As you all know, my skin is white so obviously I am white and I do acknowledge that I have that privilege whether I want it or not as it’s a given based on my ethnicity so the only as far I can do is to say that I do also recognize that the United States and many of other countries have a huge problem with racism even to this day. The black people suffers oppression everyday by the very same color that I have on my skin which is something that I am very ashamed of, even though I do everything I can do to support black people through activism and to pass their voices on around in hope that I can or at least hope that we can bring more awareness of what is going on in this world on racism issues. I have thought over and over about if I should or should not write a blog post about the black history month because it never will be my place to do so as I am white but at the same time I feel that I would also be bothered not to do so as I want to echo that for the ones who oppress black people are the lowest of the low in the eyes of mine. It is unacceptable, especially that it is 2019 and to see how the people who have the same color as my skin still to this day are being racist and not be willing to become an ally because as I would always say that the different color of skins that every one of have are just a coat that we wear because inside of us all are the same. Black people have suffered for centuries, from the beginning of the slavery era and still to this day.
I have read and watched several stories and videos of black people sharing their story or history about their people, which is powerful, even though I or most of us will never understand it because we aren’t them. Like Martin Luther King JR famously quoted, “I Have A Dream”, they share the very same dream as Martin Luther King JR did, and still to this day, we have never given them the dream that they asked for, which is a shame for us. Why must they fight for that dream, fight for their place in this world, and fight to be viewed equally as we? They should never have to do that in the first place because we should never create something, a system that can only benefit the people who have the same skin color as I have and none for others who have a different skin color? As for the “white supremacist” people, I can never understand why it is so important that they must be superior or have that nonsense power? In the United States, we were never the first, so I don’t see what’s a big deal about that, considering that this belonged to indigenous people and we robbed them of their lands. They are people, black people are people, and we are people – let’s accept that, can’t we?
I can remember when I was a child: one of my mother’s best friends was a beautiful black woman named Nancy who lived in the city of Williamson, West Virginia, and we would often visit her house to spend time there, or sometimes my mother needed to run errands. Nancy would babysit me when I was a child. I looked up to her. At a very young age, I saw a beautiful person and never thought anything about the fact that she was black until a few years later, when I heard from a few other people saying, “That black woman, Nancy.” I never understood what they meant “black woman” with a name Nancy, she would have a few of her friends which has the same color as hers and that is when I noticed that they are a group of another ethnicity just as I would see native people or others but I never thought that there are a lot of people who have the very same color skin as mine oppress them and slaved them several years ago until a much later down the road when I started seeing some news or watch some movies talking about slavery or stories on slavery. My thought was that, that such beautiful woman who’s named Nancy who I knew of since I was a child, that her generations went through that and I was so heartbroken by the fact that the very same color of my skins does such thing to them. The terror that they put them through, it was horrible and ever since I learned about the racism issues that is going on in this world, I feel so ashamed. So ashamed to know that the people who have the same skin color as mine do such things to other people who have the same skin color as this beautiful lady named Nancy, whom I looked up to growing up. Couldn’t believe it. I will never understand it because it was so cruel for the things that they have put them through, and still to this day, it is so cruel that it sickens me. Nancy, if you ever happen to come across this article, I will always love you.
The moral of this is that it should never happen, and, to this day, it still should not be happening. I will always be an ally to them, not just the African people, but also the native people and many other people who only have different coats on them, but remind ourselves daily that inside us is the same. This is their platform, this is their time, and be their ally. Even if our past generations, especially during the slavery era, did them wrong, it does not mean that we should too, and that we should do something about the racism that is going on in the present and future generations of us. Listen to them, allow them to share their experiences and their history because this is their month – black history month, as it is every February.
Here are a few links I think you should read to learn about Black History Month and the people. There are so many amazing stories, histories, lectures, experiences shared, and more that you can find using search engines!
https://www.nbda.org/content/black-deaf-history
https://abcnews.go.com/US/history-black-history-month/story?id=60922761
http://longisland.news12.com/story/39936552/black-history-month-keeping-spinney-hills-legacy-alive
https://www.blackhistorymonth.gov/
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-history-facts
https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlackHistoryMonth
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/slavery
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_United_States
Joshua “Joshie” Sullivan.
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