BLACK AMERICA:

OUR HISTORY LIES BEFORE US

I just read a snippet in Essence Magazine indicating that researchers have uncovered new information suggesting that Cleopatra may not have been Black. The article brought back to mind a piece I read by Earl Ofari Hutchinson's many years ago entitled, Whose Black History To Believe?  In that very insightful article Mr. Hutchinson points out that black history tends to be given either short shrift by traditional historians, or is exaggerated beyond all recognition by historians of a more Afrocentric persuasion. His premise is that both approaches do a disservice to African-American history. His analysis shows that African-Americans would be better served by a more balanced interweaving of African-American history into the fabric of American history as a whole.

While I'm in total agreement with both his premise and analysis, I think it's important to take this issue one step farther. We need to explore why so many of us feel the need to exaggerate our history in the first place. We also need to understand how this game we find ourselves involved in distracts us from the bigger picture.

The importance of cultural history is that it contributes to the collective self-esteem of a people. It brings cohesion by giving the members of a given group something in common to rally around as their own. A culture, much like an individual, is so much in need of a feeling of self-esteem that it invariably manufactures its own history, which often bears little or no resemblance to reality. For those very reasons, therefore, much of history is a lie. In fact, history itself has been defined as "A lie agreed upon."

A concrete example of that process at work can be seen by looking back at the Viet Nam War. Having never lost a war at that time, upon entering the Viet Nam War the United States had already geared up for manufacturing a history to justify its presence in Viet Nam, much like we're struggling with today in Iraq. The U.S. Finally came up with what was called "The Domino Theory". According to this theory, the North Vietnamese were only fronting for Communist China, and if the United States allowed South Viet Nam to fall to the North Vietnamese, people in that part of the world would be slaughtered, and all the rest of the countries in the area would fall like "dominoes" to Chinese communism.

If the United States had won the Viet Nam war, that lie would have become an official part of world history. Young children all over the world would have read it as gospel for eons. But since the United States didn't win, this would-be "historical fact" has been left without a home, and now, twenty-five years later, the lie stands as a glaring example of how nations manufacture lies to justify their conduct.

The United States is not unique in fabricating history, however. All nations and all cultures do it. If Germany had won WWII, the history of that war would have been written from an entirely different perspective; if Great Britain had won The Revolutionary War, the esteemed forefathers of the United States would have been remembered as a group similar to the way the United States currently view The Black Panther Party, or the Cinque and Symbionese Liberation Army.

An example of this principle at work on a cultural level can be found in the white culture's touting of Benny Goodman as "The King of Swing", or Elvis Presley as "The King of Rock n Roll." We know that's not true today, but as time passes, and there's no one left to attest to the inaccuracy of such claims, eventually it becomes a "historical fact"-- or factoid (something repeated so often that it is seen as a fact).

So it is clear that the history game is just that--a game. But it's a game that black Americans should only play quite sparingly--if at all, since due to the unique position of the African-American in legitimate modern history, we come to this game with a decided disadvantage.

The African-American culture is a relatively new culture, thus, our history is verifiable. Therefore, African-Americans don't have the machinery in place to effectively promote the hype necessary to fully participate in the history game. But since, in any event, the game only serves to divert our attention from what is really important--getting on with the business of building true viability as a people--black participation in the game is nothing more than an exercise in me-too-ism.

But it seems that whenever I hear a discussion on Black pride, someone always brings up the issue of Egypt, and whether or not Cleopatra was Black. We've got to understand that all that is academic. While it is always good to stay in touch with one's roots, the fact is, African-Americans have long since ceased being African, and any connection that we may, or may not have had with Egypt and/or Cleopatra is remote at best--at least, in a strictly cultural sense.

We are a new culture. We ceased being Africans when it became necessary to adapt to the fields and ghettos of America; neither are we simply Americans--we became something more than just Americans when it became necessary to become more than just Americans for our very survival. We are a brand new culture-- a culture conceived in pain, delivered into turmoil, baptized in deprivation, and weaned on injustice--so we don't have a thing to be ashamed of. We are a culture that is only now in the infancy of its development. For that reason, we cannot hope to compete, lie-for-lie, with ancient cultures relative to history, since our history is only now being written.

The fact that we are a new culture doesn't mean that we are anything less than the older cultures, it simply means that our greatest contribution to man lies before us. We don't have to look back to antiquity to find a source of pride, all we have to do is study the life and times of our parents, our grandparents, and that generation of black people born between the turn of the century and WWII.

