Page 7 - Florida Sentinel 5-18-18

So Many Sides Of You America
country; or perhaps why a white observer would call the police because she concluded that Blacks leaving an Airbnb with suitcases must be bur- glars.
There is no doubt that we have come far in race rela- tions. But there is still a long road to travel and much work to be done. As African Americans, especially Black
males, we must remain vigi- lant. We must always be aware that prejudice, with all of its ugliness, can rear its head any time, any place.
Just another view.
BY SAMUEL KINSEY
A couple of days ago, while I was out for my usual morning walk, I passed a car parked on the side of the road with music playing rather loudly. I recognized the music to be R & B artist, Bobby Womack, singing a song entitled “So Many Sides of You.” I reasoned the song to be about a complicated re- lationship between a man and a woman.
As I pondered the lyrics, I was reminded of America’s stormy relationship with its people of African descent and the many sides of Ame- rica that we have seen since coming here as slaves 400 years ago.
We saw the dark side where our ancestors were treated as beast of burden, beaten into submission by their slave masters and forced to work under the harshest of conditions. Yet, we saw an America so con- flicted over slavery that it led to a civil war and the begin- ning of the end to this human horror story.
After slavery was officially abolished, we saw America’s southern states enact Jim Crow laws that, for all intents and purposes, kept Blacks enslaved. White Southerners condoned lynching African Americans and sometimes did so just for the fun of it. Yet, we saw many Whites put their property and their lives in jeopardy by joining us in our quest for freedom and the rights that come with it.
We saw the State of Vir- ginia, the first to have African Slaves, become one of only four and the first in modern U. S. history to elect an African American Gover- nor; we also saw America
elect and reelect an African American to the highest of- fice in the land. We saw America demonstrate inclu- sion when Fortune 500 com- panies such as giant pharmaceutical, Merck, Sam’s Club, Xerox, American Express, J C Penney and Mc- Donald’s, among others, at one time or another, hire African American CEOs while many others employed Blacks in top ranking posi- tions.
But with the election of
President Donald Trump, we were introduced to an extremely perplexing side of modern America. Mr. Trump advocates bigotry and hatred and has spewed vulgarities here-to-fore un- heard of from an American President; and he has brought out the worst in many Americans.
But contrary to what is believed by more than a few, much of the vile behavior we see from some people didn’t start with Mr. Trump. He simply emboldened them to do what was already in their hearts.
It causes me to wonder if this new empowerment ex- plains why recently, a Michi- gan man felt it okay to shoot at a lost 16-year-old, Black, male student who was seek- ing directions to school; or why a Starbucks employee called police to arrest two African American men for trespassing while they were peacefully waiting for a third person to join them; or per- haps it is why a Pinellas Sheriff Deputy felt it okay to compare African American children to monkeys; or could it explain the recent spate of racial incidents at several Waffle House Restaurants around the
FRIDAY, MAY 18, 2018 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 7-A