Brandon H - Afro Columnist & ALM Coordinator

Hush Black Man Hush

So, we've come through a firestorm of horrific occurrences as a people that permeate the very fabric of human interaction on every level throughout the human theatre, and we're proud.

We are proud because as a people, we have proven that at least in our own minds, we can 'overcome' anything and achieve greatness in spite of the very purposes of evil that exist simply to devour the weak.

We can now attend schools and learn everything that had been determinately denied us in times past and reach for the brass ring of knowledge (s,) previously unimaginable to a people who had been designated as psychologically inferior.

We now also teach our children to absorb as much of this 'education' as is possible in retention of their little stature and bid for the very best economic position in the workforce as they can get, because, of course, this is our only security.

We have consequently shown up in world economic competitiveness at least in recent years, everywhere. We are politicians, litigators, physicians, scientists, entertainers, athletes, and corporate moguls and for some, even educators ourselves.

Yes we've come a long way from foot shuffling and counting every rock and dust mite on the ground for not being able to lift up our eyes while in the presence of 'massa,' because we knew that when massa spoke, only his words had meaning.

But we still can't speak to the white man with a simple lucidness. In innocent daily interaction, there is a wall and a line none can cross. So what has changed since slavery? I'll say it again, nothing.

We still don't live in the white mans world, (even though a now frighteningly large percentage of black folk think that we do.) The truth is, white men don't even speak to us. White men speak 'over' us. And we're not allowed to 'talk back.'

And any black man who would tell you differently is a liar and a fool and nothing could ever change my mind about this truth.

There is a silent dichotomy of existence that still looms over the black community and is yet as fatal for the black man, if he would dare to assume complete control of not only himself and his actions, but his surroundings in this society today, by trying to so much as talk to the white man. You can be 'yourself,' as long as you don't talk to him.

And any black man of who would tell you differently is a liar and a fool and if you're black, you already know what I'm talking about and to whom.

White voices are heard consistently and in every endeavor throughout this society without challenge or requirement, but let a black voice be foolish enough to flatter itself as if being 'equal' to whites, even (for example,) in a generic workplace, and he would probably find himself in jail, somehow. He's an anomaly, a threat, and a loose cannon.

A black man better not have a better idea and let it be 'known' without making compensatory allotments for the star white boy in the room. A black man better not manage his subordinates and department better than the white girl who just 'knew somebody.'

Get my drift?

Now how do whites speak over us? By using the most refined, well educated, socially battle tested black men on the planet saying 'hush black man hush, we got to get the money, never mind the manhood!' And they are not even ashamed.

So, what has your independence gotten you black man? What has your wealth gained you black man? What has your assimilation into the American experiment netted you black man? The right to move silently through a racist dungeon even more horrific than any previously known, because you don't have to admit that you're a slave this time? Maybe?

You have turned your back on your own soul. You have turned your back on your own strengths; you have turned your backs on your own sons by helping your enemies to say hush black man hush! Don't tell the white man that we know we're slaves!

What a miserable condition!

But you won't silence me.

© Sep. 2007 By Brandon H

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Afromerica: Where its all Black & white and some gray areas.