I need to qualify what I am saying in this blog dear reader before I make one single point about the title of this post . When I say "White America" I mean the historical force that created Jim Crow to dismiss the humanity of my ancestors, the need for a civil rights movement, and conditions that in many cases require almost super human abilities to rise above. My paradigm for so long needed fortification obtained through knowledge of the struggle and achievements of my people so that i could learn and teach others about the conditions of being black in America. Langston Hughes, Malcom X, DR. King, The Black Panther Party, Richard Wright, Maya Angeleou , Chester Himes, Lonne Bennett Jr, W.E.B Dubois, Mary Mcloud Bethune, and many other writers of color helped me in trying to make sense of a country that in many cases "Bell Curved" and rejected us simply for our melanin. Ironically my white third grade teacher (Mrs Kent) is the person who introduced me to Black authors. I am forever greatful to her for giving me the gift of counciousness . She looked at it as a positive thing to do for a kid who was struggling even at that tender age for role models that could affirm him in a way that showed him the intellectual achievements of the American stepchild . I Too Sing America indeed. She also taught me through her caring and action that there was not a monolith group called "White People", but that there were(and are) people who did not subscibe to the ideal of White Supremacy. She planted the seed in me that allowed me to process a world around me where White privlige was taken for granted by people who implied that Black people should get over slavery and move on. Until I went to college , Black History was relegated in my all Black and racially mixed schools to Slavery, Harriet Tubman, George Washington Carver, and the" I Have A Dream" speech. Mrs Kent was the opposite pole of those teachers later in my experience who dealt with us Black students with so much subcouncious or intentional bias. There is a quality that reminds me of Mrs Kent in all of my non Black friends. It's not that they are giving me Black literature or anything like that; It's that our friendship has not been shaped or blocked by racial bias. Because American life has been so harsh for so many Black folks in my lifetime, it has been hard for me to belive that I haven't just been incredibly blessed to have non predjudiced whites in my circle. I don't deny the amazing progress that has also happened in my lifetime. Black Americans have succeded in almost every aspect of American life. It's the paradox in the paradigm( or is it?) But it has seemed to me that whenever we have hoped for or believed in full participation of the American idea, some event has thrown a cold bucket of water into the melting pot. It's been particulary hard to believe when capitalizing on White fears of people of color(Willie Horton starring as the Black Boogeyman) has been the trump card as an election strategy. It clearly didn't work this time( Reverend Wright as The Angry Black Boogyman).
Do I believe that all of these stereotypes have gone the way of the Dinosaur? No, I don't. I do believe that Obama tapped into a consciousness of folks of all colors who are rejecting the old way. The oppostion was clearly about a lot of the status quo. Black folks alone didn't elect President Obama. Clearly the American public was smart enough to recognize the real call for change. I am ready to believe that young people in particular are not operating from the old paradigm. Their numbers are added to the numbers of all Americans who are finally ready (I hope) to judge a man by the content of his character
President Obama won. A Black man as President of the United States is cause for a major paradigm shift. I honestly did not think that he would win. Of course I voted along with other Black Americans with a sense of pride in terms of the long hard journey that produced his candidacy, but I never believed that enough White Americans would see the content of his character as opposed to the color of his skin.
I am ready to let go of my cynicism . Although , I am still a strong advocate for teaching and learning about the history and reality of our struggle, I am ready to let go of my assumptions that only exceptional White folks care about our common humanity. I am ready to believe in "change" Are we ready for the shift? So far , so good.
