A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE
I’ve been asking myself a lot lately why are a lot of white people so offended and so worked up about our experiences in America being brought to the forefront? Why does the truth about what we went through bother them so much? Are they worried that we are going to exact some form of revenge? Are they ashamed of the actions of their ancestors? Are they afraid of us becoming empowered? I don’t know what the answer is, but I do have some thoughts to share with you about how I, Elondious, personally see things.
Most of us (when I say us and we, I’m speaking about Black people just in case you didn’t know) are not looking for revenge or any type of handouts. We are asking for acknowledgement and equality.
Let me break that down for you. We want America to acknowledge that our ancestors were sold, beaten, raped, mistreated, and overlooked by the White citizens of this country for years. We want America to acknowledge that our ancestors had their dignity, their self-respect, their culture, their families and their lives violently taken from them. We have been treated like animals instead of humans for years and sadly so, we’re still receiving that same treatment by some now. We want our contributions to this country acknowledged right along with White America. America would not be the country that it is today without the blood, sweat, tears, sacrifices, intelligence, innovation, creativity and hard work of our ancestors. I, personally, am asking for acknowledgment of the atrocities and crimes that have been perpetrated against my ancestors and that is still being perpetrated against us today!
We are asking for equality. We want the same treatment and opportunities that is afforded to White America. We are not asking for a handout. I know that a lot of people feel that Affirmative Action, the African American Employment Program and other similar programs are in fact a handout but they’re not. They are actions and programs put in place to level the playing field. A playing field that wouldn’t have to be leveled if we were only treated as the human beings that we most definitely are. We’re not asking for an unfair advantage but a fair and equal advantage. We are confident in our intelligence and skills to know that we can and will succeed if we start from the same place with White America and not 20 steps behind.
We want our truth to be stated and heard. And we are asking that White America can look at it and hear it in a different perspective.
Written by:
Elondious
