It’s a never-ending source of debate, discussion, Hollywood
fodder and, sadly, hatred. Race. No, not a marathon or a 5K or anything of that
nature. It’s the hue of one’s skin…
black and white… even black and “high yellow”. And as an extension, it’s about this
country’s history of slavery, the fight for Civil Rights, and the ongoing
struggles of black folk. It’s about the inequality of blacks as compared to
whites when it comes to unemployment, wealth (or lack thereof), educational
opportunities, and equality under the law.
There are many facets to this issue, and each one deserves
its own, in-depth consideration. Although each facet may be touched on here,
today I am thinking about slavery and why we can’t “just get over it”. And by
“we” I mean Americans. Black and white.
I should also provide a disclaimer here: I am a white woman
and therefore, this is written from that perspective. I am going to try to be
painfully honest here, even if that means being politically incorrect. However,
nothing here is meant to be unsympathetic or accusatory towards anyone, and
certainly is not meant to be offensive. But it might be ugly… because slavery
was, to put it mildly, ugly.
I’ve heard it said countless times by all sorts of people of
every shade: This isn’t the 1800s or even the 1950s. No one that is alive today
was a slave. Why can’t they (meaning black folks) just get over it? And to a
certain degree, I understand where this position comes from, even if I don’t
agree with the “get over it” part. And yes, it’s been uttered by black and
white alike. There are many, many black folks who grew up in poverty,
surrounded by drugs and gangs and violence. They had to fight for their
education, but they have succeeded and have built a life for themselves. They,
too, look at other black folks who haven’t “risen above”, with the mindset of
“I did it, they could too… if they wanted to… if they would try”.
We live today, and have for decades, in a world where
legislatively, we are all guaranteed equal rights (well, except for the LGBT
community… but that’s a different blog).
Some would argue that with affirmative action, black folks (as well as
other non-caucasian folks) have more rights and opportunities than whites. For
example, our workforce is under constant scrutiny for evidence of diversity. If
a position, especially one in management or in the “executive” realm opens up, companies
look only at people of color and women to fill the position. [Contrary to what
some people believe, whoever gets the job, be it a black man or woman, a
Hispanic man or woman, a white woman, etc., is qualified for that job.
It’s not like a company will pluck someone off the street who didn’t graduate
from high school to run the company just
because they can check off the right box on the application. It’s that they
can actually DO the job they’re being hired to, and they can check off that box.]
And yes, it is irritating to constantly hear how everything
is white people’s fault. Drug problems in the Black Community are white
people’s fault. We (and I say we because I am white) put the drugs in those
communities to cripple and destroy them. We are the money in the drug trade,
and “hired” blacks to deal to their families and neighbors. Black-on-black
violence is white people’s fault because we put the guns in those communities.
We put liquor stores on every street corner in black neighborhoods to destroy
the neighborhoods and the people who live there. We move into poor black neighborhoods for the
cheap rent, then drive up the cost of everything, thereby driving the folks in
that neighborhood out. [Gentrification is actually a very important issue to
me, and is totally a separate blog. Again, I am by no means trying to minimize
or invalidate any of these things… these are just different ways that I have
heard white people being blamed for ills in black communities.]
The thing is, there’s a lot of truth in these arguments. For
example, when drugs were a problem in poor neighborhoods and communities (both
black and white, but primarily black), no one cared. There was no media
coverage. There was no war on drugs. We didn’t care. It wasn’t until the
problem started to seep into white, middle- and upper-class neighborhoods that
we got involved. When debutantes and bankers were overdosing on heroin or were
stealing from their rich parents to support their crack habit that we declared
a war on drugs.
Despite the elements of truth in the assignment of blame on
the white community, we cannot hold the people who fall prey to drugs, gangs,
violence, etc. blameless. No one forces anyone to pick up that crack pipe, or
snort that line of cocaine. No one is forced to shoot that heroin into his or
her veins. People must make a conscious effort to pick up a bottle of booze or
beer and drink it. One black kid showing disrespect to another black kid, and
then being shot in the dead because of it, did not include any action on the
part of a white person. Those are all choices
that individuals make, and they must take responsibility for the repercussions
of their actions. Period. If there is no personal accountability,
then isn’t that admitting that every racist who says that “ALL black people are
(fill in the blank)”… that they’re correct?
But yes, we white folks do hold some responsibility in the
ongoing struggle of not only black folks, but all racial/ethnic minority groups
(as well as women in general). But each individual must take responsibility for
their individual choices and actions too. Because not all black people are
criminals. Not all black people are drug addicts. Not all black people are on
welfare. Not all black men are rapists. Not all black women are prostitutes.
Not all black people are lazy and prefer to live off of the government versus
get a job and work. Not all black kids are gang members. BUT… there are criminals, drug addicts,
rapists, prostitutes, gangsters, and lazy people of every race, creed, color,
hue, etc. Including black people.
Closely related to “blame whitey” mentality, it seems to me,
is that a lot of black folks go back to slavery as the reason that they are in
the position they are. It’s because of
slavery that they are poor, or uneducated, or unemployed, or whatever their
adverse situation might entail.
This might feel like I am jumping
around a bit, but stick with me. When black
folks mention slavery, in the company of white folks, more often than not, the
reaction is to either roll one’s eyes or sigh with “here we go again” implied.
