This is Part 1 of “History & Our Connection To It.”
History is defined as a tale, a story, a chronological record of significant events as affecting a nation or an institution, often including an explanation of their causes; a treatise presenting systematically related natural phenomena. This is our story. As a man of African descent, I speak about our history to express how we got to where we are today in regard to our struggles. This is important because many Africans worldwide do not believe, or at least they do not grow up believing, that they have ever had a significant position in history. Thus, they accept or limit themselves to lowly positions in today’s world. As a man think of, so is he. This can explain, in part, why we do not see at least one African on Forbes’ list of Top 20 Billionaires.
However, we continue to have a problem with mass incarceration. In American history, it was taught that Africans retained a criminal gene, therefore, Africans were considered to be innately criminals. This may be the reason why reform is not offered as an option before we are thrown into a prison cell. Our children are given life sentences before they are properly habilitated, so they become 50-year-old juveniles stuck in the prison system. Hm. We are treated as if our lives do not matter. Unfortunately, we have not been shown that our lives do matter.
The fact is, African Americans, or any other ethnic group, cannot truthfully be labeled innate criminals. So, why are we treated as criminals even when we do not commit crimes? Well, if we look at history, the answer to that question is clear. In The Condemnation of Blackness, Khalil Gibran Muhammad wrote, and I quote, “From the opening of the Progressive Era to its waning days on the eve of World War One and the Great Migration, Black criminality had become not just a universal tool to measure Blacks for citizenship, it was also a tool to shield, to varying degrees, white Americans from the charge of racism, helping to determine the degree to which whites had any responsibility to Black people.” During the early 1900s, a report written by Carol D. Wright, who worked at the U.S. Bureau of Labor, linked crime to unemployment and the exploitation of unskilled and uneducated workers. Does this part of history still reflect what we see today? Immigrant groups in the white American business community have taken note and advantage of the fact that Black Americans represent an exploitable and rapidly expanding consumer market.
In regards to education, Clarence H. Poe acknowledged the oft repeated charge that literate Negroes were more criminal than illiterate ones. Does this explain why public schools are still poorly funded, but prisons are big business? Considering these facts, are we able to make the historical connections? Can we see a pattern of behavior? I think so. But unlike the time of the Reconstruction Era, this racist mentality is in the minority, at least on the conscious level. However, the system it was built on still exists. So, the dramatic change we need to see must start there. The same way laws were made to enforce racism, we must make laws that will eradicate racist practices.
In conclusion, if change is to be effective, it must have a truthful premise. Therefore, we can establish that truth can only be known by living it. So, live your historical truth, even if you have to stand against the odds. It is possible for you to be the change you want to see. History proves it. My name is Ra Atem Hotep, and I’m calling from Lancaster. Thank you.
These commentaries are recorded by Noel Hanrahan of Prison Radio.
