In his
autobiography titled “Up From Slavery”, the great educator and orator, and
former slave, Booker T. Washington states that “… when we rid ourselves of prejudice, or racial feeling, and look
facts in the face, we must acknowledge that, notwithstanding the cruelty and
moral wrong of slavery, the ten million Negroes inhabiting this country, who
themselves or whose ancestors went through the school of American slavery, are
in a stronger and more hopeful condition, materially, intellectually, morally,
and religiously, than is true of an equal number of black people in any other
portion of the globe.” If a former
slave writing in 1900, only four years after Plessy v Ferguson, in the same
publication that he writes of an epidemic of lynchings, can make this statement,
then surely the vast majority of 21st century descendents of those “ten million Negroes” living in America
must admit that they too are in a “stronger
and more hopeful condition” than any equal number of dark skinned people
anywhere else in the world; a “stronger
and more hopeful condition” than if their ancestors had not been brutally
stolen from their lives in Africa and forced into slavery in the Americas. Of course Mr. Washington is not trying to justify
slavery and neither am I; nor is there justification for Jim Crow, ‘separate
but equal”, segregation, or any of the injustices blacks have suffered as a
result of skin color in the United States.
I could make the point that almost all such injustices are behind us;
that 21st century blacks are no more likely than anyone else to suffer unfair treatment in
America, but that is not my primary
point; my point is that as a group, blacks in America today are better off than
they would be if they had all been born in Africa. Blacks no longer have a reason to be angry at
America or with white Americans in general.
Most non-black
Americans have no ancestral connection to slavery. My own case, while not very
interesting, is fairly typical. My
ancestors on one side were dirt poor Finnish immigrants that arrived here via
Ellis Island long after the end of American slavery, and those on the other
side were dirt poor English northern “wage slaves”. None ever owned or cared to own another
human, and one died fighting in the war to end slavery. I deserve no credit for his sacrifice, but
also deserve no guilt or responsibility for the actions of those he was
fighting. But even if ones
great-great-grandfather had been Simon Legree himself, that shines no ill light
on the descendent. It is wrong to punish the son for crimes of the father, let alone
long dead, unknown ancestors. Besides,
if we are to point our fingers at ancestors, then America’s blacks might as
well point at their own white ancestors that owned slaves and fathered slaves,
not those of most white Americans who did neither. We are each responsible for the meanness or
racism we harbor in our breasts today, but not for that of others.
Racism
is not just judging people by race – that practice is better described as
“prejudice” as in pre-judging people based on conditions they do not control. Racism is a bigger, broader term meaning
placing an unreasonable emphasis on race rather than on individuals. Anyone who judges a black person by the color
of his skin is both prejudice and racist, but no more so than one who condemns
the white race for the actions of the long dead portion of it that practiced or
supported the practice of slavery in 18th and 19th century America.
Likewise,
without trying to justify the “Trail of Tears” or “Wounded Knee”, American
Indians (note 1) are better off today than if Europeans had never
bumped into these continents. This may
not seem obvious to some, but any American Indian that cannot see without his
eye-glasses or has been relieved by modern medicine of appendicitis or an
impacted molar should find it easy to agree. And any over the age of 45 or 50
should simply be grateful for being alive because research shows that
pre-Columbian life spans among natives of the Americas were typically 35 to 45
years, and on the decline long before 1492 according to Dr. Richard H. Steckel
and Dr. Jerome C. Rose in the book that they edited titled “The Backbone of History: Health and
Nutrition in the Western Hemisphere” (note 2). Indians in general live longer, healthier,
more comfortable lives today than before 1492, and there is no reason to
believe that their living conditions would have improved measurably between
then and now without the introduction of European technology. While European peasants were perhaps worse
off than most American Indians in 1492, Europe was poised for advances that
would raise the standard of living for all of its citizens. Those living in the Americas were in no such
position; civilizations that have not invented the wheel or printing press do
not experience sudden surges in technological advancement.
Notwithstanding
the hell their antecedents went through to get here or the millions who will
never be born because would-have-been ancestors were wiped out prematurely by
disease or bullets, at this moment in time, and I daresay looking forward, our American
Indian fellow citizens are better off because Europeans came along.
Am I
better off because my ancestors on one side left England to come to America a
couple of hundred years ago and those on the other side Finland a hundred years
later? I’ve been to England and found it
a very pleasant country, and I believe Finland is also, but I would not trade
the life I’ve had in the United States for citizenship anywhere else in the
world. I believe myself, and others of
European descent, are better off being here than in the “old country”, no
matter the hardships so many went through to make it happen.
One needs
only to chat with a few of America’s recent immigrants to learn that they,
almost unanimously, are thrilled to be here. I can state examples of people
from all over Eastern Europe and Asia as well as Latin America and Mexico of
people that embrace their new American citizenship with happiness and pride. In
general, no matter how it came to be, race notwithstanding, Americans are lucky
to be citizens of the United States of America.
Booker
T. Washington’s message to the young, black men and women that came to his
Tuskegee Institute for education and training was consistent for the decades he
was in charge there – learn skills that make you valuable to a community, and
you will be welcome in any town, north or south.
Washington taught victims to shun the role of victim and become solid
citizens; today our leaders create victims where they do not exist for
political gain. In this modern era, the last decades of the twentieth century
and the first decades of the twenty-first, there are fewer real victims in the
United States than at any time in history, and perhaps more people than ever that
perceive of themselves as victims. Victimhood
is practically a status symbol in modern America. We are in desperate need of leadership that
remembers and echoes the wisdom of Booker T. Washington. We are in desperate need of the optimism and
patriotism in our citizenry that Washington worked to instill in his students
and others. Only then can we all work
together toward “a stronger and more
hopeful condition” for all Americans.
Note 1: Like many
writers I’m a bit at a loss for a satisfactory term for what are today commonly
called “Native Americans”. That term in
my opinion insults all who were born in America that are not of the indigenous
race and also insults the “Natives” because “America” would not be the name of
their homeland if not for Europeans. I
settle on the term “American Indian”, however inappropriate, because my
Shoshone friends refer to themselves as “Indians”, but I feel like I have to
differentiate between them and my friends from India.
Related Links:
Since I just happen to be at my computer working on a family history project for my children for Christmas, I availed myself of the chance to read your article immediately upon notification of it's completion. You have a way of making points that many of us wish we had Dan. I wholeheartedly agree with what you have said. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Cindy... Sometimes I feel like I'm writing to a vacuum. Feedback is very much appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to read it.
DeleteWell said. The U. S. Constitution is meant to protect the only true minority - the INDIVIDUAL.
ReplyDeleteThank you - and thank you for taking the time to read my ramblings...
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