Our Ancestors

I often wonder if I would have been strong enough to withstand the mistreatment, degradation, and shame that slavery inflicted on our people. Would I have been strong enough to work tirelessly day in and day with little or no pay? Would I have been able to watch my wife, or daughter ripped away from me,or watch my brother, or son sold away from me and still have my sanity intact? I thank God everyday that I will never have to answer those questions.

When the mainstream media talk about family, or in the case of African Americans, the lack of a nuclear family, they often fail to mention the erosion factors that have carried our family to its current state. Slavery challenged the Black family and rocked it to its core. Jim Crow ripped up the esteem of the Black family and caused it to doubt itself, or see themselves as inadequate, less than human. In a nutshell, the law suppressed the Black family legally for years before anyone dared challenge the humanity of it all.

Slavery by Another Name by Douglas A. Blackmon is a book written that dares to bring to light ills perpetrated by the law on black men from the Civil War to World War II. (I hope you are ready to go to school) Did you know that if a white man went to his local Sheriff's Office and stated that a particular black man owed him money that the sheriff would throw said black man in jail? He would then release him to work for the plaintiff (white man) until his debt was paid off. Now understand, there was never any proof offered, the white man would set some arbitrary number, and then release said black man months or years after supposed debt would have been satisfied. This practice was widely practiced in the South. Unfortunately, many of the victims fell into a cycle of indebtedness to their accusers based on behavior while working for them to pay off their false debt.

By this point, I'm hoping that you are beginning to see some of the factors of erosion at work as perpetrated. Many would have you believe that black men are lazy, horrible fathers, and ignorant when it comes to maintaining their families. It's simply not true. After years of oppression, the black community as a whole had to re-identify themselves and solidify their beliefs. It was difficult work, but they did it. Our ancestors did it with class, dignity, respect, and Godliness. We have come along way by faith, and dependence upon each other. We have obtained many things; however, let us not get short sighted. The goal in still in front of us; we have not reached it. Yes, our president is black, but until all of us obtain true freedom in all aspects, we must continue to press towards the mark.