I needed to know me, I wanted to know why I was like this, I longed to know what people like me were called. Soon, I learnt it was black, and my race os called "The Black Race".
Black, why black? Is it just and issue of the colour of my skin or more? This I sought to know, and the following I learnt and some others, I learnt to unlearn.
"In the world of learning, it was long assumed that black people had no history worth studying, either in Africa, or in the various parts of the world containing communities of black African descent. This view of Africa as a continent lacking culture, civilisation, progress and therefore history, had the sanction of such distinguished figures in Western culture as David Hume and Hegel. Culture, progress and civilisation, it was supposed, were brought to Africa by white explorers, traders, missionaries, settlers and rulers. These people 'made' African history – a process to which the black Africans were supposed to be hostile, or at best indifferent.
These views were scarcely challenged, except by a few remarkable pioneers, until the growth of serious enquiry into African history over roughly the past thirty years. Hitherto, for the British, the serious study of African peoples was left to the anthropologists. (Too bad)"
"Black skin color is due to too much melanin, the skin pigment responsible for color." Scientifically, this pigment is a form of protection against the harsh rays of the sun and other external factors. That's why white people are more prone to have sunburn when left exposed under the heat of the sun for prolonged periods of time, compared to the blacks. Also, they are more prone to having skin cancer with particular mention to those from Australia as they are the ones with the highest skin cancer index."
My encyclopedia describe the afore to me about Black people, but believe me I wasn't satisfied for there was more, it couldn't just be an issue of a coloration on my skin.
Some call themselves the "Day" and refer to us as the "Night", they say they are "Light", this must mean the term "Darkness" has been carefully reserved for us and people who don't look like them.
I'll take a little moment to show you what medicine, a branch of science feels about us.
Earlier definitions of black people described them as those who are of Sub Saharan-African ancestry. Today, the term has been embraced to include the indigenous inhabitants of Oceania and even some parts of Southeast Asia. Along with this are key characteristics like the hair texture being afro-like (dense, thick and wooly haired individuals) and of course those who really look black.
The blacks, on the other hand, are more protected from vitamin folate destruction which makes them healthier beings for reproduction. Hence, it is safe to say that under natural conditions (without the aid of medicine, vitamins and other forms of supplementation) the blacks have a higher life expectancy and chances of survival and reproduction when left in the tropics compared to the white people.
Black or White, none made themselves, for all were made " by THE COLOURLESS" the one and only Supreme being. And He made them in his own image as I read from "The Book", he was clinical about his egalitarianism. But somewhere along the line, some began to attach importance to their skin colour and race. The feeling of superiority filtered in, creating a distinction between the two colours. Civilization was no friend of the black one, it stood on the side of the white one, making him all the days of ancient/ancestral existence the special being, as the black race was characterized indeed by darkness of all sorts, viz Science, Religion, Commerce, Finance, etc. But the worse of all a 2nd-fiddle mentality/psychology.
The blackman's woes were further confirmed when scientist(obviously the white coloured one) came up with an hypothesis that dealt another huge blow to his self-esteem;
They claim that black people are less intelligent and more prone to commit violence than the whites. Most likely it is because of the way they think (leaving me asking HOW? How exactly do we think???). Well, thousands of years went by and they could not find a basis to consolidat their hypothesis, and it was soon kicked out as having no clear proof or validation to this notion, and even if there will be proof, the case is difficult to get generalized as being intelligent and violent can be a result of lots of variables and situations that are hard to control.
My fathers once told me as a little black boy that; "BLACK IS NOT SYNONYMOUS TO LACK" and this was in sharp contrast with the happenings and thing I saw growing up as a child in this part of the globe. I read and learnt about how my people were bundled in ships and transported like goods, while closely packed and condensed in tightly enclosed vessels and sold as slaves to the man with the 'bright' skin. My people were sold for little or nothing, and were dehumanized, made to suffer hard labour in sugarcane farms, mills etc owned by, and for the continuous existence of the man with the light skin.
Perhaps, we saved them from extinction, for their life and existence depended on us in more ways than I can elucidate here or can be imagined.
Well, times changed, many years passed by and today the case is not the same, as men from both races have come to understand that they are equal with same rights to be as much human as the man with the other colour. World over the man with the black skin has proven his mettle and dominated in many spheres, eventhough he is yet to catch up with his white counterparts.
