I now ignore that line in any email I receive. To use that term in response to being confronted with slavery is like an irresponsible father getting angry every time his child's mother reminds him to pay child support. Reconciliation for extraordinary damage and devastation comes with a price. You can't just wish it away.
I know how to look past the critics, they don't bother me. But for some reason, that term (divisive hate speech) was in my brain when I woke up this morning, and I wanted to share some thoughts with those who are bothered by such a criticism. Part of the price of admission for African Americans into so-called "mainstream America" is that we must do our ancestors a huge disgrace by remaining quiet about the atrocities they've experienced. If you spend just one day thoroughly studying the impact of slavery and the experience of some of the slaves, you wouldn't think for one second that it is ok to forget what they went through.
The reason the term "divisive hate speech" is silly in response to any African American who speaks up on racism is because it is reflective of the lack of personal responsibility that our country teaches when it comes to dealing with the impact of slavery and discrimination. If I am wealthy because my father raped my best friend's mother and stole her belongings, it would be irresponsible for me to say "that's divisive hate speech!" whenever my friend attempts to have my family held accountable for the actions of my father. In that scenario, if I am forcing my friend to remain silent about what happened to his mother as a condition for our friendship, then the truth is that he is not my friend at all. The secondary truth is that I do not respect my friend nor love him enough to make things right after what my family has done.
African Americans are in the same situation. My precondition for being accepted by my colleagues in the academy is for me to remain silent about the raping, castration, murder, robbery and torture of my own family members during slavery. If you can go with me for a second (close your eyes and really imagine this for me), imagine having your siblings taken away forever at the age of 6, seeing your mother raped in front of you or watching your father beaten and eventually killed. That gives you a tiny glimpse into the life of a slave.
The secondary reality that comes from treating another group of people like this for 400 years (that's nearly half a millennium, a very long time to form cultural habits) is that the oppressive group is going to feel comfortable oppressing the minority group. The minority group is going to feel comfortable being oppressed and victimized. I refuse to be a victim, so I am fighting back. Fighting back and refusing to be victimized is what leads to a rejection by the group that is comfortable oppressing minorities. It also leads to a rejection by those in the oppressed group who have grown comfortable remaining silent about the truth. That partially explains the term "divisive hate speech". In fact, I recall hearing an esteemed black colleague of mine tell his superior that "racism doesn't exist in his organization", when privately, he knows that his company has not promoted a black man in 40 years. That is the kind of sick, twisted lie that many African Americans are forced to live, all in the name of "not appearing divisive".
Another reason it is irresponsible to use a term like "divisive hate speech" to describe any man or woman's desire to discuss the impact of slavery is that the truth MUST BE CONFRONTED IF YOU ARE TO MOVE FORWARD. A fat man who is challenged to exercise might want to say "Exercise is painful and unfair!" But he should understand that without exercise, he is going to remain fat. America is that fat man. Every time the term "divisive hate speech" is used as an attempt to silence those who speak out on race, Americans are behaving like the fat man who doesn't have the discipline to exercise. He should realize that confronting his weight problem is the only way he is going to get healthy. Making bad choices in the past (or perhaps his mother feeding him the wrong food) implies that he ABSOLUTELY MUST endure the pain to achieve the gain. There is no way around it.
For the overweight man in my example above to think that he can achieve the gain without enduring a period of discomfort and sacrifice would be both weak and irresponsible. That is what many Americans want. They want racial harmony without the responsibility of true reconciliation and accountability.
That is something I refuse to accept. So, from this point on, the term "divisive hate speech" is officially deemed silly and counterproductive. If you want to criticize me, you have to come at me with something better than that.
10 comments:
Well said Dr. Watkins. Right on.
White racism is a form of mental illness. They are in denial, and man will perish because of it.
Brotha Boyce, man you be on point!!
