Steven Grimsley, I hesitated to publish this on my page. I thought it might be too inflammatory. They say that civilized people should never discuss religion or politics, but I think those two subjects are too important to be left off the table, so here we go. Two disclaimers. First, I am only one person and in no way qualified to speak for Black America. These are my thoughts alone. Second, understand that when I speak of Black Pride, that is not to the exclusion of other cultures. Years ago, I had a discussion with a White friend. (Wed gotten close enough that we could have these talks without fisticuffs.) He told me that he was offended by the phrase “Black is Beautiful.” When I asked him why, it turned out that what he heard was Black is Beautiful “exclusively,” meaning ONLY Blacks were beautiful. I explained to him that what I meant by the term was Black is Beautiful “too.” I explained how Id grown up in a society without Black icons. My first crush as a boy? Darla of the Little Rascals. My idea of beauty? Marilyn Monroe and Ava Gardner. When I was a child there were NO images of beautiful Black women or strong Black men represented in the media. Thank God for the 60s, an era when we started studying our roots, glorying in our kinky hair, our multi hued complexions. All that is to say that I LOVE who I am, but I would imagine you love who you are too! We should ALL glory in who we are if for no other reason than that is how the God of the universe made us. So as you read, understand that theres not one iota of superiority in my ideas. (Nor inferiority.) I am Gods child, and so are you. We are equal because we are equal in HIS sight. He paid the same price for both of us. So now to answer your question. You asked “Along with Dr. Ben Carson, have you dismissed Dr. Thomas Sowell, Armstrong Williams, Larry Elder, Star Parker, Clarence Thomas, Condoleeza Rice, Walter Williams, Ken Hamblin, Niger Ennis, Jesse Lee Peterson, Deneen Borelli and Angela McGlowan too? The short answer is “Yes.” Heres why, but Ill have to use a bit of history. During the era of slavery (which according to Dr. Carson was only marginally worse than Obamacare, but I digress) there were two classes of slaves, house slaves and field slaves. The field slaves led a miserable life. They worked from sun up to sun down, toiling in the fields. They felt the overseers whip. They longed for freedom. The house slave, although still a slave, had it a little better. They could eat the masters leftovers. They lived closer to the masters house, actually worked in the house itself. They probably dressed better, probably had a small amount of authority over the field slaves. The problem was that because of a tiny bit of privilege, the house slaves often identified more with the master than with their brothers and sisters in the field. They were often their strongest critics. And their words and actions served to assuage the masters guilt. They served as Black mouthpieces for the master, parroting his every word and he LOVED it. After all, his abuse must have been justified if even his house slaves agreed, right? I think you can see the parallel. The black voices you listed are seen by me as modern voices of house slaves. They have black skin, but their words echo the words of the right. I see them as stooges, puppets, conceptual traitors to those of us in the “field.” They champion limited government when government intervention was what finally helped Blacks gain access to many of the nations facilities. They denigrate Affirmative Action when many of them were themselves beneficiaries. They vilify Obamcare, when their communities would benefit most. They are truly whitewashed tombs. If we had the chance to sit down and talk, youd be surprised at how much you and I really have in common. I actually like the idea of limited government. Id love to see taxes go down. Im deeply concerned about the growing national debt. (Then again, I was concerned way back when “W” got us into that unnecessary war and busted the budget, but again, I digress.) One of the things about Adventism that Im most proud of (outside of our doctrinal beliefs) is how our culture and educational emphasis encourage the poor among us to strive for middle to upper middle class status. To be sure, that is not an exclusive Adventist trait, but is does exist among us and we are generally the better for it. But it would be a shame, no it would be a sin, if we allowed our successes to isolate us from the communities that need our witness. And Im not just talking about Black communities. I mean Latino, and Native American, and poor White communities, communities across our nation, communities across our world. They ALL cry out for our witness. So, I will ALWAYS choose to be associated with the poor, the disadvantaged, the downtrodden. As we say, “Those are my peeps.” And I think Im in good company. The Savior who died for me came from a city so bad that the question was asked “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Jesus came from the hood. I have little affection for those who turn their backs on their own for personal gain.
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 00:57:58 +0000
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