When it comes to the issue of
slavery, white people are, quite frankly, at a loss on what to do, what to say,
or how to react. Why? I think it’s
because white people have not really come
to terms with slavery yet. I can
remember being maybe 7 years old, watching ROOTS, and being absolutely
horrified. I remember asking my mom why “we” would do that to other people. Why
would “we” whip, beat, buy and sell other people? ROOTS portrayed slavery as brutal,
violent, ugly, horrific. Black families were torn apart by the white slave
owners who, as a common occurrence in the trade, would separate husbands from
wives, brothers from sisters, and parents from children. Male owners would rape the female
slaves. I have only seen ROOTS once in
my life… 35 years ago, at the age of 7. Yet there are so many images that I can
still recall so clearly. Nightmarish images. And yet, it was Hollywood. So no
matter how brutal slavery seemed to be portrayed, it was still softened as
compared to what that life really was.
In the 35 or so years since ROOTS
was broadcast, there have been thousands of movies, TV shows, mini-series, etc.
that have touched on slavery. None of
them, however, have portrayed the brutality of slavery like ROOTS did. And I
think, because of that, we have a very watered down view of what slavery was.
We are more mindful of the “tragic” effect the Civil War had on white families
who found themselves on both sides of the war, than we are of how slavery
outright destroyed black families.
It’s almost like we see slavery as having
been just a really shitty job. Ok, so the white slave owners didn’t pay a wage
to their slaves. BUT, they gave their slaves a place to live, food, clothing,
etc. They (the slaves) were “given” all the basics, so isn’t that almost the
same as getting a wage? I mean, if they were paid a wage, they would have had
to give the money back to the slave owners by way of rent, groceries, clothing,
etc. And yes, there was punishment if
they disobeyed or tried to escape. And
yes, there were rapes. And that part was bad. But overall, it wasn’t as bad as what black
people say it was. Right? PLUS, who today has been a slave? No one. AND look at
all the black people on welfare and food stamps and WIC and stuff. Not working
but still getting paid. [Yes, I understand how ignorant that sounds, and this
part is meant to be sarcastic!] Why can’t they just get over it?
To those people I ask this: why
can’t WE (meaning white folks) admit to the true brutality of what slavery was?
Imagine having your husband, wife, mother, father, son, daughter, brother,
sister, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, ripped from your home, tied to a
tree, and whipped until their flesh had been torn from their bones. To have
them sold, never to see them again. Never to know if they are dead or alive.
Sick or well. If they had children of their own. As a man, to have your wife,
mother, sister, daughter raped over and over, have to face their rapist every
day, and do nothing. To crave freedom so badly that you risk everything to escape,
knowing what awaits you if you’re not successful. To have limbs cut off so that
you can’t try to escape again. To be burned, experimented on, used and thrown
away. Could you “just get over it”? And to add insult to that injury, to
(forgive the pun) whitewash slavery and relegate it to a smudge on our history,
versus what it was. We Americans sit in judgment of the Germans and what they
did to the Jews during WWII. Is what WE
did really so much better? NO!
Until we as white people understand
and accept the true, brutal nature of what slavery was, we will never be able
to truly comprehend what we did. And until we understand the depth of how
inherently evil and wrong slavery was, we cannot come to the table to begin the
healing process.
And to that end, I think from the
black perspective, I can understand why they can’t “get over it”. Yes, the
North won the Civil War. Yes, Civil Rights legislation was passed. But it’s all
just words. Where is the actual contrition for what was perpetrated against a
whole race of people? We (white people) purposely and intentionally sailed
ships to Africa, trapped and kidnapped and stole people, packed them
like animals into the ships, sailed them thousands of miles to a foreign land,
bought and sold them like animals, treated them worse than animals. Even after
the Civil War, when we were forced to set them free, we lynched them,
prevented them from “enjoying” the fruits of their freedom. Even after
legislation was passed guaranteeing them equal rights under the law, we lynched
and discriminated against them. We watered down the slavery experience so that
we could feel better about it. We have denied them their history, their family,
their rights. HOW can they get over it? We stole so much from them, and won’t
even admit to it. In court… if an accused reaches a deal with the prosecution,
it typically requires that they appear in open court for allocution. When will WE allocute to our crimes?
I have many friends of various
races and ethnicities, and we often discuss race relations in context of
current events and such. But what has
brought this into my mind most recently is the release of Quentin Tarantino’s
movie Django Unleashed. Even before
seeing the movie, I was following the debate going on in the press and via social
media. One comment that has stayed with me (thanks to Twitter) is that all of
the rhetoric aside, the one thing that Q should be credited with is that in
this movie, he shows the brutality of slavery in a way that it hasn’t been
shown since ROOTS.
Having now seen the film, I will
say this. There were 4 scenes in the movie that will stay with me the way ROOTS
has. I cried twice in the movie, and felt
physically ill. I turned my head or closed my eyes briefly in these scenes, but
only for a moment. I forced myself to watch them. To take them in. To let the
images be seared into my memory.
My hope is that whether people go
to see this movie or not, that the brutality of slavery is brought front and
center, and is a topic that is thoroughly and realistically brought to light.
And despite the controversy about whether it’s a black story or white story,
and whether it “should” be told by a white director or not… I think it’s
actually better for it to be told by a white guy. If this was a Spike Lee film,
we white folks would look that these brutal scenes and say “he’s exaggerating”.
From a white guy though? Maybe more folks will look at these scenes and really
stop to think about how brutal this ugly period of our history is.
And I think if we, as white people,
can finally and honestly look at slavery from that viewpoint, and see the
brutality for what it was,we can come to the table with sincere contrition, and
begin to finally heal from this scourge on our (American) history. Then, and
only then, can we begin to heal this terrible divide based on skin color. And
only then can we begin to realize the potential we have as Americans, all of
us.
