I dare say that if someone convened a “State of White America Conference” that sought ways to improve the condition of “white people,” the uproar and protests from the Black Community and the entire spectrum of people of conscience, would be deafening.
I wouldn’t hesitate to add my voice to the chorus of protesters against such a conference. But no protest has been lodged against a conference billed to be about and for “Black America.” No outrage from within, or outside the Black Community, or the greater society. Indeed, a roster of prominent voices was present, including among others, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D. California), columnist Stanley Crouch of the New York Daily News, Joe Rogers, Lieutenant Governor of Colorado, and the now contrite and repentant Rev. Jessie Jackson. While the tone was conciliatory and viewpoints varied -- regarding issues to be faced in 2001 within and among black people -- the spirit of “us versus them” was still alive and well.
I observed a gathering of sincere, well-meaning, committed people who represented a range of views. It is clear that they truly want to create a better world for black people, though they did not always agree on how. One obvious idea that I would suggest would be to include all people in their sphere of concern, and invite people of all shades and ethnicities who may have a constructive viewpoint to offer. A healthy idea exchange would benefit everyone involved, including black people.
I am not suggesting that the conferees were not concerned about anyone other than black people or other non-whites. It would be unwise and unfair to paint in such broad strokes. I can only state that an all too familiar adversarial voice echoed through the rhetoric from some members of the panel in referring to white people as though they are “the enemy.” I believe this approach serves to maintain the status quo more so than transform it.
Solutions to social problems can’t really be found by limiting the dialog only to one’s self or group. Solutions are created when an individual or group reaches out to another, not only in dialogue, but in agreement as to what the problem is, and how to work together to solve them. Yet, before “togetherness” can be realized or achieved, all parties to an issue must be present and included. All positions must not only be heard; they must be respected.
Respecting another person or group’s position does not mean, “liking” it. Extending respect beyond one’s own area in the color spectrum allows all cards to be placed on the table, that differences may be aired and ironed out. That is, if such resolution is sincerely desired.
As such, there should be agreement by the various parties involved as to what constitutes the successful achievement of the common goal, and thusly, when further protest on a given point should be unnecessary. Success requires planning and cooperation, and setting aside perceived differences and disparities… not rhetoric. Central to success is the willingness to set aside the adversarial voice to embrace a common vision and goal.
Essentially, the State of Black America Conference brought to light several factors that appear to contribute to American’s human relations problem more than solving them.
(2) The idea that racism isn’t “equal.” It is. It really doesn’t matter the color or ethnicity of the racist, or whether they are active or passive, villain or victim. All carriers of the “racialist,” “pecking order” mindset serve to perpetuate its effect on their own lives, and the lives of those who come under their influence. It perpetuates the habit of comparing and measuring ourselves by what we have -- as individuals and groups, versus what we do.
(3) The thought that we can “level the playing field” while maintaining the idea of racial distinctions and resentment at others over an unfair advantage they are perceived to have.
(4) Perpetuating the myth of “races” other than human. Here’s the truth. There is either no such thing as a mono-racial or biracial individual or, since we all come into physical being as a result of the union of a male human sperm and female human egg, we are all mono-racial or biracial.
The competition for control of human perceptions, both helpful and harmful, is fierce. So when I hear people use their precious power to talk about their powerlessness I have to call foul. Some kind of deception is going on, much of it being self-deception.
Competition can be a fun and good thing. That is, when all the players (1) know that they are playing a game, (2) understand and agree upon the rules, rewards, and consequences, and (3) realize that they should not allow their sense of civility and kinship be held hostage to the need to “better,” or feel that they are better than someone else.
For many people, the game of life is not so clear; nor is it that much fun. Its “rules” are ambiguous at best. When viewed against a historical landscape riddled with conquest after conquest, notions of individual power and volition begin to sound dubious. This gives credibility to such concepts as chance, fate, luck, favoritism, racism, and oppression.
