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Equality...Not Just A Black Thing
When it comes to Barack Obama and Rev. Al Sharpton’s opinions on racism, many would agree that they are polar opposites. In fact, some would even go so far as to say that they aren’t even fighting for the same things.
I disagree. I think that they are fighting for the same things, just not for the same groups. Obama’s fight for equality doesn’t discriminate, while Sharpton’s fight is exclusive to the African-American community.
In a book titled “In the Shadow of Race,” the author Victoria Hattam does a good job of pointing out not only the differences between the two, but also the differences between other African-Americans and minorities in America.
After highlighting examples of their speeches at the 2004 Democratic Party convention held in Boston, and other forms of rhetoric to further illustrate their differences; Hattam’s conclusion is that both their stances on racism are now a tradition in the U.S.
If we could just pause for one minute though and go back to my own writing in the very piece that you are reading, you see an example of separatism. If you go up just two graphs, you will see it. Why was it necessary for me to exclude African-Americans from the minorities in America group?
Could it be that I have been socialized to alienate myself from other minority groups in America because my group is the only born citizen group in America that was enslaved after forced arrival?
In the words of Hattam, could it be that I am keeping myself from gaining political allies in a contemporary struggle for equality because I feel like this fight is mine and only mine? Is that why Bill O’Reilly thinks the real problem with blacks is that we don’t understand white anger over our anger about racism, and not that the problem stems from their lack of understanding?
Is that why other members in the minority group in America think that their fight for equality in this country would be an easier task without us, because our ‘crabs in a bucket’ mentality is weighing them down too?
Is that why Dave Chapelle makes jokes about all Americans being racist and bigots, because we are? Is that why, more than any other race, more African-Americans think that America is not ready for a black president, because we (as in they) are not?
The minority group in America is just that, a group. Either we want to be apart of it or we don’t. American nationalism is coming with or with out us and when we are the odd man left out, still singing “We will overcome,” it’s going to be no ones fault but our own.
Posted on:Thursday, October 9, 2008by:
jaimalano
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This is really honest and insightful.
Thank you. -Jai