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Editorials/Columns
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In The Darkness There’s Always Hope
believe the days when an individual's mentality on racial issues could be gauged by his or her skin color are headed towards becoming a distant mem- ory. That is because, as it seems to stand now, having light (white) skin is no more of an indicator of a person who supports racist ideol- ogy than the presence of dark (Black) skin is repre- sentative of someone who will, automatically, be will- ing to stand up against the
oppression he faces.
When it all boils down,
physical appearance has nothing at all to do with the makeup of a person's heart. Either he has it in himself to fight on the side of right- eousness or he doesn't. It's that simple.
I realized this while watching the news coverage of the chaotic events that transpired in Char- lottesville, Virginia over the weekend. When hundreds of White Supremacists came together to promote their message of hate and intoler- ance, under the guise of protesting the removal of a Confederate statue from the University of Virginia cam- pus, they weren't just met with angry Black faces. They were confronted by even more faces, as white as their
own, who didn't want to hear their B.S. propaganda, either.
The resistance the Neo- Nazis, Skin Heads and Klansmen faced wasn't of the passive variety. To the contrary, these were young people from different ethnic backgrounds who stood on the front lines and faced the evil head-on.
It was a display of courage and bravery that I couldn't help but respect be- cause, truthfully speaking, a large majority of students who showed up didn't have to be there. After all, it was- n't really their fight.
The white kids, who were on the scene scratching and clawing against individuals who could have been their cousins, could have as easily sat back, watched the drama play out from a safe distance and took comfort in know- ing that their whiteness al- lowed them a certain level of protection from the mad- ness. Instead, they risked their well being (one woman was killed after a car driven by a white supremacist drove through a group of counter protesters) by en- gaging in a physically vio- lent clash with hate mongers.
They didn't just talk the talk. They literally walked
the walk, threw hands and feet and spilled blood dur- ing the process. If that's not considered being all the way down for a cause, I'm not sure what else would qual- ify?
While the event was a tragic reminder of how far this nation still has to go when it comes to race rela- tions and President Don- ald Trump's lack of condemning response to the tragedy further exposes his deep connection to the white nationalist move- ment, if there's a bright side to any of this, I think it comes from the fact that Black, white and brown in- dividuals came together to fight a common enemy.
It may not seem like much. But, considering how dark our future was begin- ning to look, I believe it of- fers a ray of hope that, just maybe, all isn't lost. And, somehow, if we could ever get over our differences, we could eventually work to- gether to make this world a little more livable.
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bul- letin Publishing Com- pany. You can write to Mr. Barr at: Clarence Barr 43110-018, Oakdale F. C. I., P. O. BOX 5000, Oakdale, LA 71463.
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C. Blythe Andrews 1901-1977 (1945)
C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. 1930-2010 (1977)
A Level Playing Field By The Year 2210
f humanity should survive, here’s something to
think about.
When we read about Trump’s plan to punish colleges and universities for using racial preference in admis- sions, we were reminded that America never atoned for or rectified slavery.
Since slavery in the United States lasted for 245 years (1620 to 1865), efforts to correct the inequities of slavery should be implemented for more than an equal amount of time to include Post Reconstruction and Jim Crow years.
Indeed, most slaves suffered “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder” (PTSD) at the end of the Civil War and were never treated for the medical condition.
Thus, the condition became generational for the descendants of slaves. In the book, Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring In- jury and Healing (PTSS) published in 2005, Dr. Joy DeGruy (nee Leary), Ph.D. describes a set of behav- iors, beliefs, and actions associated with or related to the multi-generational trauma experienced by African Americans that include, but are not limited to, undiagnosed and therefore untreated Post Trau- matic Stress Disorder in enslaved Africans and their descendants.
After 345 years of slavery, lynchings, murders, tor- ture, Jim Crow laws, Civil Rights efforts, and fighting for the right to be human, America owes Black Amer- icans at least 345 years of transgenerational psycho- logical, sociological, educational, economic and spiritual remediation.
Such remediation should include an examination and change in America’s institutions that are sup- posed to rectify inequality, injustice, and continued vestiges of racism in America.
By our account, affirmative action and other meas- ures of corrective action should remain in use until the year 2210. After all, is there a difference between slavery and war?
If not, then there’s no wonder so many Black com- munities remain under medical and military siege.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 15, 2017 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 5
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