The Black Concept—Some thoughts
The CBS Morning Show had excerpts from a Town Meeting about race with the Brown case. I was saddened by what I heard. There were Blacks still confused about what to call themselves and allowing others to define them. It sent me back to undergraduate school when we had regular meetings discussing what we were and what we should be called. At that time we were called Nigras and Negroes. We were offended by the Southern Nigra term. We vacillated between Afro-American and Black. We realized that Africa was the original origin for people of color but with racial mixtures, Africa was not the majority of origin. People of color were many races and there were many colors. We were beginning to have a lot of bi-racial persons. We wanted to be inclusive. We represent the colors of the rainbow and should not limit ourselves. Hence we chose the color Black because it was neutral and represented the blend of all colors and coincided with the Southern concept that one teaspoon of Black blood makes your black. We also had difficulty with the concept of beauty represented by the majority. Our women did not fit America’s model of what was beautiful. We decided that we could decide what was beautiful for ourselves. Black is beautiful became an expression. We did not want our little girls thinking they were ugly because they did not fit the white model of what was beautiful. This was reflected in our organizations. I remember when the Black Sororities stopped processing their hair and began wearing the afro. We went natural. We stopped trying to mimic the white version or definition of beauty.
I am a member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. Young Black females took over a National Meeting one year demanding changes. Our organization had a majority of women who were high yellow and the membership requirement was a “B” average. We argued that our organization should be more inclusive and should lower the grade point requirement to become broader and more inclusive. All colors should be include and this included the darker girls. Black is beautiful and should include the girls who were truly Black to reflect this concept. We were not Negroes and Afro-Americans. We were Blacks because we represent all colors of the rainbow and multiple nationalities. I thought this issue was dead. To hear even Blacks on this show not being aware of what they were or what to call themselves and letting whites define them was confusing to me. I guess it is time to open the conversation again among ourselves since young Blacks are confused about their identity. I thought this was a dead issue. A discussion on Blackface is instructive.
In “Just Say No to Blackface,” Leonard wrote that some people feel they should have the option to live in ignorance about what’s wrong with blackface. That itself, he argued, says a lot about how racism works:
“The ability to be ignorant, to be unaware of the history and consequences of racial bigotry, to simply do as one pleases, is a quintessential element of privilege. The ability to disparage, to demonize, to ridicule, and to engage in racially hurtful practices from the comfort of one’s segregated neighborhoods and racially homogeneous schools reflects both privilege and power. The ability to blame others for being oversensitive, for playing the race card, or for making much ado about nothing are privileges codified structurally and culturally.”
So, maybe you don’t know anything about the history of minstrelsy, and maybe you don’t know anything about the pain and trauma of living in a society that imagines blackness as comical or criminal.
That, according to Leonard, is the problem.
The question, to ask yourself if you claim ignorance is, he said, “Why do you not know, and what have you done to make sure that you continue to not know?” It puzzles me that even Blacks seem to have confusion about what they are and what they should be called in 2014. I thought this was a dead issue. The conversation should continue again.
