"Nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate than that these people are to be free.
Nor is it less certain that the two races, equally free, cannot live in the same government.
Nature, habit, opinion has drawn indelible lines of distinction between them." ~ Thomas Jefferson (Autobiography, 1821)
It was a Saturday morning, late in June. The year was 2008. In the background, radio broadcaster, Scott Simon could be heard. The host of Weekend Edition offered his Reflections on Race and the Presidential Election. Alexander listened halfheartedly. It was not that he was not interested in the topic; he is and he was. Alex was distracted. The gentleman glanced over at Donna, a young Jamaican woman he knows so well. Donna's skin is as Black as pitch coal and as rich as sweet crude. She gracefully moves across the room. He thinks of how he loves the way her hips sway to and fro. Her voluptuous bosom fills the full cup of her brassiere. As she bends down to feed his ailing cousin Anna, Alex reflects on how lovely the dark skinned woman is. His sentiment is not sexual in nature. Alexander is analytical.
The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright's sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour in American life occurs on Sunday morning. ~ Barack Obama [Senator and Potential President] March 18, 2008
When we are separate, our experience is never equal. African-Americans mingle among the many Anglos in this country. However, individuals with dark-complexions do not fully unite or fit into a society that segregates by color. While Americans have forcibly progressed beyond the laws that allowed for racial discrimination, the bias and bigotry that filled the hearts of many citizens in the United States for centuries still thrives. While we muse, we love thy neighbor, we react to those whose race is not our own.
Joseph McNeil (from left), Franklin in McCain, Billy Smith and Clarence Henderson sit in protest at the whites-only lunch counter at Woolworth during the second day of peaceful protest,
February 2, 1960.Corbis
French Novelist, Alphonse Karr offered, "The more things change, the more they stay the same." 'Tis too true. Beginning in the month of February 1976, Americans were given an opportunity to realize how profound the axiom is. For four short winter weeks, citizens of this country contemplate what was. We, as a nation honor Black History. For a moment, countrymen set aside the preeminent prejudices that govern many practices and policies. As a nation, we ponder how much African-Americans have contributed to this country.
Tales are told; triumphs recounted. Perhaps one of most significant heartfelt stories shared was aired on February 1, 2008. All Things Considered producers gave the listeners much to contemplate. Newscaster, Michele Norris introduced an unassuming activist whose personal anecdote brought tears to the eyes of many in the National Public Radio audience. The Woolworth Sit-In That Launched a Movement, as narrated by one of the Greensboro Four, Franklin McCain reminds us of how often the past is found in the present.
It's never been my interest to run a race-based campaign. My message has always been that I want everyone included in a broad coalition to bring about change.
I want to spend more time talking about solving the problems that people are feeling right now. ~ Barack Obama [United States Senator and Presidential Aspirant. January 27, 2008]
In any Presidential election year, we hear of the race. Yet, discussions of "race" are void, or are since a truce was tendered. Americas would like to think of themselves as colorblind. We are not. Citizens of this country embrace "colormuteness, a term coined by Mica Pollock, Associate Professor of Education at Harvard University. What Professor Pollock observes in classrooms and in the hallways of schools throughout the nation occurs each day on the campaign trail. Children who wish to achieve excellence in the classroom are restricted by conventions they learned at an early age in our nation's communities.
I, as a white person mourn on this day, for every man and woman Black, white, brown, red, or yellow are my brethren. I feel the pain of all those that have gone before me. My heart aches most for those whose flesh is darkest. It seems, try as they might Afro-Americans can never escape the bondage, the bigotry that enslaves them. The color of their skin shades their every encounter. I recognize that only days ago, in this duplicitous land founded on the principles of freedom and justice for all, segregation was again endorsed by the highest Court in the country. The Supreme Court ruled "Schools can't use race to assign students." History demonstrates, left to their own devices whites will not desegregate.
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