In less than 50 years, the Black people of that generation went from housekeepers and flunkies to the boardrooms of multinational corporations. In less than 50 years, they went from playing washboards and tin cans on the side of the road, to becoming some of the greatest musicians the world has ever known. In less than 50 years these people have gone from the defenseless and nameless victims of public lynchings, to lay a foundation, along with their White supporters (who must not be forgotten), that led directly to Barack Obama becoming the leader of the most powerful nation on Earth--and unlike most of man's histor, that's verifiable.

The most cursory glance demonstrates that there is something unusually unique about this new culture. While social scientists have postulated that all minority cultures must assimilate into the dominant cultural soup, there is clear evidence that the African-American culture is having a much greater impact on the dominant culture than is the reverse. Members of the dominant cultural group under fifty years of age have more in common with the African-American culture in terms of attitudes, style, and personal taste, than they have with their own grandparents. Black music--Jazz, Blues, Rap, and, yes, Rock n Roll--is the predominate music, not only in the United States, but in the entire world. Every time a Rock group goes on stage, they sing a tribute to nameless slaves moanin' in the fields--and just to turn on a radio or television set anywhere in the Western world, is to pay a tribute to Duke, Bird, Miles, and Diz.

In addition, the United States of America has honored only four men in history by declaring the day of their birth a national day of celebration--Jesus Christ of Nazareth, widely accepted as the father of all mankind; President George Washington, the father of this nation; Christopher Columbus, the man credited with discovering the Americas; and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a man whose forebears were brought to these shores in chains.

That says a lot about that humble, black man--and it says just as much about his people. In spite of the fact that Dr. King began his life burdened by the inherent disadvantages of being blessed with black skin in a Jim Crow environment, his words, his intellect, and his deeds so inspired the heart and soul of humanity that America saw fit to set aside a day for this nation--this world--to thank God that he was allowed to walk among us. His was a soul with such strength that it served to lift the rest of mankind to a higher level of humanity. That's not only a testament to one black man's ability to pull himself from the dust of his humble beginnings, it's also a testament to the capacity of his people to meet the test of greatness--and that's verifiable history.

Therefore, we must take pride in our own personal journeys, and realize that in those

journeys, history is also being made. You don't have to be a world conqueror to have an impact on history, you simply have to make decisions in your personal life that help to push your people forward in the journey towards meeting their destiny--and every time you face life's obstacles with courage and perseverance you meet that challenge. After all, you don't make decisions in a vacuum, every decision that you make in life becomes a public decision. People are watching--your children are watching.

The character that you reflect in your daily conduct carries the seed that your children will carry with them for generations. For that reason, I don't regret one moment of my youth that I spent stumblin' through Watts on whatever drug happened to be convenient. Those years were part of a personal journey that stands as a monument to who I am today. Of course, I related those struggles to my children as stumbling blocks to be avoided at all costs, but they were also related as examples of perseverance, and the determination to overcome the obstacles in my life. And in overcoming those setbacks it allowed me to relate those experiences with just as much pride as the majority culture relates the experiences of General Patton to their children. George fought his battles, and I fought mine, and as far as my children are concerned--as far as I'm concern--one was no less heroic than the other.

Thus:

Neither scholar nor the head of state,

The most common of men seems to be my fate;

A life blistered with struggle and constant need,

As my legacy to man I bequeath my seed.

More fertile, more sturdy these ones than I,

This withered old vine left fallow and dry;

The nectar of their roots lie dormant still,

But through their fruit I'll be revealed.

And that, is verifiable.

Eric L. Wattree

wattree.blogspot.com

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

Getting on the Beam--Black Excellence And Maturity

One of the problems that we have in the Black community is that we don't really know who we are. That isn't to say that many of us haven't studied Black history, and the kings and queens of antiquity, but while all of that is fine, it doesn't give us a hands-on feeling of who WE are as modern-day African Americans.

Most of what we think we know about ourselves comes form the very same sources and stereotypes that informs White Americans about who we are. The problem with that is we've allowed ourselves to buy into a negative stereotype of ourselves. And in many cases, like in our inner-cities, we not only embraced this negative stereotype as a romantically heroic image, but have set out to embellish upon it.

