Once again, Black History month is upon us. It's the time of year where everything black becomes relevant to the every day narrative of the American people. Mind you, it's the shortest month of the year. How can such a short period of time encompass a few hundred years' worth of history? Is it by some nefarious design? Is it an attempt to give a little but not too much? These are the million dollar questions.
This speaks to a greater issue prevalent to this country. It speaks to a system that is set in place, since this country's inception, that still hasn't been properly addressed. We learn about the Constitution and the Founding Fathers (quiet as its kept some of these men are the fathers of our fathers) but are we aware that slavery IS written into this document? It just isn't named. Do you know the fugitive slave acts are also written into it? You have to ask why are amendments necessary? Why is citizenship a topic that needs amending? Who are they talking about when they utter the phrase, "We the people...?"Let's not forget...black people were considered 'property.' The Constitution makes sure that's protected!
I'll never forget my Political Science professor, who shall remain nameless because he was recently voted into political office in the Bronx, denied the existence of slavery in the document. I thought it strange considering how knowledgeable he is about the political make up of the country. He knows the ins and outs of how the government operates. However, that feigned ignorance speaks to a larger problem of not properly connecting the dots that led up to the Constitution's signing. Hence, we need more than a month to apprise the populace of the history and legacy of a people that made all of this possible. Everyone needs to know who's responsible for building an economic system that surpassed the rest of the world in making the United States a super power.
Without properly connecting the dots, mistakes like this are taught in our schools on a daily basis. This is a disservice to ALL students because it does not explain the unfair system that is in place for economic reasons that victimized a whole race of people, and left behind the poisonous vestiges that underpin racism. I bet many don't know that Apartheid was modeled after American practices. South Africa studied us and improved upon our hideous system of race-based terrorism. We need to make that information readily available and included in curricula.
Post-racial is nothing but present-day denial. It makes it way too easy to sidestep the real issue at hand, and excuses practices that still affect the world today. The damage reaches far beyond a pretty package of Post-Racialism..... Ask yourself, what does the term 'Civil Rights' imply? It speaks to the lack of civility by an uncivilized few that make laws necessary to treat your fellow man with humaneness. That's what it is....
Anyway, before I get stuck on my soapbox, I want to post a video about the slave trade that addresses what we don't read in the textbooks, and explains its effect on ALL people. Take a look so you can see what took hundreds of years to create and how it will not, and cannot, be appeased by giving us a measly month.....28 days!!
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