But…
Maybe it’s the information age, or our cultural globalization. Maybe it’s the accelerating increase of available knowledge. Maybe it was the successful mapping of the human DNA, which has shown greater genetic commonality amongst all people than dissimilarity. While the contributing factors may be manifold, it’s time that reasoned minds express and reflect a new understanding, that “the playing field” of life is the mind itself. All human beings play a part that will be of their own choosing, or someone else’s. Reasoned observation would clearly show that our attitude is one of the rudders of life, that can take us to the highest height, or the deepest depths.
Nature favors all and “discriminates” against no group of human beings. Only human beings discriminate against themselves and oppose each other. Yet, humans that work with others have fared much better than those who insist on fighting amongst themselves.
When an individual is struggling through life and sees others enjoying theirs, but doesn’t realize that he or she also possesses the power to redesign and restructure a rewarding life, the seeds of trouble are often sewn.
When groups of like looking individuals also appear to be struggling, on the whole -- compared to other groups -- the potential for negative impact, and a form of collective retardation, is magnified. Perpetuating the idea of race segmentation maintains a fertile mentality for a pecking order, for all who elect to play that “game.” This means that not all will be affected. But there are enough adherents to racial thinking, along the entire skin color spectrum, to be concerned. We must sometimes remind ourselves that it is still a game within a larger game, whether apparent, or not.
The only practical way to break the circle of race consciousness is through human consciousness. With all due respect to religions, we need to get along with each other whether or not the other calls his Chief Deity by the same name, or whether they believe in a Supreme Deity at all. By acknowledging, embracing and standing tall as human beings, we can find common ground. This is not going to happen en masse. It will happen one individual, and one realization at a time.
As open-minded, truth-seeking, power reclaiming individuals experience epiphany after epiphany, the way will become ever clear. One sacred prize waiting to be conferred upon such individuals is peace… within one’s self. By creating a state of peace within one’s self, through the drastic reduction of inner conflict and dissonance, we gain the ability to be aware of a better way of living. The new idea of reality issues forth from our love for humanity as it is applied with wisdom to our day-to-day choices and interactions.
Peace will blossom as anger and resentment -- often accepted, picked up and carried around without genuine personal reason -- are set aside. It spills out into our world as we treat others as we would be treated, and reduce our exposure to those who refuse to reciprocate in kind.
Some people live in a perpetual state of anger “for historical reasons.” Because of some legitimate injustice that happened months, years, generations or ages ago to someone else, they are convinced that they should be angry. Like a mantra, they have been told this by others who are angry because others told them the same thing; and so on, and so on. The injustice may have long been corrected to the extent that is possible or practical, but like Pavlov’s dogs, they turn the animus “on” when they hear the familiar ring of their particular ideological “dinner bell.” Race politics is one such ideology.
Whether one’s pet ideology is racism, gender inequities, nationalism or politics, power will always appear to loom just beyond the reach of the angry and resentful individual. In truth, power is always within, but anger and resentment causes it to be misdirected, misused, or abused. A negative mentality fosters both limited vision and self-destructive behavior, which limits opportunities to transform and transcend a “less-than-glorious” status quo.
Some angry types have convinced themselves that if they give up being angry they will in some way, lose their identity. Others assert that society or “The System” will regress to an earlier, dreaded state. Actually, anger need not be mistaken for vigilance and awareness. One can be vigilant without animosity toward entire groups of people. One can be aware for the sake of being aware. In the game of life, awareness is its own reward.
Those who elect not to set aside pathological anger would very likely not want to identify with the wonder and joy that they could eventually create. This pattern can be seen in the cultural animus that often exists against those who have become “rich,” and who do not exhibit the anger, envy and resentment that occupies the thoughts of many people. The most accepted of the “new rich” are those that continue to present an angry “outlaw” or “victim” façade. Personally, I think it’s just an act. In actuality, what is being consumed by anger are inspired, liberating, obstacle transforming and limitation transcending thoughts.
