Growing Up As A People
Part II
I SHALL SAY IT AGAIN: THIS IS NOT ABOUT A HATRED OF WHITES/ IT'S ABOUT LEARNING TO LOVE AS BLACKS!
I hope all of well-wishers, do gooders, and liberals read this, and understand that its not all about you. When another person decides to take a bath, it doesn't mean that you're dirty. Or when we close the door to discuss things, or to have a catharsis--we're not always speaking about you. But if, by chance, we as a people conduct ourselves in such a way as to predispose ourselves to exploitation, peril or constant abuse--then it is my duty (an obligation of sorts) to have a discussion in the most universal way possible: possibly the Internet--possibly Google Blogger. In these cases, some of--or most of your people will be discussed--in relationship to the ways your people interact and do trading among our people. We do not discuss things from the standpoint of being accusatory, but only to put "numbers and faces upon the participants," which is a necessity in identifying the members in the game--not to brow-beat the perpetrators.
As I said in my previous article on "Growing Up As A People Part One," "When you have mutual care and respect for one another, then things will be negotiable because of that mutual respect concerning needs and desires. But when there's no love between you and the other person and yet you insist to be part of--hurt will only become part of the equation because you love and care for that person and they do not love you back or reciprocate those feelings." They do not care for you or respect you--and as quietly as it is kept--by engaging in such an activity you don't love yourself or think highly of yourself either.
Its' no good loving somebody, when they don't love you back. As Bonnie Rait said, I can't make you love me, if you don't; I can't make your heart feel something it won't. Right now, many of our people are on some old--Ain't no way for me to love you, if you won't let me (sung by Aretha Franklin from the song, "Ain't No Way"). But if you ever observed Aretha Franklin's relationship with Glynn Turman (the actor), you would realise that that type of relationship usually brings tragic results, because they don't feel like you do.
Love is a reciprocal thing; a person should treat the other person the way they want to be treated. And when you--or in this case, "we" as a people--find out that we are not engaging in a fair exchange, then it is we who must change our behavior, since it is causing us stress, or subjecting ourselves to unwanted danger. After all, "All the world 's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts" --taken from "As You Like It" by William Shakespeare (Act II, Scene VII). It is just bad, when fate deals a hand, then you find out that things are not as you thought they would be: that you and your people were not playing the role you previously thought or knew that providence intended for you to be.
At this point in our development, we must be willing to change our attitude from what we previously thought to be right, into the light of the cold, hard truth--and that in and of itself is work, because we got so accustomed to believing. We believed with all our heart. Sometimes it would appear that we believed in their ability to be fair, more than we believed in ourselves. Almost like those movies where the natives' development was so arrested that the marveled over the White man's technological advancements like he was God and should be worshipped and sacrificed to, in order to appease. The Mayans seem to use the other indigenous tribes for this purpose (sacrifice to appease the gods). But overtop of all of that, we were already here operating within this system, we believed we could just continue on just fine, if we could be treated as equals. And we prayed to the God they taught us about, with all we knew. We believed it could be so. We wanted so bad for our prayers to be honored and we could live in harmony and now--we found out it was not true.
Most of us go through a period of denial, like when a woman first finds out she has an unwanted pregnancy: She wants to throw that pregnancy indicator against the wall, as if it caused all the trouble; Then it becomes, "Why do I have to be pregnant? Why me?" And this type of emotional banter and bickering will probably go on for some length of time--but then you have to face the facts: Despite the improvement in our economic status, despite the medical insurance improvements, despite being able to carry your college children on your insurance for a few more years and the change in the previous existing clause being overturned--despite unemployment wanning--72% White males and 56% White females voted against Obama finishing the job of recovery for the United States. That many did not want Obama or believed his policies would lead us out of this crisis--a.k.a., they don't have faith in what we can achieve.
