I was raised in the deep south at a time and place where negroid people were treated as a separate race, with separate public facilities, separate social structures and separate rights. Since that time many social changes in America have addressed the plight of negroes. Despite the legal destruction of "separate but equal" judgement for negroes, they are still treated as a separate race in the affairs of daily living...often because negroes enjoy the advantage of being treated with separate distinction. It is still heard as the cause of unrest, that negroes were slaves and their descendants suffer as victims of that enslavement.
I never learned to think of negroes as inferior due to difference from me. I do not have a bigot's view so that I abhor negroes or consider them with negative prejudice.
I do however, abhor the "negro excuse" employed by so many to be treated as victims in this day and time. I am prejudiced against irresponsibility, stupidity, the purposely ignorant and those who do not contribute as members of the human race.
You're black? So? And I'm not! So?
If you are a negro and feel you are a victim because of it, read below to learn you yourself are not a victim anymore than any person in this country. Do something positive to rid yourself of the "negro excuse."
If you are not a negro and feel negroes are unimportant to your society, make no impact on your life or are inherently inferior, read below to learn differently. Do something positive to rid yourself of prejudiced behavior or thought regarding negroes.
The first black slaves were enslaved by other black tribes (a common occurence in Africa) and sold to traders who brought them to America beginning in 1619. In 1808 United States law banned import of slaves. No person alive today was brought to this country as a slave. The immensely greater majority of negroes in this country are not first, second, third or even fourth generation offspring of slaves.
So many negroes have distinquished themselves as significant contributors to our daily lives, that to somehow erase the presence of negroes in our past would severely impoverish our society. Their existence is proof that there is no valid "negro excuse" for blacks that they are unable or prevented from improving themselves and society today. Every ethnic or other grouping in this country is a "victim" of prejudice from some other group. There is nothing unique in encountering difficulty in life because you are labelled as a member of a group disdained by another group more interested in advancing members of their group. But that has not prevented any one individual or group from advancement.
Blacks have been achieving presence and recognition at all levels of society for a century. Albeit, persons without talent, intelligence or drive have not and that applies to all of us. Here are examples:
1920
Lucy Slowe became the first black woman tennis champion in the United States. During a tournament in Baltimore, she won the woman's singles title.
1921
Bessie Coleman became the first United States black female pilot.
1924
Clifton Reginald Wharton, Sr. became the first black to pass United States Foreign Service exam.
1939
Jane Matilda Bolin became the first black woman judge in New York City.
1950
Ralph Bunche became the first black to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
Charles Cooper became the first black player in NBA. He played for the Fort Wayne Indiana Celtics.
1947 Jackie Robinson
* The first African-American to play on a Major League baseball team in the 20th century.
* The first Rookie of the Year Award is awarded to Jackie Robinson.
* The first African-American to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
* The first Major League baseball player to be honored on a U.S. postage stamp.
* The first baseball player to have his uniform number (42) retired across all teams by the Major League.
* The first UCLA student to earn a varsity letter in all four sports: baseball, basketball, football and track.
* The first African-American baseball player to receive the Congressional Gold Medal.
* The first African-American to serve as Vice-President of a major American corporation, Chock Full O' Nuts 1957-1964.
1954
Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. became the first first black general in the United States Air Force.
1955
Marian Anderson became the first black singer at the Metropolitan Opera.
1957
Althea Gibson became the first black tennis player to win a Wimbledon singles title.
1958
William O'Ree became the first black hockey player in the NHL, playing for the Boston Bruins.
Ruth Carol Taylor became the first black woman to become a stewardess.
Clifton R. Wharton became the first black US foreign minister.
Learn the value of contributing members of society -
Apollo Theater
http://apollotheater.org/
BIO's Black History Study Guides
http://www.biography.com/classroom/blackhistory.jsp
History.com's Voices of Civil Rights Site
http://www.history.com/classroom/voices/
History.com's Black History Site
http://www.history.com/minisites/blackhistory
The King Center
http://www.thekingcenter.org/tkc/index.asp
Library of Congress - African-American Mosiac Exhibit
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/intro.html
Library of Congress - African-American History Month
http://www.loc.gov/topics/africanamericans/
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
http://www.freedomcenter.org/
National Visionary Leadership Project
http://www.visionaryproject.org/index.asp
National Civil Rights Museum
http://www.civilrightsmuseum.org/home.htm
An MLK site with documents from the National Archives:
www.archives.gov/education/lessons/memphis-v-mlk/
History Classroom Brown v. Board of Education minisite:
http://www.history.com/classroom/brownvboard/
History is repleat with examples of slavery. Consider the Hebrews of ancient Egypt. I have never met a Jewish person who expected advantage in compensation for their ancestors having been slaves.
