There is something highly significant behind the headlines proclaiming people are marching in the streets in protest over repeated grand jury malfeasance, which is a sea change in black attitude about themselves. This is something that has been building for a long, long time and is finally becoming manifest. Historically, many, many black people have called for racial equality. More and more white people were accepting what was inevitable and are agreeing; we are all equal. Even though the differences in treatment of one race for the other were obvious, we also knew there are factual differences; however, there is no way to know if individual felt the differences actually mattered and in truth felt that all people were actually equal in spite of the differences. This sounds a little airy, so let me explain.
As a teacher working the University of Zimbabwe some 30 years ago, I had many experiences concerning race both inside and outside the classroom; however, one experience I had more than the others stuck in my mind. My wife was interested in collecting carved stone statutes. Obviously, people who carry their own lugged do not want to possess large or numbers stone statues, which translates to lot of shopping but little buying. On one such looking but not buying excursion, we came upon a disorganized carver’s shop with a large number of exceptionally well-done black rock carvings on display. As we sorted through them, we came upon a rendition of a beautiful women bathing. The carver fashioned her in a crouched position and covering her breast with her arms and hands. When the carver noticed the special attention we paid to her, he said one word, “Shame”. Overcome by curiosity, but not really surprised by the obvious reference to a young women’s modesty, I asked why he named her that. He explained; in his country, all women bath in rivers and that when a “white person” comes by they cover themselves in shame. Somewhat shocked I asked if they didn’t cover themselves if a black person comes by and he answered in a matter of fact way, “Of course not”.
The more I though about the exchange, the more I realized what he was saying is that indigenous people see white people as being fundamentally superior or better then they are—she only had “shame” when a white person looked at her naked body but not a black person. Of course, that does not mean they accept white authority, as the history of Rhodesia clearly shows, but only shows they somehow feel inferior to white people. Of course, this is something that is without foundation; thus, is unreasonable. Nevertheless, humankind base the concept of slavery on that feeling; a “superior” holds and “inferior” as a slave just the same as a man owns a dog, cow, or horse—the same concept of moral superiority man holds over animals applied to our fellow man. We also know that there are only a limited number of times an owner can poke a sharp stick at a dog before the dog bites?
What I think is the fundamental change that is taking place in America is that after hundreds of years significant numbers of black people are finally beginning to feel equality with white men an equally large numbers of white people are reciprocating. On the marches to Selma, black men carried signs “asking” people to treat them as people. At the same time, white people across the nation were saying to black people, call yourself what you like. Black people accepted menial jobs because white people told them they can have those jobs or tell them that they cannot vote or go to college. Deep down, black people felt somehow white people had that right. Therefore, they didn’t vote or go to college, or did not live in “nice” neighborhoods. Of course, they would object to being told they were they were suppressed because they somehow felt inferior. For some reason, black people seemed to accept this “white” judgment about their inferiority. In the past, black people accepted this judgment and responded just as the women did when she while bathing in the river; she still bathed but covered up in the presence of white people. In the ongoing protests in Ferguson and in New York, I see something different from what had happened in the past. I see black people, both men and women, and not just men as in the Selma march, not in a rhetorical sense, “covering up”. They are finally “demanding” and not just “asking” that people treat one another the same. They no longer accept the underlying premise of black inferiority; people are people. This is a world away from “asking” why some people—not just police—treat others differently; this is really a new and welcomed world. Of course, this is not universal among people or even just black people. We have along way to go but humankind has shown they can clear the road. Some of us—many of us—seem to be learning to overcome the innate xenophobia of man for man that gives rise to racism. We still dislike strangers, foreigners, and people of a different religion, on any number of other things that make people different but for a growing number of people skin color alone is not one of them.
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