Again, you hit the nail on the head. It's all about denial. Denial of everything real and true. In South Africa, very soon after the end of the racist regime the Truth & Reconciliation hearings were set up to enable at least the possibility of getting to the truth of the atrocities and to provide a moral environment for healing. In America, there was never anything like this (that I am aware of) and it may now be too late for that kind of thing. However, you, Dr Boyce are in the position and possess the skills to raise awareness and question the inertia. It's a mammoth task but I can't imagine anyone better qualified. Please don't think that you are alone. You articulate my thoughts and feelings and I know there are tens of thousands of other people like me who are behind you and rejoice in the knowledge that at last someone is confronting hate and ignorance with truth. Your words not only uplift but empower us.
to use your analogy,, hasnt this fat man, (the united states) been exercising furiously since the emancipation proclomation in 1863? yes, i know there have been times when the execising slowed, but especially since the 1964, civil rights act, we have become downright lean.so you see we have endured the sacrifice and pain invloved in the needed "exercise". your analogy and ideas are antiquated and no longer apply to the modern society. your cause should be empowering your people to seize the day and the opportunities this country provides. to dwell on the idea youre owed something is intellectual laziness, it is a crutch that cannot bear any weight any longer.. youre owed nothing.the endentured irish that were brought over here are owed nothing.they seized what was offered and now you count them as "whitey". we as nation,will not be on equal footing as long as there are folks of your ilk, perpetrating the myth that to be black is to be downtrodden and held back. make it not so!! get up, quit whinning, be a man and a father to your collective family of fatherless black children and be contibutor to this modern life. the door is open, its been open, come on in and join race.you are the only one holding YOUSELF back. you wont put this out front to contemplated by your readers will you?
To anonymous at 4pm - I totally disagree and reject your argument. You talk as though since 1964 there has been a level playing ground - which of course there hasn't been. You talk as though the 'opportunities America provides' are open to all - which again is a gigantic myth. And you also think that black people aren't owed anything. Well, they are; they're owed respect and a fair chance at life. That is precisely what Dr Watkins is striving for. Not pity, not handouts, just a move towards equality. You, either have your head in the sand or are simply so out of touch with the reality of your own country that you can't see what's going on. Or, perhaps you watch and believe Fox News - because they target people like you, to misinform, to create fear, to promote racism, to dumb-down, and unfortunately, they are succeeding. I'm white and can see it - why can't you?!
Right on ElRancho.
We have to stand up to white people who make ignorant statements. They have been highly irresponsible when it comes to racism. You want us to be your friends, but you won't help us fix the damage to our communities that your forefathers did. I don't want to be your friend for what you did to us! You have to be responsible.
el rancho, so the millions of black business owners, lawyers, doctors, professors, law enforcment officers, politicians,entrepreneurs etc etc.. are all anomallys? just happened to get lucky in this racist society which offers a stilted playing field? no, they fought and won. no my friend, my head, like theres in not in the sand. i, as they are forward thinking and strident hopeful people. you cannot stigmatize me as a racist, that stock comeback is head in the sand mentality on your part. im afraid you make my argument ridiculously easy.
Just because some people make it through a barrier, that doesn't mean the barriers are not high. There are millions of babies born around the world in insanitary hospitals, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't clean it up.
Our society is dirty with nasty racism, and just because some black people make it through, that doesn't mean the problem isn't there. As a black lawyer who went to Harvard, I can tell you that even if you make it through, you end up pissed off over the shit you had to take from white people.
I just wish more white people knew their history and could realize just how predictable and trained their behaviors are. They are doing almost exactly what their parents did and their parents' parents. This is just an American tradition.
black harvard educated lawyer... i dont discount what you are saying. racism is alive , until we all become one color it probably always will be. and even then, we will probably look down on those with lighter skin or darker. perhaps its human nature. i think that some black people simply assume the barriers are too high so they dont try. barriers are diminished when they are attempted and surmounted. my point is, to simply say its "tougher for me" those white bastards set the bar, and made the rules and favor their own is defeatist. you didnt get where you are by saying youre defeated, you fought and worked and achieved. i am well aware of our history and i ve seen the old paradigm of america being a white society change. im fine with that. if more people like you got in the game, then perhaps you will have a say in setting the bar and making the rules.lets move forward.
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