Racial equality possible with a mixture of views

Monday, September 22, 1997 Racial equality possible with a
mixture of views BLACK: Abolish obsolete definitions of black and
white to include other racial groups, elicit viewpoints from all
peoples

What is the Race America?

Oftentimes when non-Americans think of America, many think of
the blonde-haired, blue-eyed Aryan ideal. I have heard many
immigrants talk of "American" as if it were synonymous with white.
However, it has been said that the American identity has
traditionally been mainly composed of two impulses joined in an
ever-confrontational dialect – black and white.

There is the Aryan ideal side: the pure Northern European stock,
devoid of "racial mixing" and with a strong philosophical bent
toward strict order, a white god, and patriarchal authority. This
has been the dominant force in the shaping of American policy,
industrial direction, and militaristic adventures.

Then there is the African, or black side.

Even in slavery, the African side has represented cultural
freedom, improvisation and "miscegenation." While not especially
brilliant in governance, the African side provided the infusion of
culture, criticism and spiritual vitality that makes America so
unique among all nations. America depends on both sides to exist.
White becomes whiter in the presence of the Negro concept and vice
versa. But even this bipolar view does not encompass the entire
picture.

The American racial dynamic has always been more complex than
just black and white, and as we enter into the next century, this
will become increasingly apparent. It must be said that these "two
Americas" are more a construction of social agreement than
biological or even cultural fact. In other words, while people have
distinct cultural identities and heritages, the idea of race exists
because people believe in it. Racial stratification in America
continues because of our collective compliance.

The Black

The term "nigger" and the "nigger" condition is the product of
Western culture. In other words, whites are the nigger-makers. This
concept must be distinguished from the culture of reliance,
survival, energy and beauty that the survivors of the nigger-making
process have created.

Still, black in itself is an identity unfit for any human. It’s
not descriptive, seeing that there is no hue of skin that is truly
black. It’s a racial slur meant to dehumanize a whole people,
culture and civilization. It is a designation created to limit the
infinite creative potential of African consciousness.

The Spanish and Portuguese began to use Negro to describe the
Africans captured or bought in the slave trade. This was a
significant change from "Moor" or "Ethiopian" commonly used to
describe African peoples before that time because "Negro" was
synonymous with slave. The English, French and other Europeans
began to use the derogatory term Negro (which is Spanish for black)
and the quaint colloquialism eventually became reified in the
European mind. During the 18th and 19th centuries, European
scholars injected the biased concept of race into philosophy and
other academic fields. Race became a scientific classification.

The race concept of "black" had an interesting effect on the
direction of European thought. Whereas the African people generally
did not identify themselves as Negro or black and the Europeans
never designated a white classification, Europeans in contact with
the rest of the "darker" world became white people, and they began
to spread racist beliefs throughout the world.

But to be fair, the term "black" evolved as a pugilistic tool
used by people engaged the African American Revolution of the 60s.
It was a political kamikaze of sorts, intended to heighten
contradiction and awake the awareness and pride of a long-oppressed
community. Now it’s time for a more sophisticated approach to solve
the race problem.

This history has a direct impact on our discussion because these
antiquated ideas are still being used to describe reality as we
enter the 21st century. African American intellectuals and the
general community have made the move away from the concept of race
towards ethnicity, which implies more cultural, geographic, and
genealogical variables than genetic ones.

This move has often elicited the chagrin of some whites, who
label the progress as "political correctness." Many white people
don’t understand the meaning behind the move and think of African
American as a nice way to say black, Negro, or even nigger. The
African American identity has not changed for over 200 years in
their perception. And, ever true to the concept of two opposing
races, whites have moved towards genetic explanations for
differences among humans.

It is more comfortable for whites to call African Americans
"black" … for what is white without black?

The White

The white identity is the beginning of all racism. Racism is the
oppression of people based on race. The specific type of racism
that has manifested itself most often is the concept of white
supremacy. Within the dictates of the white concept, white
represents the perfect balance of bravery, civilization,
intelligence and beauty over all other races. It is an idea so
powerful that it can make an Asian woman want to mutilate her eyes
and an African man burn the natural protection of his skin color
and hair texture away with acid.

The concept rests upon the existence of non-whites. And it has a
special inverse relationship with the black or Negro concept. In an
overly consistent way, what is white is not black and vice versa:
"If blacks can dance … whites can’t"; "If whites can invent …
blacks can’t"; "If blacks commit crime … whites don’t" and so on.
The more dehumanized and savage-looking blacks are, the more
enlightened and powerful whites feel.

This why the blatant white supremacist must spend 80 percent of
his time degrading Africans, 19.5 percent of his time degrading
other "mud races", and only .5 percent of his time highlighting the
inherent genetic greatness of the white race.

People believe this nonsense in spite of cultural crossover
between the "black" and "white" race. The lag of whites using slang
originating in the African American community is down to two
minutes. Likewise African Americans wear the latest yuppie clothing
before it gets to the local Robinsons-May. Yet the dichotomy
remains.

This probably explains why the African American people’s move
away from "black" pains so many whites. "Why can’t we all be
Americans?," or "Why do we have to be so PC?" are the retorts of
many whites. Many of them prefer black American to African American
because the former keeps African Americans in a sick racial
relationship. However, people have the power of
self-identification. If African Americans no longer wish to be
labeled under a pernicious lie, then they won’t … it’s their
choice.

It is also the choice of whites whether to remain loyal to a
mostly evil tradition of white supremacy. Whites have the
collective power to end racial distinction tomorrow. However, I
remain very pessimistic that whites will destroy the race hierarchy
that their ancestors created.

The "Others"

Another part of the racial equation is the Asian and Latin
American population in the United States. They too have a choice of
identification.

Historically, non-white immigrants had to comply with white
supremacy in order to gain full access to the wealth of the United
States. It is logical for people on unsure footing to take a stance
that will attract less attention to their "foreigness." The
adoption of whiteness and its necessary distaste for "blackness"
was a tactic taken by all European immigrants including Jews, Irish
and Italians.

Today we see strains of this tactic in the Asian, Latino and
even African immigrants to this country. However, creating complete
whiteness is a lost hope. The white concept cannot accommodate all
who apply.

The emerging Asian and Latino populations will play a decisive
role in which direction our society will head. No one should play
on one side of the racial game or the other, but to proactively and
aggressively contribute perspectives in order to solve the problem
we face in the American cauldron. No one is excluded from the
project of human emancipation.

The Final Note

White supremacy had its highest articulation from Nazi Germany.
As whites see the purity of the race increasingly corrupted and
their living space continually invaded, we will see an increasingly
strong reaction from the dethroned new minority. Educated and
conscious whites can be proactive and prepare other whites for the
change in circumstances by abandoning the white concept.

African Americans must stop being black. Black is dependent upon
white. For African Americans to get caught in the reactionary
politics of the day would be a tragedy.

African Americans should call for the end of racial
classifications on all official documents in America. Can African
Americans let go of race while embracing culture, heritage, and
political legacy?

Maybe … somewhere in the future the American Dream will
overcome the American Nightmare and a new reality will begin.