Now there has been 43 other presidents before him, and a good number of them served more than one term. . . But they didn't want Obama to be amongst them. If I am correct--recessions, depressions, recovery and prosperity come in cycles of 40-45 years. There was a minor one in 1971, spurred on by a major inflationary spiral. It only makes sense that it would take about ten years to recover--and yet the 72/56% would rather gamble with trying another way--than to believe that a Blackman could be the one who rescues the economy. Despite his compassion as a "real father" of this country, the 72/56% of the White population does not want him to have the equal opportunity to save the country. If this election scenario doesn't signal to Blacks about their honest opinion of us, on an overall, I don't know what will. Sometimes I think they set our people up to fail, so the rest of the White Americans can go on believing what they want to believe (although this would be much more difficult to prove in a decisive manner).
When Hitler was expounding about his Aryan superiority, Jesse Owens (a Blackman) defeated his athletes in every category he competed in. When Joe Louis challenged Max Schmeling for a rematch in 1938, very little Whites believed this Blackman could win his title back from such a formidable opponent either. But he did it in the first round.
We kept trying to convince Whites to accept us and respect us (regardless to how many times they snub us), rather than spend the same effort on our own people striving to get Black people to believe in themselves. Being a glutton for denial, is a self esteem issue. A large majority of crimes against humanity are done, because people have the belief that there was no other way that they can achieve such things. A belief in oneself would remedy so many of our ills in the Black communities around the country, as well as the population of Blacks around the globe. Yet there's so much documented proof, substantiating the fact that after so many years of Whites teaching White supremacy, racism has begun to effect how the Black population in America thinks about itself.
That master/slave relationship has gotten so old; but not old enough--if we are not building businesses and hiring Blacks as part of the process. And that won't happen until we have proper respect for each other in our respective roles--a.k.a. Some Black folks think they're slick. Try to be nice and they'll... Why are ALL my supporters looking for goods at discount? Why do you despise me even though I employed you?
Let's field these issues one at a time:
"Some Black folks think they're slick. Try to be nice and they'll..."
Are you someone who's trustworthy? Do you think you are the only one of us who are? Now if you think you are the only one who is trustworthy, then imagine if a whole race of other people felt like you... And you still wonder why it's so tough for Blacks to stay employed? Don't you get it? Many Whites in America today, still have trust issues concerning Blacks; particularly the Blackman. But if you scope the total picture--Whites really do not take any other race into their fold. They "play all other races to the side," being politically correct and cordial--while all the time, they are preserving their inner circle for people who look exactly like them. They even segregate between other Whites who come from their same homeland (Europe). Whites are masters at individualism. Within America, Whites heavily depend on their ruling class and American social structure to secure their freedom and independence instead of their cultural heritage. They rely on being a White who's American and entitled to certain freedoms, than they do rely on being a Englishman, German or Italian in America--for example.
If you are a Black businessperson and are having trust issues, then you should hire those of us whom you have faith in to be most reliable to you--like those from the "good side" of your own family. The most important thing here, is to start your own business and hire from within your own. If you hire a family member, you are securing economy from within the family. The so called "good side," in this case, would represent similar values, similar morals, and a similar social system--resembling somewhat the type of law and order that every member is somewhat comfortable with. This way, instead of venturing out with a bunch of people that you don't trust, you can be the example and vanguard with people that you do. After all, it's plain pessimism to concern yourself only with the people who haven't learned or "stepped up to the plate yet."
Why do you despise me even though I employed you?
The person who plays I Hate them "N"word, is a little harder to explain, but is "the crux of the biscuit" for our article. It usually starts out with a resourceful person, who at some point performs an act that gains him/or her favor. Figuring they are onto something, they search for the things that appeal to the upper class--regardless of whether they like it or not. In Dr. Buzzard's Savannah Band's song, "Cherchez La Femme," the lyric reads, "He'll tell you a lie with a Colgate smile, love you one second and hate you the next--oh, ain't it crazy." They begin to "hobb-knob" and change their appearance (slicking back their hair, etc.), molding and shaping themselves in the affluent image--to appease their "new Gods." The are masters at the chit-chat and politically correct verbiage--while all the while, belittling his own people--muttering underneath his breath, "I Hate them "N"word." If you want more knowledge on this phenomena, see "A Soldier's Story" as a film (playwright Charles Fuller, a Philadelphia native wrote it, along with ZooMan and the Sign).
