skin for far too long when scientifically speaking we are ALL just shades of brown!