So, instead of benefitting from the luxury of defining ourselves, like every other culture in America, many Black people have quite literally embraced a form of gross ignorance regarding their own character.. So we need to stop just long enough to take a look at who we really are, and teach our young people to embellish upon that.

An example of who we really are was reflected around the turn of the 20^th Century, when you could find Black musicians sitting along the side of the road playing washboards, tubs, and anything they could put together that would make a sound. When people passed them by, including White musicians, they would simply smile, and sometimes even throw them a few pennies for the modest effort and industry that they displayed for even attempting to make real music with such crude instruments.

These simple music-makers were looked upon as "quaint". There was no hostility towards them at all, because they weren't a threat. After all, they were no threat to the White musicians, since they could never hope to get any real instruction in music. Most of them couldn't even read their names, so why should anyone ever worry about them learning to read music; and they had to struggle just to get through grade school, so what threat did they pose to White musicians who had access to the great music conservatories of the world?

Well, little did the world know that in the very near future, those simple little ragtag musicians with their makeshift instruments, would grow to be some of the greatest musicians the world has ever known, and would contribute one of the most important and complex forms of music to the world in the history of all mankind. Few knew at the time that one day Universities and music conservatories all over the world would struggle to understand the complexity of this musical genius, that started out on the side of a dusty road. And even fewer could have guessed that many of these "quaint" musicians would someday become world renowned, and synonymous with their respective instruments-Louis Armstrong, Jellyroll Morton, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane-just to mention a few.

As a point of irony, I began to typed "Duke" into Google, and the program completed my entry with a list that presented Duke Ellington before the Duke of Windsor. I'd say that says it all about the impact that the Black culture has had on this society, and the world.

But what we've got to recognize and address as a community is that creativity is not restricted to just music. The reason that the creative genius of Black people has been reflected more in music than in business, science, or technology is because it was an area where we didn't have to depend on the approval of others, and more importantly, we were rewarded in the community for its development. As any scientist who studies cognition can tell you, creativity is not stagnant-it has associative properties that allows it to be transferred from one activity to another.

So today the Black community is in a similar situation as those early musicians were in their day, but this time we have the advantage of not having to sit on the side of the road. We have a supportive Black man in the White House, an economic environment that's thirsting for innovation, creativity, and new ideas, and no one holding us back. So all that's left for us to do now is to recognize it's a new day, shed all of the defensive excuses and bad habits that were a part of the old paradigm, and get to work.

The first thing we have to do is reassess and rid ourselves of the negative cultural mores that we've developed over the past hundred years or so. That involves discarding, and refusing to reward or romanticize the image of the Black man as urban predator. That is the very root of our problem. How can we possibly expect to raise a well adjusted generation of young people when their being sired by idiots running around in unlaced tennis shoes, baseball caps on sideways, and whose most heartfelt ambition is to be looked up to as a successful gangster? It can't be done. So we've got to stop rewarding this behavior-and make it a community effort.

When I was a kid my grandfather use to tell me, "All I want from this whole damn nation is a pretty little wife and a good foundation." I didn't realize it at the time, but he was relating the key to life to me in that one little saying-the foundation of happiness and success starts with a solid family.

So we're going to have to start with our girls in order to get the attention of our young men. We've got to start teaching them from birth that young men who assume the gangster image are bad news, and we've got to keep such images out of our homes. We must create an environment where if BET wants to continue to enter our homes, its call sign will have to be changed to mean Black Excellence Television.

We've also got to demand more responsibility from our other community institutions. We've got to demand of our churches, that if they expect to take collection money out of our community on Sunday, they'd better be putting some kind of service back into the community during the week. Many of these churches can be serving as low-cost child care facilities for working mothers, and they could be employing unemployed mothers. At the same time they could be giving classes in child rearing. Don't just preach me a sermon-live me one.

And we should be encouraging the promoters of the awards shows, like the NAACP Image Awards, to start places more emphasis on honoring young scholars, educators, and the people in the community who are helping to move Black people forward, instead of the same old celebrities all the time. That isn't to say that celebrities and entertainment shouldn't be involved in the shows, but they should be the "help", not the honorees. After all, if all our young people ever see the community honoring are singers, movies stars, and athletes, why should they aspire to do anything else?

So let us get on the BEAM, and start honoring Black Excellence And Maturity.

Eric L. Wattree

wattree.blogspot.com

A moderate is one who embraces truth over ideology.