Skip to main content

Education vs. Segregation

There has been a lot of talk lately about institutions that assist black people such as NAACP, various award shows and channels, etc. I can completely understand the concept of why someone would say that these things further segregate us. However, just because that is what people are saying does not make it true. They do not understand the history behind these types of shows and institutions. Just because main stream media

Black History Month for example is about the preservation of culture and making sure that the accomplishments of Black males and females are not forgotten. Black history is and should be part of American History but it is not. Proof of this is in high school. Children have to take a class like this as an elective. These contributions are not taught as part of the whole. They are taught segregated and I believe that is what leads to animosity, "white guilt", and other social issues. It is not a separate history. No matter what color your skin is, your ethnicity, or religion- this part of history belongs to us all. It is important to remember it is not only because we want to avoid repeating history but also for social context. A lot of what we see today is typical of what we saw in the past to varying degrees. Instead of water and dogs it is stun guns, tasers, and profiling. Instead of hangings, it is mysterious deaths in prison or holding cells. Instead of public murders it is planting evidence to support the officers rationale for the murders. All of these things are not drummed up to cause issues and create animosity, they are really happening. The other sad part of that is that the victims are often blamed:  "he should of just...", "she should of just...", "they had a history of crime...".  What kind of society do we live in when we systematically"lynch" someone before they have been proven guilty of a crime?

In order to truly heal, we have to start listening and stop talking over one another. Feelings are real and indisputable. No one can tell anyone what they feel is wrong or that they are not feeling it. If we start to listen and look at the context behind what is upsetting people, we can start to put plans into action and make a difference. Some of what needs to be done is within the communities that we live in. If you live in an all black community you should be the main one involved in lifting that community up to make sure that jobs are available, schools are on par with the schools in other areas of the city, affordable housing that meets code, that your communities are safe and those who are trusted to keep it that way are invested in the communities. But it does not stop there... There are a lot of people that think what I just said is pro-Black and anti-White. The former is true but not the latter . Pro Black is not a negative term and it does not mean that we are against anyone. It means that we support and love each other and are dedicated to keeping our traditions and history alive so it is not lost. There is nothing anti anything about it. You do not have to be black to be pro-Black either. Same concept as pro-abortion. You do not have to be a woman to support it. We have to work together that is with each other and with our equity allies. We cannot complain about segregation and then be involved in it ourselves. Diversity and equity are important for any community to thrive and prosper.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Judicial system reform

Like it or not, even with reform, the police are not going anywhere. While I do think reform needs to be on a Federal level. There is also work that needs to be done at the local and city level as well in conjunction with that reform. Each community is different, faces a variety of distance challenges and so it requires a different lens from place to place. This is not an attack on police officers. Of course there are the ones who do their job with integrity and uphold the law and citizens they swore to protect. But we are not talking about them. We are talking about the other officers. The ones who use muscle memory as an excuse to shoot someone, the ones who show up and start shooting and asking questions later, the ones who profile. On the topic of reform and integration police need to be properly integrated into the community that they serve. If I sat here long enough, I could think of a laundry list of things, but at the most basic and human level of things, reform needs to inc...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tax Revenue Allocation

I posted this meme earlier today on Facebook and a friend of mine asked the question, "What tax revenue? Isn't the US already $18 trillion in debt now? It is a good question. I thought about it and decided to blog.  Tax revenue? Yes, we have it. Here is what I believe the problem to be. First of all, we do allocate tax dollars. The problem is what we allocate it to, secondary to the problem of spending without a plan. In the business world, at least with a successful business, your budget is usually flat. What does that mean? It means that there is not enough to do everything that you want to do. You have to pick and choose but also you look for ways to get things done. For example, waste. There are several types of waste and by reducing these types of waste it can be a huge cost savings, especially over time. That cost savings can they be used to build infrastructure, upgrade facilities, or update computer systems for example. Our government, as most of us know, virtu...
Post a Comment
Read more

Leaving the hate at the door and joining corners

My first blog post was about Black on Black love. So many times you hear the opposite, such as the constant focus in the media of Black on Black crime and how Black people should not worry about police brutality because they do not care about the brutality they inflict on each other. I can see that point and why one would think that. Especially, when it is spoon fed to us.  But the fact is, every single race has crimes that are committed by and to people of the same race, religion, sexual orientation etc. The Black race is no different than other other group or sect. Some of us just believe it to be because of what the media shows us. Maybe you did not grow up around many Black people and or you do not live in a place where there are many in the population. What you may associate with being Black, whether that is behavior, attitude, clothing, etc is going to be very different from person to person. As free thinking people, obviously we all know this but we are influenced heavily by...
Post a Comment
Read more