And
@Empirical Cane
So this is going to a lonnnng post, but it needs to be stated:
It’s really hard for non blacks to understand this. First off; please don’t use Candace Owens as any, and I mean ANY representation for Black America. Just b/c she has a black skin tone, does not mean she’s socially conscious at all. She’s from Stamford, CT, a predominately Caucasian area, she’s married dated all White men & and is now married to one (which is nothing wrong), but her views are going to conditioned based upon her environment, experience, and what she’s accustomed to. She assimilated to fit in.
Now, to her credit, I’ve been a champion on getting angry on why we, as a community, don’t get up in arms about black on black crime. I agree w her on that. I also agree w her about martyring criminals.....however, let me give you all a little history lesson on how my community became broken, and White Americans might not want to hear this, b/c it’s a course, and path that’s an ugly truth.
It started back w/ slavery.....
1. Property: As slaves were brought over to America to colonized states, who were once proud, strong, people were now regulated to being considered as property. Human beings considered as property, and worst yet, field animals.
2. Emasculation: Families were broken, men forced to watch their “animal wives” taken, brutalized, raped, snatched from them. Some men had genitals cut off of they were “too big.” They were used as breeders to create more slaves, babies sold along w their mothers stating “this baby comes from good stock” as they point to his battered father.
3. Fear: Being that there were more slaves than land owners and their overseers, they used acute violence, systemic violence against slaves to keep them in line. Didn’t pick enough cotton? Public whipping to show what happens if you don’t work hard? Caught outside your shack at a certain time? Public beating, and starvation to set an example. Tried to comfort your raped wife? Double your work load, and get beat. Tried to escape? Public Hanging, or if they are “sympathetic” due to your years of hard work, disfiguring of your important limbs.
Forgetting Your Past: Rewriting history is bad, forcing ones to forget their history is worst. This happened only to African Slaves. They were not to use their history in any sense of the word. Names were changed, language was changed, familial history was changed, and if any were caught trying to hold on to the past, heard speaking of ancestral history, they were whipped or hung. Each generation got further and further, and further away from their past, until it was completely gone.
Lack of knowledge: Beaten for reading, beaten for trying to educate oneself to this new life. Why? B/c knowledge is power.
Using The Bible: The now infamous slave Bible. What was once denounced as to never existed have now come to life. Taking out scriptures, adding to scriptures to justify why the White man was superior to all over races, and that it’s God’s will that Africans be slaves to them.
Division: The best way to get a group of people who are bigger & stronger than you is to divide an conquer. The term “A good ni99er” was used for those who did everything their master & overseer asked of them. Their reward? To sleep in the closet of the house, which was a step up from the barns/sheds. Well, as time goes on, these ones were made to feel superior to those on the outside, some even became overseers, so now you see your once upon a time brother, now exacting punishment to his fellow man. Children who were byproducts of rape, were put on a pedestal as their skin tone was fair, eyes a different color, hair a different texture.
Now what I just shared is the brief highlight of systematic and systemic demoralization of the African race over a 200 yr period. When “freedom” was sought & won, freedom was never given. You see, for 200 yrs this physical & mental warfare was passed along, so many didn’t even know what freedom was. It was scary to venture outside. But eventually time went on and adjustments were made.
Except....................
Freedom was never obtained. You see, Blacks were no longer considered property after the abolishment of slavery, true, but they also weren’t considered citizens along w all it’s amenities as stated by the constitution. U see, Southern States had “black codes” which made sure Blacks did not have the same rights as Whites. Voting rights, educational rights, ownership rights, all suppressed for another 100 yrs.
Furthermore, propaganda filled the US to justify neighborhood saviors (The KKK-the First American gang) to enable further abuse of freed men. Businesses burned; as a matter of fact, in the 1920’s, Blacks were starting to invest in itself, to the point we had our own banks, lending services, businesses out in Tulsa, OK. It was called, Black Wall Street, as we built everything from the ground up. This little known history was known as the Tulsa massacre, as White Americans burned down & killed hundreds of businesses and 1000’s of blacks. Black Wall Street died, and that fear that was once instilled and “slavery”, was rehashed.
It wasn’t until the mid 1950’s that Blacks started to enjoy some of the freedom they were promised, but it still wasn’t the same as their White counterparts. Whether it was soldiers being used as guinea pig test dummies for treatment experiments; Black war heroes being suppressed by history, G.I bills not being garnished to black soldiers, segregated armies, black soldiers coming home and beaten for wearing their uniforms, I mean, there’s a slew of injustices that were instilled to keep reminding the black man he was not the same as a white man; a reminder if u will.
