Almost a full week into what's known as "Black History Month" I have to say i feel somewhat removed the term and have been hard pressed to find any particular notice of it which in my mind is a stark contrast to what it was when i was a school aged child. Everywhere you went it seemed back then, there was mention of the fact, mention of those who led the fight for civil rights, and those who literally fought for their freedom from slavery.
It saddens me somewhat because as i look at the young kids and teens around me now, it would seem that they have "forgotten" what the struggle was about and worse that there even was a struggle in the first place. Evidenced I feel by the liberal use of the term "Nigga" so much so that some were moved to create an organization to gather support for the word not BEING used at all.
When I see young kids or even older adults on the street using the word, it makes me cringe, when i hear people arguing for their "right" to use this word I wonder, do they even understand or know how many people died because of that word, how absolutely and incredibly derogatory that word is. For some, it was the last thing they heard in this life. To fight for the right to use it as a means of "greeting" or that its just another "word" is somewhat amazing.
There was a show on Like It Is With Gil Noble this past sunday that showed archival footage of an incident that happened back in the 60's where some african americans were arrested during a protest in the south, and the interview was done with one of the women who explained how she, and her collegues were brought to the local county jail and beaten horribly, one by one, some by the troopers and some were beaten by one of the "black" inmates" at the behest of the troopers and police officers.
I watched this woman talk about seeing people beaten bloody, and within an inch of their life....even herself being beaten and having to be subject to blatantly open sexual abuse DURING the beating, and her constantly hearing that word over and over again....and then i hear someone somewhere talking about the word means nothing...its just a word....perhaps so....but as some IM sure will say, some words can hurt more than the biggest fist....
I am sure that woman on the interview would agree...
What have we, as a people come to, when we embrace the derogatory terminology used by those who enslaved us and tore apart our families. What does it say about us as a community when we rationalize the minstrel mindset and continue to produce entertainment, music and song that embraces this negativity in conjunction with misogynistic lyrics that objectify and alienate our sisters and say well.....bills got to be paid....trying to keep a roof over our head.....well if people wouldnt buy it we would be putting it out there....Was all the fighting for nothing, all the beatings and lynchings, do they mean nothing?
Sometimes I feel as though we are our own worst enemy. Blaming the white man for all our ills has become so much of an accepted practice that it almost feels like a part of the rites of passage - that you are automatically disenfranchised at birth - so why bother...
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