Racism Part II, Going Back to Africa...
Africa is a continent. If there is one thing that I've noticed they fail to emphasize in school is that Africa is a continent, the same way Europe and Asia are continents. From my first world geography lesson I've have been taught the various countries in Europe. Italy, Portugal, Spain, Ireland, England, Turkey, Romania, Hungary, Germany, Ukraine, Sweden, Belgium... there are dozens. And I was taught that each had it's own language, culture and history. And even though the descendants of immigrants from those countries today consider themselves simply American, they still know where they are from. It is the same with Asian countries. Japan, China, Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam... Believe it or not Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Saudi Arabia and the entire "middle east" is part of the Asian continent.
Not so with black people, why? Because AFRICA IS NOT A COUNTRY!! It takes up 20% of the earths land, and is more than 3 times the size of Europe. It is made up of dozens of smaller countries. Uganda, Somalia, Madagascar, Morocco, Egypt (yes, Cleopatra wasn't white), Mozambique, Chad Sudan, Tanzania... Just because all the people are of a darker complexion doesn't mean they are the same. They had their own languages, cultures, traditions, religions, family structures. Unfortunately, I had to get to college before anyone bothered mentioning this.
People don't realize the significance of identity. The ability to know who you are, even if you move on and become something else you still know where you come from. It is the same with Hispanics. They suffer discrimination once they arrive here, but the still have their own countries and a united spirit of shared nationality. Language, culture, history & family. I have many white friends who are American and love this country, but also are proud to be Italian, Greek or Irish and I think that is awesome, I envy that.
Black people are a creation of America; a product of colonization and slavery. We don't exist anywhere else in the world. I once heard the phrase, "We are America's bastard child." After slavery ended the country had to figure out what to do us. When we were brought here through the middle passage, our languages were beaten out of us, our cultures were beaten out of us. Once we were "free" we no longer had homes in Africa, because most of the continent had been raped and divided amongst the European powers (exception: Marcus Garvey's PanAfrica Movement & the Liberia Project http://www.marcusgarvey.com/). During reconstruction our former owners were disgusted by us, we were a constant reminder in the south of a lost war; and contrary to popular belief, we weren't really wanted up north either. One of the greatest testaments to the strenght of Black people is that we are still here. Hated, oppressed and held to the strictest version of freedom courtesy of the Black Codes, Jim Crow and legalized segregation, we have survived and managed to achieve so much greatness in the last 150 years. We taught our children to read and write when it was illegal and the penalty was a merciless beating or even death. Black people have fought in every American war, we had to fight to marry, vote, to hold office, earn the same wage, protect our families, attend the same schools, use the same bathrooms, to be seen as human beings. We had to fight to form a new identity and culture and rebuild our family bonds. Our freedom was not given, despite what they tell us in school. It was won, through many hard fought battles. If there is any race of people that should walk with pride, it is mine.
posted by Gift From Virgo at 1:03 PM
2 Comments:
Just a comment about the line "Black people are a creation of America." I think perhaps what you meant is that AFRICAN AMERICANS are a creation of America. As you are probably aware, there are actually black people who are NOT Americans but are AFRICANS and there are black people who are CARRIBEANS etc. Not every black person is American and thus not every black person is "America's bastard child". Believe it or not, there are Black people who know where they are from, whether it be any of the 55 odd countries that make up the entire continent of Africa or those that constitute the Carribean...Categorizing all black people as African Americans is as bad as addressing the entire continent of Africa as a country instead of specifying which of the 55+ countries you are referring to. But on a more positive note, thanks for educating the uneducated about the fact that Africa IS INDEED a CONTINENT with its own COUNTRIES and needs to be addressed as such. I'm so tired of people saying they went to "Africa" as if Africa were a country and not a continent.
That's some nice reverse racism. What about Indians? True Indians that were not only slaughtered by the thousands at a time, but who's land was raped from them. Although I'm only about 10% Shawnee Indian, it sickens me to hear someone say "My people suffered so much...blah, blah, blah"--you didn't suffer a bit. You read a book, and since you're obviously black, you now want to be associated with everything that portrayed a negative effect of caucasians. FUCK YOU and now I'm walking with pride, you racist piece of trash.
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