The hub of the African-American struggle dwells within and in between the lines of the grayish/white interpretations of the American Constitution. Whether to submit or not to the written law that once withheld nearly all human rights from our ancestors has always haunted the minds of many a black man and woman throughout American history, causing many to resist those laws and for some to accept them. We must admit, many more learned to accept them than resist, but those who did resist are those who have gained the most recognition and respect.

The ones who refused to surrender themselves further to the lash and the ones who decided not to wait on freedom but chose to die on the escape route to freedom are the ones we read about. Those who chose to stand in the face of the organized terrorist who burned our homes and churches and hung our children, soldiers, and prayer warriors, and the ones who decided not to abide by the laws of Crow and submit to the oppression of government charity, are the ones we admire. Of all the blatant acts of injustice blacks have experienced throughout American history, all were laws directly or indirectly enforced from the hazy interpretations of the American Constitution.

Today, we are no longer in bondage to any Constitutional Amendment written to thwart the rights of Black-Americans, nor are we terrorized by any secret, war-faring tactics of racist-extremist - at least that we know of; however, the gist of the struggle today seems to be geared toward being able to brighten up the grayish tint of the Constitution. In other words, when can we write something on the paper of the American Constitution? As long as we are merely made to abide by the laws but not be able to make or change the laws, we lose.

As stated earlier, African-Americans had no choice of whether or not to willingly accept the rules of the American Constitution; we were here when it was written. Other cultures of American society had that choice. Many tell the stories of how their grandparents came over from their home country to settle here in America and begin a new life. That is because they were willing to accept American rule. Just as the Africans of today who come to America, and the Chinese, and all other peoples of different lands.

They come to have a better life and they have no problem with the contents of the American Constitution. But African-Americans were never that fortunate, we had to accept it, or not, and that same written law which forbad us to own anything, participate in American lifestyle and politics, did not even consider us to be whole humans beings. How could we have won?

How are we winning now? We are not winning, we are not even playing the game; we are just learning the rules. Some are attempting to play and some continue to resist. Those who resist are those who the ruling authorities feel should be locked behind bars, undermined by the media or hindered to poverty. Even if they are willing to accept American rule, the authorities still believe they should be either of the above.

It does not matter if the person is repairable or even if they deserve their recompense, American justice says that they need rehabilitation, counseling, or social rejection. This also, is on the books, indirectly from the American Constitution.

So how do we play? Politics seems to be the only way black leaders believe we can get in the game and play "on a level playing field." But we are not even in the game if we cannot make any rules that would equate the field. Those who make the rules know the game and can change the rules when they want especially if they want to win and do not want certain people to have a chance. This is not our game, the game of America politics, justice, and economic policy; this is the game of the ones who made the game up.

Now this brings us to the question of who are those willing to play and who are those who resist. If politics is the answer to the black man's struggle, and filling the voting booths to support another team player of the rule-makers, then how can we ever expect to get in the game and make the rules if we continue to support the ones who made the rules? This is the difference between those who have accepted the rules and those who have not. Resistance to the ruling authority and their laws and rules is resistance to the specifics of the game, which is participation in the game with hope of ever winning the game.

Remember, we did not make the rules and cannot change the rules. If any of the rules have been changed (and they have) to benefit us, it was not us who changed them but it was the ones who wrote the rules, he has the power to make and to change the rules, and we do not. The only power we have is to resist the rules and bring about a change.

This is how the brave black contenders of then caused change to come about, by resisting the rules. It did not take a mass of people pouring into booths and upon the steps of halls to bring about the change, but only one or two people. It did not take protest, petitions and marches; it took courage from the ones who resisted the rules and then the death of those valiant souls.

© 2002 by CR Hamilton in the Valley of Revolution.