RACE IS A SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED IDEA AND THEREFORE CAN BE SOCIALLY DECONSTRUCTED ONE STEP AT A TIME STARTING WITH YOU
In my blog articles, series part 1-5 of Journeys from Black Youth to Black Manhood, I have explored the complexities and diverse ways of moving from Black youth to Black Manhood in societies embedded in and reliant upon institutional, systemic racism where your skin colour dramatically impacts adversely upon Black Lives of African descent. High-income levels, the occupation of senior positions, tertiary educational attainment, being part of the hierarchy, are no protection for Black men from this onslaught. In this concluding sixth episode of the series I outline the way forward.
Whiteness, according to Michael Eric Dyson in, Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America (2017, pp97-98), often termed White privilege, is ‘an identity one inherits and perpetuates, that is an ideology one might flourish under and, in turn, help mould…an institution from which one benefits, an ethos in which one breathes, a way of life’. This is the universe that the Black man has to adapt to and negotiate with from his own parallel universe. Institutional racism Dyson defines as a ‘system of ingrained social practices that perpetuate and preserve racial hierarchy. (It) requires neither conscious effort nor individual intent. (pp 107)’. The ‘fabricated’ ideas of race and the institutions, systems, social forces, practices, developed to operationalize those, have weight, consequences, negative impacts, on Black bodies.
Such racism is often hidden and putting a face on it for those who say they are unfamiliar with it or who argue that it does not exist, demands the patience of a saint on the part of those of us who experience the impacts of it on a daily basis. But we are forced by the oppressive structures to operate largely in a parallel universe and a consequence of that if we wish to take part in interaction with the other, is to seek to make it clear how their taken for granted world view and the systems that underpin it, affect ourselves. Our histories illustrate how much of an investment we have made in showing how we are daily impacted and the outcome has been marginal. That said, it has not diminished our efforts to engage but there are growing signs that we need to spend less energy and time in this area and devote more effort and talent on focusing on our own self development as Black individuals and increasing the social capital and agency of our communities of belonging (Blog articles, www.daviddivine.co 15th April 2018, Journey from Black Youth to Black Manhood; 7th April, Rise to the Challenge; 23rd March 2018, ‘We are not what we used to be and not what we will be’; 14th March 2018, Taking Command; 7th March 2018, Protecting Our Children and Grandchildren: Hope in Black Possibility).
Black children and youth need to be assisted to be aware of the world as divided into the dual universe of White privilege and that inhabited by Black people of African descent- and why. They also need to be prepared to function competently in both and that demands a thorough grounding at least in basic interpersonal social skills and education-that includes ‘street smarts’ coupled with normative educational attainment expectations of children and youth, preferably to the optimal level possible. Such preparedness must be tailored to the uniqueness of the individual child/youth.
Knowledge of history and legacy is critical but not at the expense of the foregoing and awareness of lessons learnt from the past and opportunities provided to encourage new ideas and practices to evolve without us as elders feeling threatened by that, is essential. We were experts on being children and youth when we were children and youth in a time and set of circumstances, now passed. Yes, some of the lessons learnt and some of the circumstances painted differently now, are certainly still valid today but we need to learn from the children and youth of today and allow ourselves to do that. The background noise has changed, the sand on which the children and youth stand is even, not another footprint evident. They are the pioneers of ‘now’. We can guide from afar, humbly, tentatively, respectfully, lovingly, but it is their footprints that will leave their mark on the future. Not ours. We need to trust them just as our forebears trusted ourselves to honour and uphold their legacy without us even being born in their time. We need to encourage them to be confident, take planned risks, be bold and reach for their rightful claim to be treated with respect and humanity.
See me, acknowledge me, learn about our joint histories, our contributions to the society we all live in and your role in benefitting from the social constructions of race which have left such a toxic divide between yourselves, your privilege and ourselves as Black people. Acknowledge that you share in this historical responsibility and subsequent accountability. You, individually, are not the sole ‘owner’ of this culpability and being held to account, but you are a part of it. Hope for a brighter dawn as Dyson rightly argues in respect of the United States of America but is equally applicable to other geographic areas in the Diaspora, ‘can only come about if we first confront the poisonous history that has almost unmade our nation and undone our social compact’ (p4). Quoting Martin Luther King Jr., Dyson continues, that we are inextricably bound together in a single garment of destiny.
Be courageous in reaching out and work with us to see how we can turn this toxicity into a freshwater, clear river that sustains us-together. Let us not forget or re-interpret the past and the present to suit your purposes, but build on the evident Black truths and forge a future based on a new platform pieced together by highlighted lessons learnt from the pains of the past and pointing in a direction based on faith, hope and trust in one another that we will not repeat what went before. I believe this will happen or we will end up destroying one another and there will be no winners. Let us instead, win together.