Friday, March 29, 2024

The Death of Black and White.

March 13, 2012 by  
Filed under News, Opinion, Weekly Columns

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(ThyBlackMan.com) I find it vitally important that American’s take a deep look at the terms “black and white.”  It was Dr. King who rightfully noted that a man is to be judged neither by the “content of his character nor by the color of his skin.” Although Dr. King is gone and America has achieved significant gains in humanity we still allow two evil vestiges of  Jim Crow and Segregation to sit among us;  “black” and “white.”

How offensive do you think it would be to call a Native American “red” or an Asian American “yellow?” What response do you think it would elicit from the public or the media? Would this person be seen as a bigot or racist, and would their views be unaccepted by mainstream America?  Last time I filled out an application there were no “yellow” or “red” choices for race. These terms as offensive as they may be were once used to describe each of those groups.  It is due to the enlightenment of men that they are no longer used and have since become unacceptable and offensive terms. 

Recently I filled out a federal application, and on the application for race it had definitions of where black and white originated.  What was surprising is how they have expanded the definition of white.  Now white includes not just European’s, but the Middle East and North Africa. This seems more and more that the characterizing of black and white not solely to note skin type or physical description; it is specifically to isolate African American’s from their ancestral land, Africa.  The trouble with labeling Middle Easterners’ and North Africans’ as white is that many those in that region span the gamut of color from European features to Sub-Saharan features.  So if North Africans of dark complexion are white, what is the purpose of labeling so called races?  The only answer I can reasonably conclude is institutionalized racism, it fuels us against them system built on incorrect descriptions.  America has long since set out to separate the African American  from Africa.

In the mid 1700’s a portly looking European man by the name of Carl von Linnaeus was to first to mistakenly classify man by race.  In his classification he took it upon himself to find European’s where most akin to a white disposition and of the utmost intelligence, and African’s were black, lust filled, and quiet ignorant.  Linnaeus first mistake was race is a myth there is only one race HUMAN, second people since biblical times have been classified by nations not color.  

Linnaeus’s attempt was brazen and unmasked at labeling the African as the lowest form of humanity casting the label of black upon him and his progeny.   He readily spewed this doctrine for fellow Europeans to adopt as true. This belief added to the fuel that the African was subhuman and enslavement of the subhuman was for his good, after all he is black, and the lowest of the low.  (There is so much in a name, once we understand this and stop calling each other niggers we will get it)

For the next three hundred years African’s globally have accepted this false labeling by their European brethren, and have never challenged its basis.  European American’s have used it to institute Jim Crow, justify segregation, and establish an American caste system.  

Some will say why the big deal, people will just equate African American with the same meaning as black.  We must know that Africa was the first and the mother of civilization; from her we all find our genesis.  What is in me is in all the world and as a human race those that bare the heritage of the first must be respected; although the rest of the world may not outwardly exhibit African features or even know persons of African descent, it is still within us all.   The classification of people based on race and color is absolutely asinine and needs to be checked now before we continue to hand our children this false European rational of European superiority.

The history classifying the so called races was done primarily to create a system of hierarchy with “white” being the best. “Black” was seen as the least among all, lowest of the low, the untamed.

The categories of “black and white” exist, identifying two separate but same people. Sounds familiar, it should they used this same argument to justify segregation in schools, at water fountains, and even deny someone the simple human function of utilizing a bathroom not for them.  Segregation still exist in the form of the “black and white” label that America has grown to love, like foreign oil, cheap Chinese goods, or better yet inexpensive Hispanic labor. The terms “black and white” are lingering vestiges of Jim Crow and Segregation that once and for all need to be excommunicated from our everyday vocabulary if we are truly to move forward as a nation.

America has had her share of trials, and blood bought change, but America understands.  Now she must further understand that the terms “black and white” are of the past and no longer who we are becoming we must march in all truth to becoming American, but because we love classifying folks the steps taken towards eradicating black and stop using it interchangeably with African American will be a great start.

Staff Writer; Sydney O

 


Comments

4 Responses to “The Death of Black and White.”
  1. lewis orr says:

    @Swendab
    I beg to differ with you completely! What the author hit on is the true nature of this country whether he’s aware of it or not. Like the Klu Kluck Klan has always said “This country was created by White men for White men.” White American Exceptionalism is the prime directive. That means if it’s not white it’s not right. This is too ethnic, that is too Black. America is the stawbuck of White supremacy. Why do you think after Hitler destroyed Europe and reduced it to the stone age that America jumped in and rebuilt it for the cost of requiring Europe to speak English? (The Monroe Ducument) Afterward floated the idea of America as a melting pot. This was a ploy to allow White Europeans to flood American and in one generation speak American English with a sense of entitlement due to their hard work. As though they worked harder than the slaves. One generation compared to 300 hundred years. White American Exceptionalism is the glass ceiling young Black executives run into and can’t understand. Only ethnics and Blacks supporting the White agenda can have any measure of real success. This is part and parcel of America and will never change without a physical revolution. All else amounts to just talk and dreams. And that’s why we have race classifications.

  2. moni says:

    @ swendab I know its hard to believe but if you study the history of the terms and there usage they derive from a racial view that was meant to demean a culture and their beliefs.

  3. moni says:

    This article hits home in so many ways. People in general fail to see how powerful words are. And we as a society must realize that the terms we associate ourselves with make a difference in our everyday lives and how we see ourselves. We must move on from the past.

  4. swendab says:

    An individual should not be judged on his colour, but the idea that the concept of race is meaningless is incorrect. This idea persists from back in the 60s, before genetics and neuroscience.

    It’s not “institutional racism”. It is a mistake to presume that race means skin colour or outward appearance. Race means genetic makeup, and in this respect non-white Caucasians are much closer to white than to black.

    This genetic makeup is also a powerful determinant of success in society. Brown-skinned Caucasians perform at about the same level as whites, while Africans do not.

    This raises a question – If the cause of African failure is white racism which is misguided prejudice towards brown skin, why are Arabs and Hindus not failing? The answer is, it’s not racism, it’s our invisible genetic makeup which is determining our success. Our intelligence, our work ethic, our ability to cooperate.

    Therefore, this government classification DISPROVES the idea that racism is to blame. As a society, we need to accept this unpleasant truth, or nothing will ever change.

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