A few weeks ago, I delved into a subject that many have heard about, but few have seriously considered Black African American independence. As I explored this topic on Afromerica Morning Talk, we ventured into many areas. Subtopics related to this proposition were discussed at length.

Many black people, I believe, question if we will ever have a state of our own. Many more, I fear, question why we ever would. One look at the picture above and I ask, "What more reason do we need to seek our own independence in our own black state? What are we waiting for?" But, for those of you who are not convinced of the bankruptcy of America's morality, here are a few more reasons.

Recent news headlines:
"BET has decided to cancel its "Nightly News" program";
"Black Caucus Looses Cohesion";
"Black Farmers Still Struggling";
"Oldest Black Bank Sold to White Group";
"Bush's Promises for the Future Connect With Neither Past nor Present";
"Kerry Says Blacks Will Decide the Election";
"Democrats and Republicans Devalue the Black Press";
"Black California Doctor Files Lawsuit Alleging HIV/AIDS Virus Was Created by US Government as Part of Genocidal Plot";
"Petition Drive Launched to Keep Voting Rights Act";
"African American Youth, 13, Shot Dead by Police After Car Chase";
"Dallas Televangelist Says 'Jesus Was Rich, Why Can't I Be?'";
"Five Year Old Black Girl Handcuffed by Four St. Petersburg (FL) Police After Temper Tantrum at School".

Need I say more? Need I point to any more examples? I don't think so; I think you get the message. Let me restate my position, we need our own state! Yet, simultaneously I must also state that we, believe it or not, do indeed have our own state. It's called confusion.

We don't know who we are, what we should do, who we should listen to, who's telling us the truth, who is our friend, what's good for us, and further, we don't have any idea in what direction we must go to fix any or all of the problems we face. Pardon my harshness, and the fact of my restating the obvious. But what I think is not so obvious is that we, as Jesus would say, cannot recognize the signs of the times.

Here is another prime example: In 1965, I think, a white man or white men, bombed a church in Birmingham, AL, killing four little black girls and injuring many others. The white system, manifested at the local police department level, claimed it could not locate the murderers.

Also in the '60's, a young boy named Emmett Till was lynched (murdered) in the south by one or more white males. Again, the local police claimed they could not locate the murderers. Those placed on trial at the time in both cases were found not guilty by an all white jury. In the 1980's, a young black man named Rodney King was beaten like a runaway slave by Los Angeles police officers. Those officers, in the 1980's mind you, were also acquitted by another all white jury.

However, in 1994, O.J. Simpson was accused of killing two white people, one his ex-wife, and another a 'friend' in Los Angeles. After a lengthy trial, a racially mixed jury acquitted Mr. Simpson. All hell broke loose! Whites from coast to coast, and border to border were screaming for 'justice'. Calls went out from every corner of America that the 'justice system' was broken.

The Sings of the Times! Funny thing is this sign, just like the picture at the head of this article, has been there all the time. It was present from the beginning. Here, let me show you.

In the beginning was genocide. Native Americans were told, "We come in peace", and then slaughtered until they were less than one-tenth their original number. What's left of them now resides on 'reservations', or what amount to modern day human corrals for manageability's sake.

Then came slavery. Africans were contemptuously brought to the 'new world' in chains. Talk about a "New World Order"? There it is right there. We don't need to go into the numerous atrocities that accompanied slavery, we all know them. Then came the (in) famous US Constitution that declared, "All men are created equal!" But because most of us couldn't read, we failed to see what was in the small print where they wrote that slaves were only 3/5ths human.

Then, supposedly, whites became civilized. They rewrote parts of the Constitution, set us "free", but slipped in the part that says, "except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted". Later, as a result of a 1960's compromise, the 1965 Voting Rights Act was passed. Oh, but they, including our own civil rights leaders, failed to warn us of the impending expiration of this "right".

(White) America can no more come to African Americans preaching truth and justice anymore than a crack head or heroine addict can go to the blood bank and donate blood. America's history is laced with deceit, like water is laced with oxygen. In other words, its practice of lying, deceiving, war-mongering, manipulating, cheating, stealing, back door/bottom-of-the-deck dealing is inherent in its nature.

Just like cigarettes, heroine, cocaine, and other narcotics are naturally and inherently destructive to the body, America is naturally and inherently destructive to African Americans and Native Americans as well. It's a package deal, my brothers and sisters. You cannot have one without the others. America would not be America without these elements. If you were to take out any of the above-named elements, you would not have America. It would be a totally different creature.

Again, we have failed to observe the signs of the times, in spite of the fact that all of our time here in America has been precarious and treacherous. On a highway, signs are put there to tell us how to get where we are going. That assumes that one first knows where one wants to go.

Black folk in America, thinking we have been traveling down this highway for the last few hundred years, are actually unconscious in our vehicle, which is lying upside down in the ditch next to the highway. Anyone who has stirred to consciousness and tried to wake the rest of us and set our vehicle upright - Denmark Vesey, Nat Turner, John Brown (righteous white man), Medgar Evers, Malcolm X (Malik El Hajj El Shabaaz), Dr. Martin L. King, Jr., et al - has been killed.

America's history is replete with hate-filled, evil actions towards the black people within its borders. These are the signs that will, if we adhere to and interpret them accurately, point us to the path that will lead us to our freedom. America has proven herself unredeemable. Can you say "reprobate"?

See you next month

© 2005 By Dan Hardman

Brother Dan Hardman will be keeping the Black community informed on issues concerning the church and righteous living. Visit regularly for new information that could help you overcome and make the best of your everyday experiences.

To subscribe to Hardman's column join the Afromerica email list to receive new information as it is updated. Or E-mail D Hardman at: essaysfromchurch@edincorporated.com

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