Black and Comely Me
TO FREE OURSELVES FROM MENTAL
SLAVERY
Let us for the purpose of this discourse establish two
points of reference. They are Black with all its connotations for people of
African origin, and White to signify all those who are not of African descent. For
starters, we all know there was a period in history when Black men were forcibly
abducted from their homeland in Africa, and transported like animals or crops
in very harsh circumstances from their roots and disbursed abroad. And it
cannot be denied that black slavery constituted one of the darkest and most
shameful pages in human history. African slavery, Black slavery was inhumane
barbaric and contrary to the jus naturale, a standard which the Romans recognized
as the law of nature.
On the other hand slavery, as far as it was recognized as part of the jus gentium, the law which the nations accepted as law which applied to them to the exclusion of those in servitude, was abolished in the West Indies in 1834, almost two hundred years ago. Yet today we still hear cries of injustice and demands for reparation.
It is averred here that every people on earth have been at some time in their history enslaved at one time and in some way of another. So why, therefore, do the scars of slavery remain with this one group of people, namely, black people more than any other? Indeed we know not only have other people been enslaved acts of genocide, for instance, have been documented throughout the ages. So the question is worth repeating and the facts are worth noting, why has slavery it seems attached exclusively to African slavery?
Ethnicity
We find in the bible, for instance, in Jeremiah, the question, “Can an Ethiopian change his skin or a leopard his spot?” The question is not pointing to race, or ethnicity, but rather a practical question. Indeed it is a statement of fact that a Black person will always remain a Black person, at least in the eyes of the White person, however hard he tries to cover up or change his complexion. So if you are black, it matters not that your great grandfather was liberated two hundred years ago; you will always be looked upon as a slave, or the son of a slave. Not so a white person. Many of the people now residing in the United States for example, and who are the most fiercely racist people on earth, have ancestors who arrived there as the most menial and down trodden peasants on earth, often in conditions worse than slavery. But after a few generations, they have cast off their lot and their shackles and because the colour of their skin remains the same, today they are White Supremacists. And therein lies a significant difference. A White slave does not have to change his spot to be a White Supremacist.
Racism
There is no doubt that Racism has played and continue to play, a significant role in determining how Black people think and feel about themselves. As someone said to me recently, “It is easy for those who have managed to throw off their shackles not to understand why others can’t.” Indeed the fact is racist comments, behaviour, employment policies, and continual prejudice in every facet of society are like daggers in the wounds of the black race and have forced many to view their circumstances and their lots as hopeless; and simply slump their shoulders and give up and give in. Surely there has been lots of shallow attempts to stem if not stop the growing cancer of racism in the world; but it is well said, “You can shake a man’s hand, but you cannot shake his heart. Racism, in spite of all the official pronouncements, lip service and political posturing is as alive and well today as it has ever been. A man who is armed with a knife in his bosom is perhaps even more dangerous than one armed with a knife in his hand.
Psychological Inertia
A by-product of racism is psychological inertia. Imagine you even as a brave person is awaked in the middle of the night by someone holding a gun on you and saying, “Don’t you dare move.” Brave yes, but scared to death nonetheless, you freeze. Imagine too you are at the bottom of a mountain; you are wounded but resilient; and you use every ounce of your strength to drag yourself to the top of that mountain; and each time you are almost there, some one kicks or pushes you down. After several attempts, unless you are made of steel, not just flesh and blood, you are very likely to give up. To understand why so many Black people just give up and stop trying, is to understand these two examples of psychological inertia; a frozen of frigid state which paralyses the will and makes one impotent to act.
Inferiority Complex
Then there are those Blacks who develop inferiority complexes which manifest themselves in different ways. Many lose their natural impulse for self-importance. They do not see themselves as beautiful and comely. So they resort to many pathetic ways to try and hide their natural black and beautiful bodies, especially their faces. They bleach their shins and paint their faces, until they look like manikins and statuettes and then they overexpose their faces, stand in front of the camera and then say, “Aren’t I lovely?” There is no more pathetic complex in my view, than that when you tell yourself that because of the colour of your skin you are not worthy to look at. If you, as a Black person do not love and admire and feel proud of who you are, then why should the White man look at you and say, Oh there goes a beautiful Black person.
Self-Delusion
Recently I saw a march in London by a group of people claiming reparation from presumably the Government for again presumably African deprivation. I really have no idea, how they can in anyway prove that their present circumstances are as a direct consequence of some wrong that was done to their ancestors. If the government were to agree to make reparation, who would be the beneficiaries, I wonder. Their ancestors have been dead for over two hundred years so they can’t benefit. Some of them, many of them, would have a hard time actually proving that they were in some way related to one of the ancestors that were taken away and enslaved. Would they, are they, demanding that the Western governments, the United States, Spain, France and Britain return to Africa and carry back with them all the gold and precious stones and minerals extracted over the centuries? As an African friend of mine used to be fond of saying when we were both students in London, “that would be an extravagant wish.”
Solution.
My considered and sincere solution would be for people called Black to forget the negatives in their history and live for today and tomorrow for themselves and their children. Many of our ancestors threw off their yokes and made names for themselves by becoming self-sufficient, land and property owners, artisans, tradesmen, and so on, over a hundred years ago. So why should we today, a hundred years later, wallow in the pit of self-pity?
“Let us be the rational, intelligent, and self-assured people God created us to be. Let us not let into our hearts the idea that there is no soundness in reason, and admit that we ourselves are not yet sound and strive like men for reason,” I remember someone saying.
