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Black Intellectual Impact America
In memory of historian John Hope Franklin, in what ways have black intellectual thought impacted the way America views itself today?
Who in their right mind, would want to help African-Americans? You know that sounds very cold and crude, but just think about it for a second? An oppressed people for hundred of years living in the land of fear, far greater than the Jews in the holocaust, and who cares?
A two or three fold answer, yes and it appears to have been to our own demise. Yes black intellect, especially that of Black males, have made a tremendous contribution to the America in which we live today. The problems are our contributions are too often plagiarized, dumb down, ignored, overlooked, outlawed in real life and in history books. Our contributions were made to a country specifically designed and operated to subdue the black man and his way of thinking. That is possibly a very good reason why I am not familiar with the works of Mr. Franklin or any of other black men who made great contributions.
In other cases, blacks have met their own demise trying to be like one of the most evil and abusive groups of people a black person could ever encounter. I do not mean every single white person, just like not every single black person, but these atrocities and hate crimes were and still are being committed by groups representing White Americans and white supremacy against an enslaved oppressed people. Why should they put us in their history books? Why don’t we produce and read our own history books? Is that allowed? Well, now that it is not forbidden, it just probably would not be profitable, would it? Then, on the other hand, it is just not so important to us?
Though blacks have made great contributions to the America in which we live today, what good are they when blacks are not willing to go out on a limb to recognize them? Now, that we have a chance to set the history books straight, what are we doing? We are hardly organized enough and where we are organized—the church—We are spending big dollars to build bigger churches, to build even bigger churches. Wonder what that will bring? Where are our schools and other disciplines to help sustain us—food, water and shelter? We fear them and we fear being separated from them.
So now you have it, it is better for us to know about Columbus discovering America, Independence Day, Thanksgiving… than for us to know about our own history.
Today, we no longer need black history month, we just need to tell the truth. Did Abraham Lincoln free the slaves? Did Columbus discover America? Will black people, especially males, ever receive proper credit for their contributions? Do black people "really seriously appreciate and respect" the people who sacrificed for them to be where they are today—their elders? Do we celebrate them? Will we ever? Will we pay for what we fail to do?
If I can love and respect white folk in America, I can love and respect all people, including my less fortunate brothers.
