Farhad Durrani
We’ve been blinded
By our own ignorance.
We back our justifications
With opaque statistics
To undermine the struggle
Of an average African American
In White America because
We would rather stay
As an ultracrepidarian
Than become enlightened,
Ironic, is it not?
But I’ll ask you a simple question,
How do you deny the course of history?
As you’ve probably guessed it,
I will be giving you
A valuable history lesson,
A lesson still bedevilling
The hearts and souls
Of the black community today.
But don’t get it twisted,
This won’t be the usual prosaic lesson.
This is a timeline
Of how the black community
Went from docile to erratic,
Obedient to disobedient,
Lawful to lawless,
Manageable to dispensable.
So, shall we begin?
The perception of black people,
In the inception of slavery,
Was that of a meek nature.
They had dreams of grandeur,
An almost childlike curiosity
About the vast plains
Beyond their slave quarters
And cotton fields.
Not only were they enslaved
By their masters,
They were enslaved by their ignorance
Of a world beyond their captivity.
In the 19th century,
White actors wore black make-up
To portray black people
In order to make
Their films more “comedic”.
The 1939 classic,
‘Gone With The Wind’
Depicts slaves untroubled
By their lives, so much so,
That they even fight off the freedmen.
How lovely!
Literature wasn’t granted
Any amnesty either,
Uncle Tom’s Cabin,
A literary classic,
Portrayed Uncle Tom
As a black slave who is
Committed and unwavering
To his white master.
A masterpiece!
Hell, even the musical pieces
Tried their hand
In creating this cloak
Of contentment,
With songs like
Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah
Boastfully brandishing
The oh so glamorous life
Of a black slave.
Truly inspiring!
Now the plot thickens
And like every movie,
There is conflict
Before the climax
Of any motion picture.
The conflict in this scene
Is the American Civil War
And as soon as that happens,
The perception about black people shifts.
The Reconstruction Period freed black people from the chains of slavery
Much to the credit
Of the statutory provisions
Provided in the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments.
The once slaves are
Now their own masters
And with the Amendments,
Black people can finally
Live a life of normalcy….right?
Please tell me that I’m right?!
There’s a knock on the door
And walks in the Jim Crow era
And with it came the
Supreme Court ruling of
Plessy vs. Ferguson
Which forever changed
The perception about black people
From submissive servants
To brute monsters.
However, hope was not all lost.
For the champions of
These “brutes” came
With dreams of freedom
And a steadfast resolve.
Figures like Martin Luther King,
Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X
And Rosa Parks led the
Civil rights movement and
Shook White America
To its very core.
Their endless battle
Against oppression
Ultimately led to the
Plessy vs. Ferguson judgment
Being overturned
By the ruling in
Brown vs. Board of Education
But the icing on the cake
Came in the form of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Which outlawed discrimination
Based on race, religion,
Sex, or national origin
And that sounds like
One delectable cake
If I’m honest.
So, surely, after all of these
Protests and struggles
And favourable decisions,
We must be witnessing
A change in the perception
About black people in America?
If only that were true…..
Fast forward 60 years
From the Jim Crow era
And it still seems like
We’re stuck in the conflict stage
Of the movie
There’s no climax to be seen.
March 3rd, 1991,
Rodney King was violently beaten
By LAPD officers just for fleeing arrest.
May 5th, 2003,
Kendra James, unarmed,
Was shot in the head
By a police officer,
He pleaded self defense.
November 22nd, 2014,
Tamir Rice, 12 years old, shot dead
For possession of a toy gun,
The police officers were not indicted.
February 23rd, 2020,
Ahmaud Arbery was killed
By two white residents,
They were arrested 74 days later
After the video went viral.
May 25th, 2020,
George Floyd was killed
By the police officer
kneeling on his neck.
“I can’t breathe”,
Cried Floyd repeatedly
But he didn’t listen.
“Don’t kill me”,
Cried Floyd repeatedly
But he didn’t listen.
In this history lesson,
We didn’t learn that black people
Went from submissive servants
To brute monsters,
That wasn’t my goal
What we did learn, however,
Is that their oppressors
Were the real brute monsters,
Yeah sure, they don’t blatantly
Yell out the N word anymore,
But that evil word is masqueraded
With words like “brutes” and “thugs”
And I don’t see that
Stopping anytime soon.