Angry individuals will sometimes cling to the status quo by denying responsibility for the effects of their actions, blaming someone else, or perhaps blaming their burdened position at the bottom of the racial totem pole. These answers will always find a constituency of like-minded thinkers, as well as opinion shapers. The problem is that taking solace in powerlessness only tends to breed more powerlessness. Real help is given when those who believe themselves to be powerless wake up to the fact that they have enough power to transform their reality, world, and life.
The “race game” is a subset of a larger game: the game of comparison. It is not unusual for us to assess and set our own self-value by comparing and contrasting ourselves to others. On a larger scale, we compare and contrast our “group” to other groups. We compare “race” statistics, education, geographical location, economic strength, and every other factor that we can think of. Yet, when we see ourselves as members of a sub-group rather than simply human, we subject ourselves to the sub-group’s stereotypes and limitations -- both positive and negative. What we often fail to realize however, is that the stereotypes that we then think are governing our lives, are of our own creation. They are the manifestation of our own judgment. If we change the judgment, lift the shackles and release our self-erected blinders and fears, then our personal life will change.
For me, change begins with accepting that I am a human being, and that others are human beings too. Whether others call me black, African-American, or jiggaboo, is immaterial to my own understanding and acceptance of who and what I am. Being human confers to me all rights, powers, and abilities that all humans possess, and that is the ability to conceptualize ways to create a life I want to live through learning, and then consciously going forth to create it. Will there be challenges? You bet. Will there be opposition? Maybe. Will there be disappointment? Of course! Will there be rewards? Only if we determine what they are, how they are achieved, and include them in our own “matrix of possibilities.” Otherwise, the rewards of our highest dreams will be realized by others who believed in themselves more than we did. In all these things, there will be change, and there will be growth.
A big issue that stops many people from venturing forth toward manifesting a wonderful dream is the fear of possible harm that comes from certain forms of risk taking. How many times have you heard a loved one say “but I don’t want you to get hurt”? Well, no one wants to “get hurt.” But, tiptoeing through life by attempting nothing that is new, exciting, life transforming or meaningful in a positive way is the shortest path to living death.
In all endeavors that involve transformation, the potential for harm is often magnified in proportion to the potential reward that might be achieved. Yet, I don’t believe one who embarks on a path of conscious change can be harmed in the real sense, because I now understand that it’s all really a game.
Even death as we understand it is not the end of life. However, how we live life will impact the meaningfulness of our life beyond death. I've chosen to design my life to the fullness of my highest dreams and abilities, and if you haven’t already done so, I invite you to devise your own wonderful life blueprint. Give life to your highest dreams… your time, your energy, your enthusiasm… your life. Let's chart an inclusive, possible, empowered, human course for America that will inspire the world. Break the circle of race by embracing the human circle.
A recent C-SPAN broadcast of what was billed as a “State of Black America Conference,” held in Washington, D.C., was a clear indication to me of how important breaking the “circle” of race consciousness in America is. It’s one of the most daunting challenges and yet necessary changes that we face. So familiar, and even comfortable have we become in seeing and categorizing ourselves as members of a veritable rainbow of discrete racial groups, few of us have yet grown comfortable enough with the fact that we are simply, human.
(1) A double standard that says, “we can have our isolated events that appear to exclude certain others, but certain others can’t have similar events that appear to exclude us.”
Generally speaking, humanistic voices are rarely found amid the din of “race” claiming, positioning, and occasional baiting.
The preceding essay has been added as a chapter to Mr. Abraham’s book, A Freed Man: An Emancipation Proclamation (Phaelos Books ISBN 0-9700209-5-3 $17.95 February 2001). Other books by Adam Abraham include I Am My Body, NOT! (Phaelos Books ISBN 0-9700209-1-0 $19.95), I Am Spirit! (Phaelos Books ISBN 0-9700209-3-7 $22.95 June 2001) and Four-Point-Six Billion Years (from Phaelos Books, October, 2001). You can order these titles online by following the provided links.
Also by Adam E. Abraham:
When the Reality of Race Oneness Sets In
Favoring Meaning Over 'Ease'
It’s Not the ‘Ism’ Anymore
Calling for More Good Change
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