What is Black Melanin? How very strange that suddenly Newsweek, Science and several of the wire services are doing front-cover and front page stories on the question of whether there is any such thing as racial difference. They are calling forth the testimonies of anthropologists, geneticists and many others to suggest that there really is no scientific validity to the concept of race. This evidence is being called to testify against the growing racial consciousness in African-American communities that is being used to elect Black political leadership, develop Black economic power, the expansion of challenging Afrocentric studies, the successful call for Black leadership coalitions and the growing response to the call for a million Black men to march on Washington, D.C., in October of this year. While African-American scholars and leaders have argued against the use of race as the criteria for discrimination and oppression of Black people for the last four centuries, it is really interesting that now, European-American scholars and scientists have suddenly decided that race is really a meaningless designation. Where were they when slavery was based on color for nearly three centuries? Where were they when lynching was dictated by color designation? Where were they when our children were not permitted to master basic learning skills because of race? Where were they when the wealth acquired from our labor was not shared with those who toiled? Where were they when the government refused to let us vote because of race? If their data was not relevant then, we definitely dont want it now as a means to divide and diffuse our power base. Could it be that there is some fear of the growing number of Black people who are defining race for themselves and doing it in a positive way? Could it be that they fear the blocks of strength which grow from African-Americans beginning to see themselves as having more in common with each other than with political parties, religious denominations, or even income groups? Could it be that there is some fear of the large numbers of so-called bi-racial persons who prefer to see themselves as fundamentally African-American as a positive identification? Could it be that the prospect of Black people beginning to define ourselves for our own self-interest is the ultimate expression of power? Might some people fear that we have learned Wade Nobles definition of power as the ability to define reality and have other people accept your definition as if it were their own? by Dr. Naim Akbar
Posted on: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 01:14:09 +0000
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