As the country continues to endure persistent tremors, the fissures in the foundation of this nation become ever more apparent to those who have their eyes open. It is seemingly the status quo among many to overlook and refuse to acknowledge the magnitude and importance of this country’s original sin that led to the rickety foundation on which we currently stand. Hypocrisy, greed, rape, ignorance, deceit, contempt, and much more, are both the children and parents of this original sin I speak of, the sin of American slavery. One cannot simply dismiss the psychological and physical effects that slavery had, has, and will have on people and generations to come. However, people who do not want to accept the harsh nature of this reality in an attempt to preserve and cling to their ever elusive sense of identity must mentally free themselves if this country is to ever truly be liberated.
At the top of my mind is a pervasive yet revealing truth that burns infinitely despite any attempt to extinguish it. Allow me to explain. If a black person were to be called a “nigger” by a white person in public, there is a chance the black person may be offended, but they just as likely may not be because they understand this word does not accurately describe who and what they are. In this same instance, other white people who witness this verbal attack may oppose and condemn the culprit for their use of the word and deem it as inappropriate and offensive. To some this may sound ironic, but that is where the much deeper and possibly even subconscious issue resides. Despite white people objecting to the use of the word “nigger” to offend a black person, they would not call the person responsible for using this word what they are. A liar. When the word “nigger” is used against a black person in public, I would go so far as to say that this isn’t as much of an attempt to offend the black person as it is a mechanism to empower and remind white people that they are-according to themselves-superior to the subhuman “nigger” that this nation created in its inception. As I mentioned, some white people may disagree with the use of the word, but many would not disagree with the notion. They may think it impolite to say, but not untrue in its essence. Until the so called white person is as personally offended as they may assume a black person would be when called a “nigger,” then we are not at the point we must strive to reach as Americans, because we are not indivisible and do not see each other as one.
The ironic truth is that “white” people have been enslaved by the same systems that their ancestors put in place to subjugate others in an effort to benefit them and perpetuate the prosperity that was believed to have been experienced. What their ancestors did not acknowledge, but presumably understood, is that they were building this wealth at the expense of other humans. They were building on a lie, a rickety foundation that was not and is not sustainable. This is what causes so much anguish and reluctance to accept the realities of what has taken place. Imagine believing oneself to be inherently successful and a product of one’s own fortitude, hard work, and determination, while believing others are worse off because they are inherently lazier, not as smart, and not as capable. Now imagine acknowledging that those who one believes to be lazier, not as smart, and not as capable are really just suffering the consequences of a system put in place to disseminate strategic and systemic inequality, in which they were supposed to be at the bottom of the caste, by design. Furthermore, imagine that in order for one to embrace the disenfranchised people as humans, one must simultaneously strip themselves of their belief in the myth of their inherent superiority that has been at the core of their identity since they’ve had any semblance of identity.
This is a daunting task and is the reason why in some ways I feel empathy for the white American. Black people’s very existence has to elicit feelings of shame and guilt that become internalized and result in both the overt and less blatant racism we see in so many forms because our presence is a constant reminder that white people are not the mythical superiors they pride themselves on being and that the legacy of the United States has an enormous stain. However, the brutality, cruelty, severity, and memory of this stain are intentionally downplayed and repressed. Yet, I remain consistent in advocating for accountability. The taboo must become the mainstream and discomfort the norm for this nation to be all it can be and reach its full potential.
Until so called white people can begin to willingly understand the depths and weight of the burden that others are forced to endure, there will be no progress in this nation, there will be only the cyclical tremors we have become accustomed to witnessing. Only when there is acknowledgment, atonement, and a vicarious sense of sharing this burden will we see true progress. Black Americans were not and are not the only people that must be liberated from their own minds. This mental liberation will and must rattle white people to their core. This process will take immense courage, but in the land of the free and the home of the brave, it must be done.
Construction on a building cannot continue when there are evident flaws stemming from the first step in the process. The structural integrity of the foundation must be addressed before moving forward.