NICKELS wrote:LETS SAY BLACK CULTURE IS NOT POPULAR 10 YEARS FROM NOW , AND WE START GETTING A BAD REPUTATION AGAIN , ON OUR RACE , HOW MANY PEOPLE WILL STILL WANT TO ACT BLACK OR CLAIM THEY GOT BLACK IN THEM...........BECAUSE THAT CLAIMIN PEOPLE DOWN WITH BLACKS STARTED AFTER THE PANTHERS STARTED LAYING IT DOWN .....BEFORE THAT ALL RACES TREATED BLACKS BAD
From an historical perspective, black culture has always been popular. People have always been fascinated by huge portions, or small portions, of black culture, since the days of slavery, on up until now, with its ebbs and flows, and guess what? During the days of this country's darkest oppression of black folks, you still had plenty of mixed black folks, or just light-skinned black folks, who weren't and aren't dark-skinned as you purport to be, who was still loyal to the black race, and were freedom fighters for the black race.
You see, you have just ordinary light skinned black folks, then you have those who fall under the category of being "mixed" in the sense that they have one parent that is codified upon under the black identity, whereas the other parent is classified racially, as other. And within both of those groups of black folks, you have produced black freedom fighters for the cause, such as Thurgood Marshall, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., Malcolm X, Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, Booker T. Washington, Farrakhan, Frederick Douglass, Bob Marley and the like, who were light skinned, heavily mixed blacks, with two parents either classically identified and codified as being black, or those with one white parent, BUT THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS WERE, AND STILL ARE RELEVANT TO THE BLACK EXPERIENCE!
And mind you, again, many of these folks claimed the black identity, during a time-WHEN IT WAS HIGHLY UNPOPULAR!
Just because someone's a darker skinned black person, doesn't mean that they are more racially conscious than a black person who's light, or heavily mixed. For in the end, when it comes to linking up, I'D RATHER RIDE WITH LIGHT SKINNED MALCOLM ANY DAY, THAN WITH DARK SKINNED CLARENCE THOMAS!
I'd rather ride with Huey Newton any day, THAN WITH ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS, or LARRY ELDERS!!!!
The point I'm making is, being black, and having that black soul, and black consciousness, transcends skin color, because in both light-skinned black folks category, and darker skinned black folks category, and in between-YOU HAVE YOUR CONSCIOUS FOLKS, AND YOUR SELLOUTS!
Notwithstanding, as I said before-WHO CARES ABOUT WHAT A JUDGE RULED ON, AND NOT RULED ON? Our unity as a people, and how it metamorphisized, is much deeper, in a spiritual sense, than what was determined by a gavel. Don't get caught up into the judge's gavel, for as I said before in the previous post-WHAT WHITE FOLKS INTENDED FOR EVIL, ONE CAN SAY THAT GOD INTENDED FOR GOOD!
Black folks in other countries, who don't have such traditionally codified laws when it comes to race, will generally refer to someone who is half-black and white, or whatever, as black, whether they be from Europe, Africa, or the Caribbean. Like this one Ghanaian guy said to me: "In my country, if you're part Ghanaian, you are full Ghanaian, therefore black."
Hell, Sade in an interview, even admitted that she was black, and mind you, her mother was a white British woman, and her father an black African man.
Not only that, even mexicans and latinos, are allowing those who are part black and mexican, and especially those who are part white (or just white, I guess), to choose sides, and embrace the mexican identity; and the same goes for native americans (mainly and primarily, when it comes to white folks, not black folks)-but the only group of people, with so much time on their hands, who are arrogantly (and proud of it) regressing and jettison off significant portions of their army, all in the name of myopic and shortsighted interests, ARE BLACK FOLKS!
I guess we became so free in this country, or have obtained such a modicum of freedom in this country, to where we feel so secure and overly chauvinistic in our black pride, to where get beside ourselves with the little power that we do have, and begin to play games, and abuse other members of the family.
Of course if you're ligther in this country, from an historical bent, you may have, or downright had it, BETTER THAN BLACK FOLKS IN THIS COUNTRY WHO WERE DARKER SKINNED, WITHOUT A DOUBT!! I also know that you had plenty of lighter skinned negroes, throughout their history, who had it easier, but nevertheless stepped up, and used their "light skin privilege," to bust down doors of opportunity-SO THAT THEY CAN LET THE REST OF THE BLACK FOLKS IN!
Furthermore, you had light skinned black folks, despite instances of them being treated better (which contains a modicum of truth in that), nevertheless, suffering from the same pangs of slavery as their darker brethren or "full-black" brothers and sisters! Hell, Crispus Attucks, the one whom they claim to have died first during the American Revolutionary War, had a price on his head, by his slavemaster. Yes this man was a runaway, and guess how he was classified as? A MULATTO!
For this man to want to escape slavery, despite being a MULATTO, just goes to show me that his experience as black man, and as a slave, under the barbarous system of slavery-MADE NO GENETIC, NOR ANY INTENSE COLOR LINES, SEEING AS HOW THIS MULATTO MAN CONSIDERED IT OPPRESSIVE ENOUGH TO WANT TO ESCAPE!
The same goes with Frederick Douglass, who was a MULATTO! He hated slavery, his experiences during slavery, and despite being a MULATTO, he was still treated like a NIGGER, to where he wanted to escape to freedom. As a result of him escaping, he became a fiery anti-slavery crusader and abolitiionist.
And there are other examples and anecdotes that I can use, that is so numerous, it will take up whole chapters of books.
In the end, lighter skinned black folks, despite receiving a modicum of benefits, because they were light skinned, if during the days of jim crow and segregation, they were determined, or discovered to be black, they would suffer equally the same fate of their darker brethren, despite the urban legends and myths that are propagated to the contrary. Lighter skinned black folks were enslaved, had to sit in the back of the bus; use "colored only" facilities; etc.-JUST LIKE DARKER SKINNED BLACK FOLKS!
So naw man, in the end, black folks better be careful, when it comes to this issue, as it relates to who we're going to jettison off, despite the fact the fact that those we're jettisoning off, claim the black identity. Let's not cut off our noses just to spite our faces, while getting caught up into extreme bouts of emotionalism.
As a people, we need all of the troops, and to siphon those off who want to be apart of the army, by way of their badge of african genes-WILL ONLY PRODUCE NEGATIVE RESULTS, AND THE CONTINUAL DOWNWARD SPIRAL, OF THE OVERALL COLLECTIVE, BLACK COMMUNITY!
Simply put, be careful what you pray/ask for, because in the end, you may just get, what you cry out for, and are getting it right now, in small increments, if you know what to look for...
Yeah, black culture has always been popular, or arrogated, but we as black folks, in our overall history in this country, especially from a genetic standpoint-NEVER BEEN ALL THAT POPULAR, AS WE MAY WANT TO BELIEVE, LIVING IN THIS EPIC OF TIME!
