Race Matters

As I watched the CNN special, I was happy knowing that America would finally get a glimpse at what it was like to be Black in America. During the commercial, I logged on to Facebook to see how many people were updating their profiles about watching the CNN series. I found that a number of people were actually upset about the way in which the program portrayed the injustices of America, that were misconstrued to look like a myriad of problems in the African American community. I then reevaluated the program and I began to feel the same way. The media continues to hold African Americans exclusively accountable for the injustices they face with out giving a holistic view, and advocating that America be responsible for the discriminatory practices assigned in American institutions. As W.E.B. Du Bois once said, the problem of the the 20^th Century, and now the 21^st Century, is the color-line, and until America realizes its own wrong doing, then we cannot solely hold those accountable for trying to survive in a world that makes it clear, that a White life is prized over “others.”

I am reading Race Matters, by Cornel West. He eloquently explains it as such:

“Our truncated public discussions of race suppress the best of who and what we are as a people because they fail to confront the complexity of the issue in a candid and critical matter. To engage in a serious discussion of race in America, we must begin not with the problems of Black people but with the flaws of American society-flaws rooted in historic inequalities and longstanding cultural stereotypes.” (2 - 3).

African Americans are not a "problem people." America is a flawed society. My next read is The Souls of Black Folk, by W.E.B. Du Bois. Check it out!

What’s the reality?...In order for our country to move forward as a nation freed of racial and social inequalities, we have to be willing to hold hands in harmony with our neighbor to achieve our goal. (That sounds so MLK’ish). But how can we be proud of our own country who was once proud to showcase lynchings on postcards or recently, threatened to lynch our own presidential candidates wife? How can you love your country, if you don’t love your brethren?