The land of “the free” and “the freed”

I always enjoyed English lessons in my High School, which was situated on Cape Coast’s Kakumdo hill. Lessons on semantics was my favorite topic. It was like performing surgery on a word, and being a Science student, those were certainly fascinating lessons, since like many African children, I had been raised to think, that my highest achievement on earth would be to grow and study to become a doctor! Poetry was also my favorite portion of literature. Like semantics, poetry seemed to allow you to dig into the soul of a person and somehow, decipher just by reading their words, their thoughts, their emotions and if possible, their very interpretation of life. From when I could barely learn what prowess writers’ possessed, I would occasionally put my thoughts on paper, no matter how silly they were; and it felt, even if momentarily that I was living, vicariously through legendary. Based on my lessons on semantics, I recall for the purpose of this piece that the other forms of the word freedom would include free and freed.

Having treaded along the shores of Obamaland these past months, I must definitely do a piece on her. The ‘land of the free’ it indeed is. The liberality and freedom here may make you believe that there were no rules, though the rules are not just existent, but enforced and if you broke them, you will definitely as they say in my African parlance, “dance to the rhythm of the drum”. This is something I do respect about this land. Yet in this same land of the free, I have observed subtly, yet powerfully, that there is “ the free” and “the freed”.

I am not trying to stereotype any group of people. Where I was raised, race was never of interest to me and frankly speaking, sometimes, addressing this issue causes me more stress than trying to analyze data from my research! I was raised to see all men as equal, and yet I have had to be confronted with a conceptual and yet salient phenomenon called race. So the free may here now be defined as they that enjoy all the benefits of this land, are given the benefit of the doubt in almost every instance and enjoy what is commonly referred to as “white privilege”. Don’t blame anyone for having to be part of this faction; after all, privileges are not for all! Well and the “freed”, your guess is as food as mine!

I would begin with a funny realization I came to, somewhere around winter.  Words like Snow White from fairy tales connote feelings of pristineness, yes snow is white and rightly so, it should be called. But then when snow melts and becomes icy and you trip and fall on it, it is called black ice. My African-American honey bun did a lot to explain why this concept was so. Whilst I may partially concur, I do notice the subtlety that almost underlines this “innocent” play of words. Then again, it only reinforces the perpetual notion; "white is good" and "black is bad"! I may be stretching this a bit much, but do think about all the words that are associated with white and their glorious interpretations vis à vis  words that connote black and their villainous connotations. Just saying. I could go on, but I am sure a few other examples come to mind having sparked this train of thought. I will be happy to know!

I am yet to face a major case of racial injustice even though in many ways, certain instances reveal how this is an ingrained, complex phenomenon in Obamaland, which sometimes, feels virtual and other days, apparent. When my honeybun and I visited Target that fateful Saturday, we were like other shoppers, busily rummaging through the new stock of items displayed. Having been disappointed on one aisle, we decided to move to the other section of the store, in the hope that our trip to shop, will not go unfulfilled. So here we were, trekking to our destination in Target, where something interesting was about to ensue. Approaching our aisle, were two young boys, who by my estimation, were about 6 and 4, who my honeybun proceeded to say hello to whilst, receiving a phone call. The response from these young boys who were Caucasian, was; “what’s up my nigga”! You can imagine the incredulous expressions on both of our faces! I literally had to calm my African-American honey bun down, in order to prevent further shock. I did understand that day, a lot about race. Racial injustices may be a bigger umbrella of an issue, but the ability of these young boys to use the N”…word, when the a fore action was one of a simple greeting only brought to mind the crumbs of issues at hand.Then again, they may have heard it from a song, which granted, I would totally excuse or heard people use it for which reason, I cannot blame these innocent kids. Their expression however was far from innocent and their parents who walked past us few seconds later equally carried that "nonchalant" demeanor. My feelings about the "n-word" will be addressed in a later piece for now, this experience was an eye-opener for me. I still ask myself today, why did he respond that way? We were only being nice! Then I understood; "race" is taught and if we need to deal with it, we should start by  "unteaching" it!