Amazingly, the major leaders of the stigma have now within their political, economic, scientific and even religious structures, the man with the black skin, as brains behind their continuous growth and development. Infact a major nation and world power is now ruled by "the man with a black skin" as president, in person of Barrack Hussien Obama. The same people who killed/silenced scores of human right activists who moved and fought for the 'emancipation' of the black man. Notable among them was Martin Luther King (jr), who had a dream that;
"ONE DAY HIS PEOPLE(the black man) WILL NO LONGER BE JUDGED BY THE COLOUR OF THEIR SKIN, BUT BY THE CONTENT OF THEIR CHARACTER".
A battle well fought has brought us this far and well. Although there is yet much more to achieve, as RACISM, that ancient, ugly, hydra headed monster still rears its head high in some parts of the world today. The use of strong abusive words, descriptions and epithets on the blackman still exists until today. Words in the class of; Monkeys, Apes, and other comparisms to lower animals or objects.
The emancipation of the right to be human of a black man is not done, rather it is a struggle still on-going. Though efforts have been commendable, but there's is yet much work to do.
Just recently, a certain white chef was subpoenaed to have used and in the habit of using offensive words against her black skinned employees. This notwithstanding, she has remained adamant, claiming blacks are irrelevant people. I call her "The Racist Chef" though she goes by the name Paula Deen.
There's little to wonder why some of my kinsmen nor bleach their skin in order to take up a white form.
Back to paula Deen,
See Cited article below:
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. celebrity chef Paula Deen, under fire after she admitted using a racial slur, said in a tearful TV interview on Wednesday that she is not a racist, as retailer Walmart said it was cutting ties with the chef.
In an interview on NBC's "Today" show, the Southern food doyenne said she never intentionally hurt anyone and that it was important for her to tell "everyone out there what I believe and how I live my life."
When asked if she felt she had racist tendencies, she replied, "No."
It was her first TV interview since The Food Network said Friday it would drop her show after she was sued for discrimination and admitted in a legal deposition that she had used a racial slur in the past.
Deen, who has built a business empire that includes cookbooks, restaurants and kitchen supplies, was also dropped by pork giant Smithfield Foods Inc last week. On Wednesday, Walmart was the latest company to sever ties.
"We are ending our relationship with Paula Deen Enterprises," Walmart spokeswoman Danit Marquardt told Reuters.
Marquardt said Walmart, the biggest division of Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world's largest retailer, will not place new orders beyond those already committed with Deen's company for branded products including groceries, cookware and candles.
The controversy surrounding Deen erupted last week when a deposition was released in transcript form in which Deen, who is white, was asked if she had used the "N-word," and responded, "Yes, of course."
The "N-word" is a euphemism for "nigger," an epithet for black people.
The deposition related to a racial and sexual discrimination lawsuit filed by a former employee, Lisa Jackson, who worked for Paula Deen Enterprises.
The lawsuit alleges that when Deen discussed plans for her brother Earl "Bubba" Hiers' 2007 wedding with Jackson, Deen said she wanted a "true Southern plantation-style wedding."
"Well, what I would really like is a bunch of little niggers to wear long-sleeve white shirts, black shorts and black bow ties, you know in the Shirley Temple days, they used to tap dance around," Deen said, according to the lawsuit.
Asked about the epithet in the deposition on Wednesday, Deen said she had used the slur when describing, probably to her husband, how a black man robbed a bank where she was working in the 1980s. She said she had used the word since, "but it's been a very long time."
Deen recalled the bank robbery and said: "I had had a gun put to my head, a shakin' gun." She did not give a full description of that incident.
DEEN SAYS SHE IS "HEARTBROKEN"
On "Today," Deen said she was thankful for the support she has received, and also heartbroken because she has had to comfort friends distressed about things being said about her that she said were untrue.
"If there's anyone out there that has never said something that they wish they could take back, if you're out there, please pick up that stone and throw it so hard at my head that it kills me. Please, I want to meet you. I want to meet you," she said, sobbing.
The 66-year-old celebrity chef had called off a scheduled interview with NBC on Friday to discuss the situation and instead released a video defending herself.
The Food Network, which is owned by Scripps Network Interactive Inc, later said it would not renew her contract when it expires at the end of June.
Deen's fans have voiced their support for the chef online, expressing anger on the Facebook pages for the Food Network and Walmart, with many saying they'll boycott both companies for severing ties with Deen. The story was corrected to add dropped words in 11th paragraph
(Reporting by Patricia Reaney and Jessica Wohl; Editing by David Storey, Piya Sinha-Roy and Stacey Joyce)
Like I stated above the struggle for the emancipation of the blackman is still on course and far from done. And we must always remember the words of our fathers, "BLACK IS NOT SYNONYMOUS TO LACK"
If any man at all can do it, then WE can do it, irrespective of what skin colour you possess.
NB: Please be at liberty to air your views as comments here. Thanks.
The Wordsmith™
(C) 2013.