Celebrating Black History Month, Pt. IV: Beyond the Rhetoric - African-America Is Still Divided

For most of us in 2008, the concept of living in a society in which race doesn't hold us back is still a distant goal. All things are still not equal by a long shot. In many areas -- access to loans, health care and the racial fault lines which determine that blacks are treated less favorably than non-blacks, regardless of income or social class -- we are still struggling for the same basic rights as other Americans. Policies seem to follow the rhetoric.

So, as we look forward we want to make certain that we haven't forgotten the past and those whose struggles allowed many of us to survive. They took their time and persevered. They gave us reason for hope. They struggled, often without even the most basic tools that most of us take for granted. As we celebrate Black History Month 2008, we must not rush on and forget about them. They survived time.

Growth & Consolidation

We'd like now to briefly examine the effects of growth and consolidation. One of the by-products of growth and technology is fewer jobs, even for the most qualified among us. As we grow in knowledge and we're able to have machines and computers do more, there is less need for talent that was once sought after. Consolidation has taken its toll on both the radio and music industries.

Along with consolidation, Arbitron's PPM, HD Radio, iPods, iPhones, voicetracking, Bluetooth cell phones, downloading and satellite radio continue to change the landscape, eliminate jobs and wreak havoc with our lives. Now there is a new buzz called population shifts that is attracting attention and spreading rumors that will soon become a part of our history.

We need to help restore and inspire dignity for what they accomplished.

We're a part of that history -- a growing part. A look at the updated facts of the African-American market shows that growth. The African-American and lately, Hispanic populations, have exploded, increasing twice as fast as the majority population in many areas of the deep South, particularly in the states of Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. The most extensive growth in the black population did not come from immigration. Ninety-five percent of all blacks are native-born Americans.

Growth is part of our accumulated experiences and shared histories. Those histories and these people do, however, define our opportunities and obligations to the next generation. We need to help restore and inspire dignity for what they accomplished.

Barack Obama

Black History Month should have special meaning for African-Americans this year. Senator Barack Obama, a black man, has a legitimate chance to become the next President of the United States.

Our country is desperately in need of a movement for change that this election could bring into being for ourselves and for the generations of Americans yet to be born. We know that Barack Obama is not asking any American to vote for him simply because he is an African-American. In fact, he has worked very hard to offer a candidacy that is appealing to Americans of every racial background. However, Sen. Obama is black and his opponents are attempting to use that characteristic against him.

Consider this: At one point in a recent debate, you may recall, Sen. Hillary Clinton called Sen. Obama a "fine young man." Those are really "code words" ... code words that would indicate that Obama is too young to be President. Yet, the reality is that Barack Obama would enter the presidency at age 47. He would be older on his Inauguration Day than were Presidents John F. Kennedy and William Jefferson Clinton. Our knowledge of history informs us of these facts, just as Sen. Clinton should have realized. We do not make this point to single out Sen. Clinton for criticism. Yet, when speaking before a forum sponsored by African-Americans, she should have been sensitive to the reality that this society, all too often, has acted to minimize the full extent of our humanity.

We know from our history that it has done so by failing to recognize all that we are and can be. For example, during Black History Month this year, many will once again teach their children the story of the Great Liberator, Frederick Douglass, who did so much to bring an end to slavery.

Douglass, however, was far more than the gifted abolitionist who took center stage in many historical portrayals of his life. In addition to being a father, a writer and a diplomat, Frederick Douglass was in the forefront of the struggle by women to gain the vote in this country and by failing to note these accomplishments, we consign one of the greatest Americans in our history to one dimension.

Frederick Douglass

In the process of making that error, we lose sight of the larger vision of democracy and freedom that Douglass devoted his lifetime to advancing. Consider also that the conductor on the underground railroad who successfully led hundreds of slaves to freedom, Harriet Ross, was more than the title "Black Moses," bestowed upon her by history.

Yet, when we fail to also recall that she was called by her sense of humanity to serve as a nurse during the Civil War, we do her legacy a disservice. We may also fail to fully appreciate the connection between our liberation from slavery and the terrible price in human suffering that was paid by Americans of every race. We need to be more sensitive to the dangers inherent in these understatements about Americans of color.

On reflection, should we suspect a motive, perhaps unconscious, to marginalize the social message, accomplishments and potential that African-Americans present and past have made and continue to make? Despite our progress in many areas, we have not achieved a totally satisfactory answer to this question. What I do know, however, is this: If we are to assure that 2008 will be remembered as an historic year in America's long journey toward universal justice and opportunity, we cannot afford to make the same mistake. We live in a time when people in Washington need to be reminded that the people's ultimate authority is the foundation of America as a unified, democratic society.

History tells us that the authority and will of everyday Americans may be deferred. Yet, we also know that, ultimately, the people's authority cannot and will not be denied. We are all far greater than any catch phrase or code word can make us out to be, so is our country.

Despite the obstacles, the future looks bright and promising. It's a future that begins with looking forward and glancing back. It means going beyond the rhetoric to a future filled with pride and glancing back to a past that gives us hope and even more reason to keep the struggle and our dreams alive.

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