Recently, police brutalities in Obamaland went up the roof! I used not to be bothered by the situation, at least when it started, because it seemed like one “unfortunate” incident and being lawless and resisting arrest when confronted by the police was to me unwarranted even though death of the victims, should not be the result. It was meet that terming it “unfortunate” will give me some rationalization of the matter. At least that could have been the case, until there seemed to be a pattern. I could accept the first two incidents as coincidences, but once too many coincidences,  start to look like a trend. There came a time when I would expect another racially- skewed police brutality against “a person of color” and true to my expectation, another “coincidence” would occur. I became disappointed in myself that I surmised evil, but then after a while, my detective head, deciphered that it was not possible that these were just coincidences. It seemed like a systemic, master-minded action plan to target a group of people, for whatever reason, I am still yet to figure that out, or I may just be joining the wagon of people propounding propagandas, well if that can bring anyone’s attention to begin to bring change, then for now, I will play the “devils advocate”, (always on the Lord’s side though! lol). That is not to undermine in any way the tumultuous service played by the law enforcement agencies in Obamaland.  They do deserve credit. Yet, these brutalities which I hoped was a wave that blew for 16 months and is now a dark cloud which has passed, only creates, fear and sometimes, a deep seated feeling of anxiety, stress and underscores my finding, of how some people in Obamaland though have been “freed”,  may forever have to deal with a sense of freedom which almost always feel theoretical and very far indeed from reality!

During the Dr. Martin Luther King celebrations this year, a lecture delivered in my faculty threw a little light on some issues. Two professors who by the way were Caucasian outlined a research program that had been conducted for 40 years.  The crux of the research was that; it is not as though black people were any less smart, than their white counterparts, but that there were systemic attempts stemming from the “Supreme offices of the land” and the “powers that be”, to constantly, keep fiscal resources targeted at minority groups into other “areas” and attempts by people like them to obtain such moneys for programs to empower "minority" groups are constantly shoved aside to support “other”  projects.

I did not want to touch on matters arising in South Carolina. I cannot imagine the anguish and sorrow of the families of the 9 people who lost their lives. My heart and prayers are with their families and the entire State in shock of the wickedness at the heart of man. The incident however came 72 hours before this piece was done so I needed to include a paragraph on it, since Fox news did a great job of mentioning that, the pastor should have allowed his members to bring guns to church (paraphrased), a comment which leaves me wondering but then again, its Fox news! Racism, sometimes, still remains a conceptual phenomenon to me. Yet, in instances like these, I cannot be numb to the obvious interpretation of what such a heinous crime highlights, Well, should the jury cite some “mental disillusionment” as the cause of the crime and Mr. Dylan be made to seek “psychiatric attention”, no one in America will be surprised including yours truly! As a matter of fact, I expect such a verdict. This expectation makes me disappointed in myself once again, because like many other people of color, I have come to expect the worst from the system and not demand anything more, after all, like you are constantly reminded; “you are better off” since you are in school and “getting paid for it” and considering where you have come from, you should be thankful and not join the “movement” for justice which has never been and probably will never be seen. On that note, I am not trying to stir, contention but #Alllivesmatter but as a sense of urgency I will chant #Blacklivesmatter not to seek sympathy, but just maybe to whip up a conversation that may teach each one of us, that being “colored” or “minority” is hard enough, and in instances like this, you may understand why. Whilst watching the South Carolina story, my mind kept going back to the incident in Target with my honey bun and myself. How was Dylan raised? What was he taught growing up? My heart only bled and now, all I can do is pray for that little boy!

But is racism always a white versus black thing? Admittedly, there are so many layers to this discussion that I have left out, just to introduce the subject at hand. History has served a bad portrait of this matter and whilst I would not rehash the past, I do believe that our generation can start, reconstructing the rubrics of what defines minority groups and what generates stereotyping in the first place. Like someone once mentioned; “Race is not a skin issue, it is a sin issue”. It is an issue of the heart, one which cannot be eroded by its mere mention or the persistent attitude of its victims to address it, as though they would find its “cure” if there is. Truth is, it will remain with us, though may I sound here, not every white person is racist and not every black person is a thug or violent.  The race subject has perpetually hang in the clouds in this land, and maybe, for generations to come, we might be dealing with it. Just like every other problem confronting the human race, its presence only gives us a sense of existence and the drive to thrive. Think of it, the ideology of the “survival of the fittest” demands that there should be forces to contend with in order for survival. Sometimes, it’s helpful to reconstruct your perspective about issues. It lessens the pain!

There will be a sequel to this piece once I know more. For now, though I sometimes try to analyze the ideology of white supremacy owing to the observance of some of “my people’s” sometimes, wishy-washy excuses and the propensity to avoid, working as hard to get what they deserve with the mention of “sabotage” as a cheap attempt to escape the reality of hard work, I do albeit see some truism in the whole concept. I however, am too scientific to leave it at guesses and one-time occurrences, so the sequel would have facts and figures to address this concept.

What’s the solution? I have it! Its love! Cheesy, yes and maybe unrealistic you might say with an admission of how dare this “African newbie” tell us what we do know! Yes, I have got the answer, the solution to America’s race problem, tried, tested and proven! Over-simplified theory? Well, I agree with you whilst bemused at my own sarcasm! So let’s talk about love when we next meet in 14days!