All of these people mentioned above are notorious for transferring their responsibility for their shortcomings to others. In this way, they never have to change because it's always someone else's fault; there's always someone supposedly holding them back or making them look bad. In a word, defenestration or in this case throwing someone under the bus: a.k.a., "I'm not ok, and nor is anyone else." Let's recognize them for what they are: Camouflaged self-hatred and lack of proper self-esteem. These self-esteem issues are impeding our progress as a people. The way I see it is that we need to give ourselves a big hug and embrace our diversity, instead of the back-bitting and trying to be something that you're not. We have to learn to work with what we got and accentuate the positive aspects.
HOME ECONOMICS
I grew up in a former predominantly Jewish community. By the time my persons was ten, there was very few Jews left in the area. They had moved up north and to surrounding suburban areas, but they kept their stores and services within the now predominately Black neighborhoods. Now there wasn't as many Black stores in my particular part of the neighborhood, as there were in the accompanying neighborhood on the other side of the bridge--so we would often buy clothes, perishables, various food items, and other stuff from the Jewish merchants who lived outside of our communities.
Now parents, here's a jewel for you: Never underestimate what a child sees and understands by what they can articulate--because fears and lack of vocabulary skills can often impede what children are able to tell you. I recall as a young teenager, while working as a porter in an apartment complex--that these Jewish people, who had cars and are well capable of shopping wherever they want--would only shop in their Jewish mini malls and their stores on the Main Line (despite lower prices elsewhere). As a 'youngin' (young person) we were dumbfounded.
But as I got older, I was able to recall what I observed in my youth--but with an older and keener mind. I began to realize by these Jewish people spending money within their own community, amongst their own merchants--they were preserving the wealth of their community by redistributing it several times--assuring better services within their own areas. When we bought items from the Jewish merchants who had stores within our community, he was able to bring in new wealth to his neighboring Jewish community. It was here, where he paid his taxes and bought items from merchants who looked like him. The city then fixed up his areas because of the wealth and taxes regenerated, even opened up malls and business centers in those Jewish areas because of the money potential they represented. Yet that very same act left us in an impoverished state because of the lack of recirculating our income within our communities. Remember this story, please!
I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with those Jewish stores to be in the Black communities. Far from it. In America, under the rules of capitalism, there's free enterprise. This is the way the White man built his government and this is the way that he runs it. If all of us disagree, we would only be 20% of the American public in the wilderness of North America which does, making it a minority issue. If we put it to the table for reform, maybe the idea may gain a 10% boost, from other groups, but that wouldn't be enough to modify the course of action of the nation. No one put a gun to our heads when Blacks go shopping. We had the option to buy from whomever we want within our community. These Jewish merchants represent the traders who had to ignore many of the stereotypes concerning Blacks, while exercising appropriate diplomacy with their Black customers, in order to take advantage of the buying opportunity. And they were very successful at it. They sent their children to law school from the money generated from their business. Some of their children became doctors. There were plenty of merchants who attempted to do so, and were unable to deal with the social conditions that Blacks presented during the1960's and 1970's--in the innercities of places like Philadelphia--particularly after Dr. Martin Luther King had been assasinated. . . I am not criticizing these merchants for taking advantage of the opportunity, nor criticising the quality of the product or services rendered here.
What I am saying is, when given the same opportunity within their respectable communities, the Jewish people (many of whom used to live in our neighborhoods) opted to buy from only Jewish merchants within their new location--rather than spend outside of their sphere of influence. Many times, these purchases were done with Jewish merchants within their communities at considerably higher prices than their competitors--I might add. But these people did so, to strengthen their community and we should take hints quick and learn from this wisdom--because in Philadelphia, we Blacks live in the same ghettos the Jews were able to free themselves from--and of course sell their houses to you.
This is an important lesson for us as Black people, to learn from. We have to stop flocking to areas outside our community, simply because it is cheaper, or the decor is better, because in the end we are giving our money back to the people we work for to earn it from--as opposed to recirculating that money within our own Black communities. It would be different if they lived amongst you, but they don't. . . They wouldn't flock to your business, if the reverse were true. It's not solely, prejudice which would prompt the act-- it's a bad business practice. Support your own people. I know we can be gruff sometimes, but we are trying. . . Just going through growing pains. . . Learn to purchase as much as you can amongst your own people, so we can all grow and prosper from each other. We owe it to ourselves.