So what does all that have to do w today? Well, the systemic injustice have been instilled. You want to know why people stay in low income housing? It’s not b/c they’re lazy, not all of them, it’s b/c of fear. My great aunt grew up in the segregated South in the 30’s, moved to Chicago in the 40’s, and guess what? It was segregated there, too....not by Jim Crow Laws, but by shear color of her skin. Although she worked on the Northside as a care giver, she better not be caught over there past 7p, or that meant harassment by the police. So what did she tell her kids? “Stay here, and don’t leave from here.” So a certain level of familiarity, and comfort begins to develop, and this invisible wall goes up b/c your conditioned.
Have you ever seen a battered woman, who even though her husband may be gone, or dead, the years of systematic abuse causes an invisible wall that she can’t get past. You see, blacks are that battered woman, but here’s the thing; when we see anything that remotely reminds us of the past 350 yrs, it triggers us. But, slavery and oppression did something else:
It did divide us, it did cause fear, it did emasculate us. The systemic conditioning has had an invisible wall affect. This protest isn’t about George Floyd; but going back to Candace Owens, I love how she used Floyd’s criminal past, but what Trevon; was he a criminal? Yet, he was made to be one to get George Zimmerman off, even though he had no priors. What about Breonna Taylor? Ezell Ford? Botham Jean in his own apartment b/c the officer didn’t know where “she lived?” Ahmaud Arbery? Was he a past criminal? You see, Floyd’s murder was a reminder that we still get treated inhumanly. If a police officer did that to a rabid dog, PETA would be up in arms.
She states that more white people have been killed by police officers; lol. Is she talking about federal raids like that in WACO or the ****’s Angels in San Bernardino County? We’re not taking about everyday citizens, we’re talking about massive raids.
At the end of the day, unless you’ve walked in a black man shoes, it’s really hard to understand a black man’s plight. It’s not as simple as, get up and get a job. We’re talking 350 yrs of systematic oppression, where til this day, the color of our skin provoked certain feelings. I got co-workers saying “what’s up‘dog’” to me, b/c what? I’m black? B/c Im from the Southside of Chicago, grew up in Compton? Do they say that to one another? **** no, and my colleagues are no racist....we go out all the time, but I had to be overtly nice so they would feel comfortable. Do u know how that feels? Of course many don’t.
Again, it’s systemic. People ask, well who’s oppressing you now? I find that comment laughable. Progress has been made, but if I’m in Atherton CA, driving a Toyota Camry, I get cops called on me. (True Story). I go to the Louis Vuitton store, I get followed (True Story). If I drive my relatives M6 in Inglewood, CA, I get pulled over (True Story). And if I’m walking down State Street in Chicago after 9p, I’m asked what gang I belong to (True Story). I mean for goodness sake, the NFL just realized they need to revamp a rule to get minorities in to coaching? Why is there even a rule in place for that to begin w? Affirmative action was put into place to get minorities job opportunities & schooling opportunities, why?
The color of our skin defines how we move; people like Candace Owens, I know people like her. My closest cousin is the male version of her. He grew up in a predominantly white community, he went out of his way to assimilate; he’s now a US Army Captain, and his brother in arms is everything. He went above and beyond to fight against the stigma of his skin tone, including involving himself in racial jokes to show he was one of the guys. He’s married to a white woman (nothing wrong w that), but he’s so out of touch w the black culture it’s not funny. He doesn’t know the plight, b/c he assimilated. You know what he told me on his birthday in December? He hated the color of his skin, b/c he had to shed the stigma of his skin color his whole life.
That’s the opposite spectrum of our plight. My community has been broken in so many ways, and unless you walk a foot in our shoes, you wouldn’t understand, but that’s OK. It’s like I would never understand what it feels to walk in your shoes, or a woman shoes. Then again, I don’t have the audacity to try to speak on your shoes or a woman shoes, and that’s my biggest problem w these dialogues. We have our opinions, that’s what makes the world of conversation great, but Candace Owens does not speak or represent the black community, neither do the Hodge Twins; they have their own plight of acceptance they have to deal w.
Regardless, I just wanted to give you a relatively brief overview of some of the ingrained injustices that my community have faced since being brought over to this country. If we can all understand each other views, and be empathetic to that, man we would be so much better as a country.
