As we begin Black History Month, "Civil Rights, a re-assessment" comes to my mind. In reassessing a thing, we must investigate it. The first step is to study it's purpose or concept.
What were our Mothers, Fathers, Uncles and Aunts thinking when they decided to no longer sit idly by and allow themselves to be treated less than as full members of this society? What was on their minds when they put their lives at risk to ensure Afrikan people would be considered on the same level as everyone else? What were they thinking when they asked GOD to protect them as they went about the business of getting us to a place we should have been as human beings?
Webster's II New Riverside University Dictionary defines the following;
Civil Rights:
Rights belonging to a person by virtue of his or her
status as a citizen or as a member of civil society.
Next we must research the methods used during The Great Civil Rights Movement/Revolution. What methods did our Ancestors use to secure our positions into this society? Most we know well. We are aware of marches, pickets, peaceful and armed struggle, and are all too aware of the lives lost in the battle for the restoration of our dignity. How many little battles were fought? How many Afrikan Men and Women struggled in little ways within their community, or at the job, so that we could have Civil Rights? How many people lost their lives so we could legally vote without harassment, or murder? How many people were and still are political prisoners in a country which states there is no such thing?
The next step in our reassessment is to evaluate if The Civil Rights Movement reached the goal. One must look into their own soul and heart to know the answer. It is a question only you can answer for yourself. But no matter your answer, you have an if-then situation.
If you think the CRM (Civil Rights Movement) achieved it's goals, then the next question you should ask yourself is "Are Afrikan people at the best place they can be?" If you think the CRM did not achieve it's goal, then your next question should be, "How can it be realized?"
Either way, more questions are asked and answers sought. Sooner or later, if we are who we say we are, strong righteous people of GOD, we will ask ourselves what can we do to help. By the literal definition of the words civil rights, Afrikan people nor anyone else should have ever had to protest, picket, march, fight, or die for what was theirs from birth.
That is unless you understand Afrikan people are still considered 3/5's human. I know it's a jump, but let me explain. To be accepted into civil society, you must be considered civil. To be a member of society, you must be human. If one has objections to Afrikans being part of a "civil society", it must be because they are considered not human. The Dred Scott decision by the Supreme Court in 1856 stated that a Black man had "had no rights which the white man was bound to respect". Within that plea, one reads "The question is simply this: Can a negro, whose ancestors were imported into this country, and sold as slaves, become a member of the political community formed and brought into existence by the Constitution of the United States, and as such become entitled to all the rights, and privileges, and immunities, guarantied by that instrument to the citizen? One of which rights is the privilege of suing in a court of the United States in the cases specified in the Constitution."
It does not take a lot to understand the history of Civil Rights and what brought it on. It was a matter of time. Sooner or later it, was bound to happen. After over 400 years of oppression and all manner of inhuman treatment, the masses of the oppressed were bound to rise up. No matter our opinions of the methods used nor the outcome, we must understand the gravity of CRM. The fact that Afrikan people stood up and took action, in itself was something. After being beaten into almost submission by the oppressor, it must have been GOD's hand to wake up the masses of the oppressed.
How will we, another generation of oppressed Afrikan people carry the torch? . How will we go into history? Will we be a generation of apathetic African-Americans, obsessed with money and material possessions? Will we be the warriors of the Y2K and on, continuing the work of our Ancestors? Will we be so caught up in the debate on Ebonics and or Reparations, we forget our human and civil rights are being trampled daily? Have we forgotten what Uncles Martin and Malcolm were murdered for? Will we forgive the murderers of Bro. Steve Biko, because it happened so long ago?
A danger in ignoring history is that it will happen again. Be vigilant Brothers and Sisters, we are in a very dangerous place in history. It will take every Man and Woman to continue the struggle and save ourselves.
Tyree