This won’t be the definitive post for answering all the nonsense out there. This also won’t be my attempt to flame bait the Internet trolls to prove any intrinsic point, nor will it be my attempt to get everyone on the same page.
Honestly, this post will just be reflection and food for thought.
First, let’s get on the same page of what we’re talking about. Inevitably, you’ve seen the sentiment in comments or blogs or news articles. It can be summed up like this:
Why does it have to be ‘Black’? Why can’t it just be [insert subject]. If White people called it ‘White’, we would be labeled as racists.
Anyone with a decent amount of common sense knows this answer is complicated.
There is a historical component. The effects of slavery, oppression, and untraceable roots are immeasurable by any standard. The pride that grew within the Black community stemmed from survival within the weeds of hate. That meaning has evolved, while the counter-argument of something being labeled ‘White’ has not. It’s incorrect to attribute the historical hate of one label from the past, to today’s realities of what ‘Black’ is.
There is an identity component. Somewhat extending the previous notion, it is within our human nature to identify who we are. Whether spiritually, economically, or socially, we want to be a part of a group. The Black American is a complex group because the obvious evidence says we have roots to African countries. Remembering that Africa is a continent not a country, I honestly do believe that if we could say we have documented, family roots in Ghana or South Africa, similar to Italians or Greeks, even if it could be inferred from our last names, our need to create our own identity by defining something as ‘Black’ would not be so profound.
There is an intent component. A colleague of mine, who is White, articulated this point well. The real issue is the intent of labeling anything. To call something Women’s Soccer, the Puerto Rican Day Parade, or the LGBT community center does not have the intent of excluding anyone. Historically, calling something ‘White’, did. The Young Black Professional Guide, the Historically Black College, and Black History Month carve a niche of information, education, and reflection for everyone to be a part of.
There is a self-image component. When I was in school, I was a member of the Association for Latin American Students (ALAS), the Indian Student Association (ASHOKA), and the Asian-American Student Association (AAA). I joined them because I wanted to learn and I had friends who encouraged me to get involved. I learned about Diwali and Chinese New Year. I was able to learn because I didn’t feel insecure from the cultural differences. I didn’t feel threatened by these organizations nor did I wish or ask the question of why they existed in the first place. The flavors these people added to my life wouldn’t have happened had the university leadership or student leadership adapted the mindset of assimilation and ‘color-transparency’.
It’s being thrown around that the age of Obama brings this post-racial American time. That may well be, but the misconception lies hard in the definition of what ‘post-racial’ means. Many opinions throw the stipulation of I’m not a racist because I don’t see color. What they fail to realize is that opposite of racism is tolerance, not ignorance.
You don’t tolerate differing opinions by wishing they didn’t exist nor asking why aren’t they more mainstream. We don’t evolve into a better society until we become essentially what Barack is genetically: Both White and Black.
The day you can see a color and say ‘That is pretty cool. I am ok with that’ is the day our society becomes post-racial. To wish racial transparency is nothing more than exuding your own lack of self-identity and desire for the status quo.
Well, I can tell you now, that isn’t the new ‘Black’.
Disclaimer: This post is in response to the pages of comments on TechCrunch about the Blackbird browser, the pages of comments on the Chicago Sun Times about the Ebony Experiment, and endless comments that inevitably follow anything labeled ‘Black’ (or Brown, for that matter).
