Reparations and Addressing the Issues of Race in America

Here's the beautiful thing about the Democratic Primary: we are now engaging in long over-due discussions on race. God willing, we may be able to engage in frank discussion. For this is the "reparative" process.

Reparations means addressing the issues of race in America. This issue has not been resolved. And, no resolve will come unless there is dialogue When Michelle Obama said that for the first time in her adult life she is proud of her Country, the media and mainstream was aghast. Now, when Reverend Jeremiah Wright (pointedly) criticizes America he is regarded as un-American - despite having served as a US Marine. But before we can make a judgment, we must regard this with a critical eye.

Why is it not ok to at times be ashamed of America? Have we not been ashamed of those we love? And, when they commit shameful acts should they not be regarded as shameful? Yet, even in that shame do we not still have feelings of love? What Michelle Obama struck in that statement was the reality of being Black in America.

Now, we have the issue over remarks made by Reverend Jeremiah Wright (Senator Obama's former pastor). But, the remarks of Jeremiah Wright would not seem so controversial if there were more understanding of the Black perspective. Maybe the words of Frederick Douglass can relay this to you:

What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sound of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants brass fronted impudence; your shout of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanks-givings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy -- a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour. (full text)

All of the holidays of National importance have that sort of duality. "Independence Day" does not commemorate Black independence, and Juneteenth is not a holiday of National importance. Columbus Day for the Black man commemorates the opening of new lands for oppression...vast deposits for the burgeoning of the African Slave Trade. Thanksgiving reminds us of our shared plight with the Native American, also a victim of the this Nation's Birth. This list is endless.

Reparations means addressing the issues of race in America. We can never have reparations - on either side of the color line - without having a candid discussion on the perspectives set in place due to the historical and current experiences that shape our lives in America.

What does provide a sense of pride in America is that this is a Country where we can have that discussion, repair what's broken and prove beneficial to ourselves and the world.

Come and Get Your Reparations!