On the one hand, if you think about it, the institution of chattel slavery, sold children the way one does a cow, dog, pig or bull. This does set up a condition wherein, the children of the children of the first indentured servants--who were made-slaves for life, would never know any other culture besides servitude to the White man. So it should not come as a surprise why we have so much dysfunction--concerning family and the sense of ourselves--as a people. While on the opposite hand, the White man, who's culture was steadily advancing--owes that advancement in part, to the lot which were bound to serve Whites for life. That's got to mess up the psyche of Blacks, some. . . But we Blacks must be the ones who remedy it.
REPAIRING THE DAMAGE DONE
This is not another one of those, "The White Man Did It"-- episodes. This is a chronological flashback to where these difficulties originated, in order to observe all the elements in their infancy, for the purpose of locating our own implications in this travesty. I am less concerned about pointing out to White America as to what it did wrong, as I am pointing out to Black America--what happened and why we need to do things differently. Having Whites acknowledge and repair problems in race relations, is something outside our control--not relying on the unreliable is something that we can control and remedy. As one writer/activist and comedian (Dick Gregory) puts it, "These are things that we need to change, while this brother and sister are on their way to the White House."
"I say bluntly that you have had a generation of Africans that actually believe that you can negotiate, negotiate, negotiate and eventually get some kind of independence. But you are getting a new generation that has been growing right now, that are beginning to think with their own minds, and see that you can't negotiate up on freedom now a days. If something is yours by right, then fight for it or shut up. If you can't fight for it, then forget it." --Gary Bartz NTU Troop: The Warrior's Song
We are all in human form and therefore subject to having inclinations. Actually, I expect a little preference for your own--because it is your society--but not to the point of your people acting superior to me. I realise that while the ball is in your court, I have to play by your rules. Every person visiting a foreign land, knows of this. But no man is greater or less than me in my eyes. When you are visiting foreign lands, the same rules apply. But when issues get pass simple politics, there are embassies to negotiate between countries. Here lies one of the problems: the Black man in America is like a people without a country: There are no major business or lobbyist of trading interests to negotiate for him: he has no embassy nor sovereignty in America. He is un-repatriated formerly oppressed and repressed with only his former servitude to this country to define his worth to America.
It is important for us to recognize that we are as visitors to this country until we become economically sound, and have a sense of nationality and diaspora. When I speak of diaspora, I speak of one people around the globe and a sense of belonging to those people. When I speak of chronology, I speak of the events and actions of our people, which should indicate to you what we have and can achieve once more. I speak to you of the lessons we should take from the things that we've been through, and what should be expected of us. I get so tired of my people who learn chronology, only to use as bragging rites. I have no time for that. I use chronology to recapture my culture and tradition. I use it to learn of my people's capability. I use it to figure where we veered off at. But most of all, I use it to extract the underlying significance of what I went through, so I can determine which way I should go. The main purpose of knowledge and sciences is to make accurate calculations and projections.
I always interview and update myself on the policies of the company I keep, so I can make sure that we are still on the same page and headed in the same or similar directions. I am secure within the company that I keep because we are all talking of a united Black people and not talking about just fitting in and staying under the scrutiny and judgment of a people who don't love us. And it's alright, if they don't. We can just be cordial and fair to each other. They have that right to construct their world anyway they want and so do I. Me and my people are building communities with the right thoughts in our conscious realms.
Instead of convincing America of how much Blacks are worth to American society, why don't we reinvest these efforts in ourselves? The more responsibilities I have the more responsible I realize I should be. Thus, the purpose for these writings. But those are rules I govern my persons by, and this is not an attempt to force them on others. I don't get paid for this, outside of the love you have for me and I for you. So if these words sound true, make sure they are and govern yourself by what you know to be true. I listed some of our areas to tackle and in writings to come, there shall be more. Let's get to work!
Peace and Blessings,
C. Be'erla Hai-roi Myers
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