WHY BLACK FOLKS MUST EMBRACE OUR PAST

I have never felt more strongly compelled to write a blog than I am to write this one.  The Doug Banks syndicated radio show, which features adult conversation call-ins mixed with music, recently asked the question of its audience as to whether Hollywood was exploiting slavery with all its slave films or if they were trying to tell the story of African Americans.  Banks wondered aloud why Hollywood makes such films if black people don’t want to see them.  I couldn’t listen to all of the callers, but those I heard expressed ire at seeing their forbearers treated worse than animals. 

A few days later, I picked up a copy of the Redeye, a free weekly paper published by the Chicago Tribune, aimed at younger people, and read a column by a young African American, Ernest Wilkins, who explained why he had no intentions of seeing the slave film, “12 years a Slave,” or any other films dealing with slavery.  Wilkins wrote, “I have no interest in seeing guys who look like me being treated like cattle.”

I’ve been deeply troubled for some time by the apparent disconnect between younger
African Americans and their history.  Helplessly I’ve watched as the lessons gleaned in the late ‘60’s and early 70’s (a time of political and cultural renaissance in the black community) were not only lost but eviscerated as evidenced by  black women being regarded as female dogs as opposed to “Nubian Queens, ” young men showing their underwear, and the list goes on. The reasons for this disconnect are myriad and complex.  Yet the reaction to the film”12 years a slave” has finally given me something tangible to begin to address this issue.

I am not writing this to castigate any African Americans for having reservations about vicariously experiencing slavery through film.   Such unbelievable cruelty toward one’s people is indeed difficult to watch.  It’s painful for me to watch as well. I am writing as a village elder, trying desperately to send a message to subsequent generations (and perhaps to some members of my own generation) on why our entire story- be it slavery or ancient African dynasties- must always be told.  First, the enslavement of black folks is NOT something for which we should feel shame.  The shame in slavery falls on the perpetrators, not the victims.  While there is no pride in our having been slaves, there is enormous pride in the fact that we persevered.  No matter how much self hatred they tried to beat into us, no matter how much denigration, humiliation and terror they tried to strike they could never, ever, kill that indomitable will to be free.  The more harsh the treatment, the more painful its presentation is to watch, the greater is the accomplishment of having survived it and gone on to incredible accomplishments.  You cannot judge a race without at least having an idea of the starting point.

Second.  Just as Neo Nazis have tried to deny the Holocaust, today’s racists deny that slavery was all that bad.  Powerful and influential people like Rush Limbaugh, the unofficial Godfather of the Republican Party, and Glen Beck have created an alternative universe in which white folks are the victims of black oppression!!  Over a year ago I wrote “Consider that the Texas Board of Education just a year ago tried to eliminate the word “slavery” from the slave trade in textbooks and rename it the “Atlantic triangular trade.”  It’s not just white racists.  Negro activist, Ben Carson further trivialized slavery when he said that Obamacare is the worst thing since slavery.   Movies about the holocaust have to be painful for Jewish people to watch.  They’re painful for me to watch.   But Jewish people, quite rightfully, will never let the world forget what was done to them during that horrible period.

Third.  In his column on why he won’t see “12 Years a Slave” or the upcoming remake of “Roots,” young Mr. Wilkins reports, “nothing will change.”  Once again, this is an understandable reaction of frustration with the status quo.  But the reality is that nothing will ever change, at least not for the better, until we at least understand the issues that framed and formed the problems we have right now.  The underdevelopment of the African American community, the crime, the poor schools and poverty,    all have their roots in slavery.  Without a historical context, one could only assume that black folks are just horrific underachievers.  That is why the racists are so keen on denying or whitewashing slavery.  They maintain that the current plight of many black folks, just like slavery itself, is nothing more than a manifestation of the natural order of things. 

Finally, (I use the word loosely for I haven’t begun to scratch the surface) a people with no history have no future.  Without a shared culture and history, you do not have a people, you have a collection of individuals who look alike.  I’ve met young people who celebrate the M L King Holiday, and the “I Have a Dream” speech, but have no idea of what Jim Crow was.  Should we bypass the water hoses and church bombings of the ‘60’s as well, because they are too painful to watch?  History is not something in books about people with whom we have no connection.  By the act of living, we are participating in the same history in which the slaves participated.  If our young people understood that slaves risked their lives to learn to read and write, then maybe they would have a greater appreciation for education.  If African Americans are ever to advance we must embrace all of our past, painful though it may be.  If our ancestors could endure, the least we can do is acknowledge!  This embrace must be done in a sense of pride in the enormous obstacles that we continue to strive to overcome.   Sankofa.  We have to look back to move forward. 

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