The De-Integration of the Southern United States
"I have a dream here tonight...."
- Martin Luther King Jr.
Colors. They are all around us. Even those who are color blind are fortunate
enough to distinguish between shades of colors. Light. Dark. What would be worth seeing
without the wonderful differences in colors? People are much more fascinated with the
colors of a rainbow than they are with the site of some mono-tone object. Colors are what
make sight worthwhile. It is the very fact that they are different that makes them worth
seeing. Yet it can be so difficult for some to understand that....
I find myself infuriated and confused by those who would judge someone without
ever getting to know them. Before moving to southern Mississippi (from Washington State
where predjudice against minorities is MUCH less prevelant, if existant) I assumed that
the only predjudices where white Nazi-wannabes hating people from other cultures or colors.
As with most assumptions, I didn't know how wrong I was.
From what I have seen in Mississippi there is a grand scale that must maintain
balance at all times. For every ounce of hatred directed toward blacks, there must be an
equal amount directed toward whites. Maybe it is a spiritual balance of power, or maybe it
is just human nature to strike out at those that would do us harm. Whatever the reason, it
is most definitely there. And I think the reason 'it' is there is more simple than we would
like to think. We create our own little vicious circles of predjudice and hate by not only
becoming what we think someone else percieves us as, but also by becoming exactly what we
hate in them. If someone calls us a name, our first response is to call them a name back. If
someone causes us harm, we get some perverse pleasure in seeing them suffer also. "Poetic
Justice" becomes a happy thought. And we never consider that maybe that pleasure we gain is
causing the hurt that comes later.
I am always amused when someone demands that they not be called 'black', but instead
be called 'African American'. As if the title is what makes them important. I have great
respect for the true African Americans, those that came over on slave ships. They suffered
through more than any people should ever have to. They worked and slaved for generations,
while being treated like animals. Yet they never lost their humanity, and they never lost
their hope. They grew and fought in a relatively short time to become free people -
something that every person deserves. Yet I doubt there is one person alive today in America
who was a slave here in the United States. So why the need to live in the past? The history
of the Blacks in America should be studied, honored, respected, and learned from - but it
should NOT be drug out every time an excuse is needed to justify an action or circumstance.
I have seen too many times people complaining that they didn't get certain chances because
they were of a certain color. Or that they couldn't get hired because they were a certain
color. And I still can't believe how many times I hear "When you see me you don't see a man,
you see a BLACK man." It is almost enough to drive someone crazy.
I agree that circumstances, lifestyles, and financial status do a great deal to
influence our lives. But they can only affect us as long as we let them. There comes a time
in everyone's life where they must look at what they are, what they want to become, and
decide for themselves the paths they are going to take. They have to decide for themselves
what is right and what is wrong. And they also have to decide for themselves how much they
are going to let life affect them. I once heard someone say "Life is 5% what happens to us,
and 95% how we take it." Nothing could be closer to the truth. Excuses are, and always will
be, excuses. To blame how white people treated black people 100 years ago for our actions
now is not only silly, but it is a cop-out. A way to blame someone else for what is
happening to us today. I have heard black people complain that they couldn't get into
colleges or get certain jobs because of their color - and I have seen black people study,
work hard, and get into those same schools and get those same jobs.
Now, I will be the first to admit that there are people out there (quite a few, as
a matter of fact) who hate black people because they are black. Those same people might not
hire a person because of their skin color or nationality. But to take those examples and use
them as a stencil on how to conduct your life is absurd. We all decide how much we are going
to let people affect us.
So do I have an answer? I doubt it. Do I have an opinion on what should be done? Who
doesn't? I think the first goal should be education. Teach children that differences are
what make the world so wonderful. That it is normal to fear what we do not understand - but
that the fear must be overcome. We all need to learn that if we want to be treated equal, we
must act equal. If there is a solely black Ms. America pageant, then there should be a
solely white one, and a solely latin one, and a solely Native American one... or better yet,
just do away with trying to separate ourselves from everyone else and join together in one
big kaliedescope of beauty. The trouble is that everyone today is trying to hard to set
themselves apart from everyone else that they forget they are part of one big, thriving
being called humanity. And in fact, many roles have been switched here in the southern
United States. Now there are exclusively black sororities, fraternities, pageants, clubs,
and organizations and labor unions - all of which discriminate against people of other
colors. What is the point? Is it the poetic justice rearing its head again? Or is the fire
that drove the slaves to rise up against their masters still burning its way through the
blacks of today? Either way, it has exactly the opposite affect that their ancestors fought
for. They wanted to be part of the United States. Free men who were treated, and thought of,
as no better or worse than anyone else. Just another man or woman. Yet there is so much
segregation going on today that they are regressing back to a time when they were set
apart from everyone else.
What is needed is NOT to show everyone how bad their grandparents and
great-grandparents treated their grandparents and great-granparents. It is NOT to take
every opportunity to blame the past for circumstances of today. And it is most certainly NOT
to set ourselves apart from everyone else by hanging out in groups of our own color, forming
clubs exclusively for our own color and culture, or demanding that "our" people be treated
in a way different than "your" people. The answer is to understand that those differences
are what makes this life so appealing. The chance to see things outside of our normal day-
to-day lives, the chance to experience things we wouldn't normally experience, and the
chance to understand something we didn't understand before - THAT is the answer. We need to
look at someone else and say "When you look at me you don't see a man, you see the future."
Then maybe our children will be able to live in a world of intrigue, curiosity, amazement,
and excitement because of the differences between us. Instead of one of hate, confusion,
hurt feelings and suspicious glances. Maybe then they will have a chance.
Copyright © Richard McRae, 1998