I say we have been lying on this bed of affliction for far too long. Let us take the advice that Jesus gave to the paralytic man, “Take up thy bed and walk.” The late great Bob Marley sang, “Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but yourself can free your mind.” And to that I say, Amen. And as Colombo would say, “Just one more thing,” Listen again to Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song.” I am going to do so in just a minute.
On the other hand slavery, as far as it was recognized as part of the jus gentium, the law which the nations accepted as law which applied to them to the exclusion of those in servitude, was abolished in the West Indies in 1834, almost two hundred years ago. Yet today we still hear cries of injustice and demands for reparation.
It is averred here that every people on earth have been at some time in their history enslaved at one time and in some way of another. So why, therefore, do the scars of slavery remain with this one group of people, namely, black people more than any other? Indeed we know not only have other people been enslaved acts of genocide, for instance, have been documented throughout the ages. So the question is worth repeating and the facts are worth noting, why has slavery it seems attached exclusively to African slavery?
Ethnicity
We find in the bible, for instance, in Jeremiah, the question, “Can an Ethiopian change his skin or a leopard his spot?” The question is not pointing to race, or ethnicity, but rather a practical question. Indeed it is a statement of fact that a Black person will always remain a Black person, at least in the eyes of the White person, however hard he tries to cover up or change his complexion. So if you are black, it matters not that your great grandfather was liberated two hundred years ago; you will always be looked upon as a slave, or the son of a slave. Not so a white person. Many of the people now residing in the United States for example, and who are the most fiercely racist people on earth, have ancestors who arrived there as the most menial and down trodden peasants on earth, often in conditions worse than slavery. But after a few generations, they have cast off their lot and their shackles and because the colour of their skin remains the same, today they are White Supremacists. And therein lies a significant difference. A White slave does not have to change his spot to be a White Supremacist.
Racism
There is no doubt that Racism has played and continue to play, a significant role in determining how Black people think and feel about themselves. As someone said to me recently, “It is easy for those who have managed to throw off their shackles not to understand why others can’t.” Indeed the fact is racist comments, behaviour, employment policies, and continual prejudice in every facet of society are like daggers in the wounds of the black race and have forced many to view their circumstances and their lots as hopeless; and simply slump their shoulders and give up and give in. Surely there has been lots of shallow attempts to stem if not stop the growing cancer of racism in the world; but it is well said, “You can shake a man’s hand, but you cannot shake his heart. Racism, in spite of all the official pronouncements, lip service and political posturing is as alive and well today as it has ever been. A man who is armed with a knife in his bosom is perhaps even more dangerous than one armed with a knife in his hand.
Psychological Inertia
A by-product of racism is psychological inertia. Imagine you even as a brave person is awaked in the middle of the night by someone holding a gun on you and saying, “Don’t you dare move.” Brave yes, but scared to death nonetheless, you freeze. Imagine too you are at the bottom of a mountain; you are wounded but resilient; and you use every ounce of your strength to drag yourself to the top of that mountain; and each time you are almost there, some one kicks or pushes you down. After several attempts, unless you are made of steel, not just flesh and blood, you are very likely to give up. To understand why so many Black people just give up and stop trying, is to understand these two examples of psychological inertia; a frozen of frigid state which paralyses the will and makes one impotent to act.
Inferiority Complex
Then there are those Blacks who develop inferiority complexes which manifest themselves in different ways. Many lose their natural impulse for self-importance. They do not see themselves as beautiful and comely. So they resort to many pathetic ways to try and hide their natural black and beautiful bodies, especially their faces. They bleach their shins and paint their faces, until they look like manikins and statuettes and then they overexpose their faces, stand in front of the camera and then say, “Aren’t I lovely?” There is no more pathetic complex in my view, than that when you tell yourself that because of the colour of your skin you are not worthy to look at. If you, as a Black person do not love and admire and feel proud of who you are, then why should the White man look at you and say, Oh there goes a beautiful Black person.
Self-Delusion
Recently I saw a march in London by a group of people claiming reparation from presumably the Government for again presumably African deprivation. I really have no idea, how they can in anyway prove that their present circumstances are as a direct consequence of some wrong that was done to their ancestors. If the government were to agree to make reparation, who would be the beneficiaries, I wonder. Their ancestors have been dead for over two hundred years so they can’t benefit. Some of them, many of them, would have a hard time actually proving that they were in some way related to one of the ancestors that were taken away and enslaved. Would they, are they, demanding that the Western governments, the United States, Spain, France and Britain return to Africa and carry back with them all the gold and precious stones and minerals extracted over the centuries? As an African friend of mine used to be fond of saying when we were both students in London, “that would be an extravagant wish.”
Solution.
My considered and sincere solution would be for people called Black to forget the negatives in their history and live for today and tomorrow for themselves and their children. Many of our ancestors threw off their yokes and made names for themselves by becoming self-sufficient, land and property owners, artisans, tradesmen, and so on, over a hundred years ago. So why should we today, a hundred years later, wallow in the pit of self-pity?
“Let us be the rational, intelligent, and self-assured people God created us to be. Let us not let into our hearts the idea that there is no soundness in reason, and admit that we ourselves are not yet sound and strive like men for reason,” I remember someone saying.
I say we have been lying on this bed of affliction for far too long. Let us take the advice that Jesus gave to the paralytic man, “Take up thy bed and walk.” The late great Bob Marley sang, “Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but yourself can free your mind.” And to that I say, Amen. And as Colombo would say, “Just one more thing,” Listen again to Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song.” I am going to do so in just a minute.
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