Post Racial America

We are living in what most say is something called a post racial society. Based on the word “post” it implies that racism no longer exists. It amazes me that anyone would come to this conclusion when you look at the state of relations in America today on any level. African Americans and people of color lead every negative category across the board; be it unemployment, healthcare, housing, education, you name it. Yet, there are those who say things have changed.

I share many Thought Provoking Perspectives on a wide range of subjects but interestingly enough the hate mail comes when I speak to a reality we all know is truth. I know it sound good and all that but the reality is that not much has changed. Yes, we do have a “Black Face” in the White House and I am glad to have lived long enough to have witnessed this phenomenal event.

Frankly, no one living or dead would have thought that an African American would ever live in the White House as president. But just for the record; let me remind you of what Carter G. Woodson said in 1933 in his still relevant novel “The Mis-Education of the Negro:  

“History shows that it does not matter who is in power... those who have not learned to do for themselves and have to depend solely on others never obtain any more rights or privileges in the end than they did in the beginning.” In the same novel he also reminded us that “if you control what a man is thinking you don’t have to worry about what he thinks”.

Post racial in many respects is nothing more than putting a new name or title on what I would argue will never change. I can recall in my lifetime where the “N-Word” was the last thing a black man, or woman, heard before being lynched. I remember vividly the KKK terrorizing black communities burning down houses and bombings churches under the protection of law; this is also to include murder with no justice for the crime. These cowards held down and raped black women for amusement.

Like the Dixcrats that are now the Republican and Tea Partys are not that much different than the Citizens Counsels of old. Today, the police still act in many regards under a similar code. They can “Stop and Frisk” you at their pleasure, beat and brutalize, and kill with no repercussions. The Prison Industrial Complex where you find “Just Us” is big business filled with 21^st Century Slaves trade on the Stock Market; just like slaves were back in the day.

I’ve seen guns and drugs proliferate black communities with murder at unprecedented rates. We just accept it and the legacy and lifestyle that come with it. When there was talk of a revolution; CONINTELPRO was created and that put an end to any thought of freedom. The president spoke loudly of “Change” and said “Yes we can”. I have not seen it!

Mr. President, with all due respect, it’s time that we hold you accountable and make possible change we can believe; just like at the drop of a dime you send billions all over the world in an instant. You can reach out and touch or throw a lifeline to the millions who look like you right here in America. You say that you are trying to be the president of all people. Well aren't African Americans people or are you viewing it as the Constitutions say -3/5 human.

African Americans have been here since August of the year 1619 and they are still debating whether or not we can vote. Just for clarity, every so many years that portion of the Voting Rights Act must be reauthorized and signed into law, and in the span of time between re-authorization they try every trick imaginable to suppress the vote. Mr. President if you do nothing more for the people and their children who look like you; use your power to at least make Voting Rights permanent.

So it’s time for the rational minds to return to earth and stop using the meaningless term “post-racial” because there’s no such thing! There’s no place that fits that description in America. There’s no “post-racial era.”  Never has and never will! It’s a term for a concept that does not exist. 

I knew Jim Crow and see his son, James Crow Jr. Esq., as being more clever and wicked than his namesake. I never thought I would say this but I felt more comfortable and safe during segregation. And that’s my Thought Provoking Perspective…