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What color/s Black?
This issue of race
By Kimathi Lewis
Editor-In-Chief
»
The problem of the tewntieth
century is the problem of the
color-line, — the relation of the
darker to the lighter races of
men in Asia and Africa, in
America and the islands of the
sea.
W.E. Burghardt DuBois
Some of us are of the opinion
it doesn’t matter what we are
called. If we say this, then it’s
because we neither know what
we want to be called nor
understand the ramifications in
not knowing.
Color prejudice has always
been a dominant factor in
America. It has been the single
most devisive factor between
Blacks and whites and, at a local
and universal levels, between
Blacks and Blacks.
The division stems from our
lack of understanding about the
word Black. But then we’ve been
called so many things, the
confusion is not surprising.
We have always had a very
difficult time defining the word
Black because we were taught to
look at Black as a mere color and
the different shades of that color.
A friend of mine once pointed to
her lighter skin tone and
proclaimed in all self-rigtheous
misguidedness, “I’m not Black!”
But, being Black is more of a
conciousness than a color. It is an
ideology shared by people of a
common blood, language, history,
tradition and impulse.
If we relate it to skin color,
being Black is a legacy of the
tropical environment from which
we originated. The differing
colors and attributes are
adaptations of that climate. There
is more sun in Africa, which
explains the dark melanin in
people of African descent—
Black people— and less sun in
the mountains of Europe, which
explains the less melanin count in
Caucasion people.
Some people may still argue
that since there is no land called
Black, it would be wrong to
consider ourselves Black. They
argue there is a place called Africa,
therefore there are African people.
Likewise, there is a place called
America, thus Americans. But
there is such a land and it is known
as KMT, the land of the Blacks.
In failing to understand and
accept that we are Black, we will
continue the division between
Blacks in America and Blacks
world-wide. People in the
Caribbean, Africa and South
America by all accounts
consider themselves Black. Why
then do many Black people in
America find it difficult to
consider themselves Black?
The answer is simple. If we
do, the continued separation
between Blacks in America and
Blacks world-wide is assured.
By understanding and accepting
that we are Black, we move
futher in the direction of
lessening the gap between
Blacks in America and Blacks
across the globe.
And in doing so, we will start
to not only become more
humanitarian toward each other
in America, but also to our
brethren across the globe.
If we can do that, we will then
dispell the negative connotations
associated with a word, a color,
a being that is actually as
beautiful and regal as the cool
and fertile soil of our mother
land. If we can accomplish
that, then our souls can merge as
one and we can finally stand
together locally and
internationally.
When you control a man’s
thinking you do not have to
worry about his actions. You do
not have to tell him not to stand
here or go yonder. He will find
his “proper place” and will stay
in it. You do not need to send
him to the back door. He will go
without being told. In fact, if
there is no back door, he will
cut one for his special benefit.
— Carter G. Woodson
Derived from the old Italian
word razza, which means
generation, race has been a
criteria for everything. Only it
does not exist — except in
practice.
Race is, in fact, a societal
construct by one group to keep
other groups at a certain level.
It's a psychological weapon
designed by Europeans to ensure
their social domination.
The word race was introduced
in 1795 by Johann Friedrich
Blumenbach. He was the first
person to group people into five
racial categories including
Caucasians [light-skinned
people of Europe], Mongolian
[inhabitants of Asia including
China and Japan], Ethiopian
[Africans], American
[populations of the New World]
and Malay [Polynesians and
Melanesians of the PacificJ.
He separated them based on
geography, skull science and
color. Put simply, the different
races were all classified
according to their separate
regions and inheritance.
But if we actually break it
down, there are no identical traits
that are common among any of
these groups. If we look at their
skin color, eye color, stature,
blood type, etc. we begin to real
ize no one group of people have
these identical traits.
Yet race has been used for
everything. It appears on our birth
certificates, job applications and
passports. It’s on our college
applications, demographic
surveys — basically any
document that requires the
government’s approval.
It’s so ironic that a word that
has no ultimate value has for
centuries been the basis for hu
man sufferings and wars.
Race became a way for the
Europeans to divide the rest of
the world from themselves. The
fact that Blumenbach placed
Europeans first in the categories
is no coincidence. By placing
Europeans at the forefront,
Blumenbach was pointing to their
supposed superiority over all the
Continued on P10
The problem of the tewntieth century is the problem of the color-line, — the
relation of the darker to the lighter races of men in Asia and Africa, in
America and the islands of the sea.
_W.E. Burghardt DuBois