10 Hard Truths Black People Try to Avoid

The enslavement of African people and its deep-seated impact continue to stall the progression of Black people in America and throughout the African world. The monumental task of advancing our peoples' interest beyond the affects of slavery and colonization requires that we accept a few hard truths to get ahead. In the words of the honorable Marcus Garvey, "If you (Black people) cannot do what other men have done, what other nations have done, what other races have done, then you will have to die!" 1. Color blindness is a disempowering narrative To teach Black people to not see race in an intrinsically racist society is to disarm our people from properly identifying the threats organizing around them. One key threat that Black people face is global white supremacy and its race-based ideology and institutions. Psychologist Stephanie Fryberg writes in "When the World Is Colorblind, American Indians Are Invisible: A Diversity Science Approach:" "In a colorblind world, whites, who are unlikely to experience the negative effects of race, can actively ignore the continued significance of racism in American society, justify the current social order, and feel more comfortable with their relatively privileged standing in society." 2. We believe we are stronger because we "turn the other cheek" We are weak, not strong when we align ourselves with the most pacifist verses in the Bible. As one of the most religious groups of people in the world, there is little reason why we remain at the bottom economically and otherwise. The following biblical verse should replace the "turn the other cheek" mentality. In Luke 22:36 Jesus is quoted: “'But now," he said, "if you have a wallet or a pack, take it; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your robe to buy one." 3. Education is not race or culture neutral From kindergarten to the university level, the Western education system is designed to teach students of all races to value and propagate the interest and culture of Western European people. Professor of Black Studies Dr. Leonard Jeffries said in a 1991 speech at the Empire State Black Arts and Cultural Festival in Albany, New York, "I think we have to understand that although we like to think of education as race-neutral and politically neutral, education is a part of racism." In other words, the Western education system is a participating and supporting institution within the broader system of global white supremacy. 4. Black feminist ideology is based on fantasy It is a fantasy because it does not deal with the reality of how Black women became second-class citizens in the world. Contrary to popular belief, prior to the Arab and Western European enslavement of African people, most African women lived in matriarchal societies where women's power and influence was institutionalized. Faro Z tells Liberator Magazine, "Did the Black woman first start being abused by white supremacy in the 60's? The Harlem Renaissance? No. It was when the first African woman lost her husband to slavery. Then, they came back for her. Then, they came back for her children. Then, they came back for the rest of her family. Black women are abused in this European society because Black men are powerless in this European society." The oppression of Black women historically and contemporary is not based primarily on gender, but rather on race. Today, both white men and women benefit from the abuse and dehumanization of Black women and Black men across the globe. 5. We have accepted the status quo that Europeans have and always will control the world Dr. Amos Wilson writes in his book, Afrikan-Centered Consciousness Versus The New World Order: Garveyism in the Age of Globalism: "The assimilationist often accepts, consciously or unconsciously, the idea that the white man will continue to rule the world. He bases his ideology and political action on the concept that somehow our destiny is not to overthrow the white man, that our destiny is not to suppress and bring these people under control, but to heal them in some sort of way, to convert them, to even become part of them. Our destiny becomes not one that sees the very system and very ideology upon which these oppressors move as one of sickness and insanity and therefore in need of replacement by an Afrikan-centered and healthy ideology that comes out of our own self-knowing. This leadership wants us to accept this sickness as normality and to follow these pathological beings into self-destruction." 6.We have fooled ourselves into adopting the worst traits of our oppressor and frown upon those who attempt to emulate the better parts. Amos Wilson bravely stated in a lecture on "Economics and Nationhood:" "If you thought like whites, you would want your own nations, to control your own neighborhoods, to control your own economy, to have your own military, to control the resources in your own ground." 7. The senseless killings of Trayvon Martin, Hadiya Pendleton et al. will continue Violence in the Black community exists for many reasons, however many psychiatrists agree that self-hatred is a factor. Dr. Amos Wilson elaborates: “The problem of Black on Black violence is a problem of cultural mis-orientation, self-alienation and self-hatred. What we are seeing manifest as Black on Black violence is an emulation of the cultural ways of our oppressor. We have internalized his ways.” Psychiatrist Dr. James Gilligan asserts in “Violence: Reflections on a National Epidemic” that violence is caused by shame and humiliation. To further exacerbate the state of affairs, Black people lack the institutional power to properly retaliate when violence by another race occurs in our community, and cannot significantly improve conditions for the masses of our people, such as low socioeconomic status, social deprivation, inadequate education, high unemployment, and the unjust criminal industrial complex. 8. No matter how hard we try to protect our immediate families from the impact of racism, if the collective interests of all Black people are not addressed, we're all in danger. Race-based organization works 9. Our success thrives on the platforms and institutions built and maintained by white males. Tomorrow, if America was re-segregated, we would be lost, destitute and at war with each other - more so than we are now. 10. To end on a positive note, despite the many perils of white supremacy, Black people would be significantly better off if we were organized around a central objective, the survival of our race. Europeans and Arabs are two of the most recent successful examples of people who organized along racial lines above national identity. The French and British have historically been at odds culturally and politically, however they quickly unite to fight against other non-white people.

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