A Culture of Inequality

I had a discussion recently, which started in the political arena, gravitated to the “taking a knee” issue, and finally wound it’s way around to slavery. My politics are somewhat different than the person I was speaking with, a friend, but they’re not miles apart, only steps. For instance, they don’t think taking a knee during the the playing of the National Anthem at a sporting event is an appropriate form of protest, whereas I do. But, in their defense, and in the defense of so many, they are being fed disinformation – propaganda – about these players disrespecting the military, the flag, and, by default, the country. Which, of course, they’re not. Just like those who respond to the Black Lives Matter movement with “All Lives Matter.” That goes without saying. But the Black Lives Matter movement isn’t about all lives. It’s about black lives, and how they seem to matter less, to so many. It’s about how the masses choose not to respond with the same outrage and contempt when a young black life is taken, as opposed to when a young white life is taken. Our propaganda dissemination can even come from a President who stated there were good people on both sides of a protest, when one side was filled with white supremacists. People, sadly and often, believe what they are being spoon-fed, without analyzing the story, researching the truth, and understanding what is really occurring. It is the dumbing down of society. But here’s the kicker, and where it all started: slavery. Slavery placed people of color on a ladder rung well below human when they were first brought to this country, and it is a threshold they have not yet been able to overcome. And so, when our conversation turned to slavery, and I heard the words, “But there were good slave owners – people who treated them well,” I knew slavery was where the battle began, and I realize we have not, to this day, evolved. To be clear – for those who might not have thought this through completely – no, there were no “good” slave owners. If you are considered property, with no freedoms, even if you are provided shelter and food, you are still a prisoner. Some prisons may be better than others, granted, but they are still prisons.

We have a long way to come. But if we don’t begin there, at the beginning, with the understanding that it was our forefathers – yes, those same white guys who fought in a revolution seeking religious freedom and the establishment of a new government, who wrote a constitution to live by and a Bill of Rights to protect the masses from governmental overreach – who built this country, first with the destruction of the native, indigenous tribes, and then on the backs of people of color who were forced to labor on their behalf and for their benefit, then we can’t even begin the dialog. The while folks may have brought the money – and the education since they denied that to their slaves – but the slaves built it, with their blood, sweat, and tears. And yet we still, as a whole, refuse to see and understand this. People of color are no different from anyone else. Their wants and needs are no different. Being marginalized and disenfranchised for some 200+ years, and watching that continue in the 21st century, condemns them to a life which is challenged daily. A life they continue to be forced to defend. Sometimes, yes, that means taking a knee on a nationally televised event that reaches hundreds of thousands of people so we can have this very discussion. If we were to be brutally honest with ourselves, we would understand this, and know that if the coin were flipped, we would be doing the exact same thing.

Although, on second thought, perhaps not. We would probably be much more violent, as we’ve already proven ourselves to be.

~ jwb ~