The girl who sat directly in front of me in my ninth grade algebra class answered the teacher's question incorrectly. I was devastated. How the heck could she get the question wrong when knew the answer. I mean, don't all white people live like the Brady Bunch, I wondered to myself. Her long, golden, blond, perfect hair lay softly on my desk. And everyday in class, I fantasized about what it would be like to have a perfect life and perfect hair just like hers. We eventually became friends and I was shocked to learn that she also envied my hair texture and the creative styles that would remain in place. I couldn't believe that she came from a single-parent home; and she was surprised to learn that I lived with both parents who worked full-time in car factories. I learned that her life wasn't perfect just because she is white and that I wasn't a victim of American society just because I am black.
If America decides to compensate African Americans for pain and suffering endured during and after slavery - yes, I will take a check. Who am I to turn down money to pay off my student loans? But for the record, I would like to be the first to claim Oprah Winfrey, Dr. Benjamin Carson, Colin Powell, Venus and Serena Williams and Michael Jordan's share of the spoils. Oh, and since Tiger Woods and Halle Barry are bi-racial, I wonder if they are entitled to only half as much money? But by any means, I am open to their share as well. I don't know if the young, self-made black millionaires who created something out of nothing - “Hip Hop” a new genre of music that has swept America's youth both black and white will qualify for reparation benefits. Given the history of oppression and racism in America, rap music should not exist in our vocabulary today given that these young moguls were not apart of the “old boys network.”
Will black people who are incarcerated, dropped out of high school and addicted to drugs receive a larger amount of money or scholarships for school? Can we prove that the conditions created in their lives are more directly related to the aftermaths of slavery? While Congressman, (D) John Conyers is conducting his research for reparations for African Americans based on the affects of slavery, I hope he takes into consideration the efforts of white people such as: The Quakers were the first group to actively help runaway slaves. Pennsylvania, Thomas Garrett was arrested for breaking the Fugitive Slave Law in 1841. He was forced to sell all of his property and left destitute. John Fairfield, born to a slaveholding family, posed as a slaveholder and rescued several hundred slaves.
Elijah P. Lovejoy and William Lloyd Garrison published newspapers speaking out against the evils of slavery. Benjamin Franklin organized the first Abolitionist society in 1775. If blacks don't want to create further injustice, we must make sure that non-racist white people who did not contribute to slavery and who are not benefiting economically from slavery do not feel undermined. History shows that not all white people participated in slavery. There were many poor white folks who picked cotton along side our ancestors. Although very few indeed, history also note that there were black slaveholders as well.
Yes, I am aware that other ethnic groups have been allotted reparations for pain and suffering endured by a government. In my opinion, where there has been a form of monetary reparation, the ethnic groups involved were not integrated into that particular society, similar to America's relationship with Native Americans. Yes, they can attend college free of charge, they have been given land and are governed by their own laws; but for the most part they are socially isolated from mainstream culture. In addition, although Jewish ethnic groups received reparations from Germany they do not view it as their homeland.
If blacks and whites are playing on the American team, then we need to think of more creative solutions such as Affirmative Action to bridge the gaps that slavery created, not waste our time blaming each other for the broken bridge.
