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Over the past week or so I have been discussing forgotten yet important historical truths such as blacks who stood with confederates and more recently blacks who were slave masters right here in the US. In the future I will be discussing other issues that are quite similar in nature, so stay tuned.

By now, some of you may be wondering if I have some type of fetish (for lack of better term) with blacks who have apparently “sold themselves out” for a system operated by whites for the destruction of the black race. This is far from the truth. What is the truth, however. is my quest for complete historical truth and accuracy as it relates to black Americans.

To understand where I am coming from, let me use the analogy of an adopted child. Once it has been revealed to the child that he/she has been adopted, something, almost innate begins to take over. In many cases, the child wants to know both the good and the bad regarding his/her real parents (what were they like, what do they look like, are they alive, why did they give them up, etc.) Until these questions are answered, many of these adopted children (many of which are well into adulthood) feel as though a part of their existence is somewhat unexplainable. In other words, self-identity is at times a stranger that is always with them, however, they will never have the opportunity to truly know who they really are as a person.

The ever-popular saying hold true especially for black Americans:

“Those who refuse to learn from history are bound to repeat its mistakes”

In order to understand why some blacks would sell something as destructive as drugs to a fellow black American, the full history of people of African decent must be taken into account. Most of our textbooks, documentaries, and black historians will always paint a picture of people of African decent in two two worlds: One where we were kings, queens, and great rulers, and the other that show us on the receiving end of injustice and persecution. What is obviously left out are the countless number of incidents where our own self-inflicted behavior caused just as much harm (or some times even greater) than what any “oppressor” could do to us as a people.

Mention the fact that many of the African slaves that were brought to this country were actually sold to whites by fellow Africans, and you will be met with rhetoric much dodging from the truth. While you’re at it, don’t forget to mention as I mentioned earlier that some blacks “willingly” fought on the side of confederates, or as I mentioned in an earlier piece that blacks right here in America engaged in the business of slavery by enslaving fellow blacks and you will be met with much of the same–dodging and more rhetoric.

Let’s fast-forward to more modern times where a black man would manipulate black women by selling their bodies to other men who have no regard for our women for sexual favors so that he can get paid while the woman is left with more pain and scorn in her life. How about the on-going reality that some blacks would murder their own over frivolous things like a jacket, sneakers, cars, etc. (better know as black on black crime)? And last, but certainly not least the ongoing slave trade that is going on to this day in various countries in Africa were African many men are slaughtered while innocent women and children sold into performing harsh labor and/or providing sexual favors to their captors. Bring this up to certain black Americans and they will be quick to link colonialism from over a century ago to this destructive trend, again overlooking the fact that all of this is being done by fellow Africans under the noses of African governments.

Politics today is largely fueled not by a general desire to solve problems and move society forward, but by entities that want to take a snapshot approach to those issues that affect society and milk it for what its worth for personal gain. Understanding the history behind societal issues is largely skewed or ignored. This is the very reason why I try to spend more time dealing with these issues more than involving myself in the endless Red state versus Blue state garbage–debates that do absolutely nothing for my people in the long run.

A good “leader” will consider historical patterns when trying to resolve issues instead of taking the “putting out fires” approach. Unfortunately, many so-called “leaders” prefer the latter option because it adds “legitimacy” to their existence to a generation of people who prefer to respond to the here and now rather than to take the time to embrace all of the historical factors to the issues at hand.

Why would black men inflict harm on other black men and women? This is one of the basic questions that hopefully, like yourself, I want an answer. In order for us to get this answer, then like a puzzle, we must use ALL of the pieces that make up our history instead of selectively using some pieces and allowing politics to manufacture the rest.

The last thing I want to bring to your attention is this recent commentary by Earl Ofari Hutchinson where he talks about the MLK Center in Atlanta, Georgia fight to stay afloat financially:

The recent report that the King Center for Nonviolence Social Change in Atlanta is physically deteriorating and the drive to raise the millions to build the King National Monument in Washington D.C. is languishing is sad and troubling. King’s home has been mortgaged to help pay the bills at the Center, and half the workers there have been laid off. The estimate is that it will take $12 million to make the needed repairs on the Center.

As for the King Monument, the design for it was officially approved a few years ago. But the cash to build it had to be raised in seven years. There is no government funding for it. Nearly $70 million still needs to be raised. Time is fast running out. (more…)

Keep in mind this all of this is happening in an age where black Americans have a buying power in the excess of $600 billion. It seems that once again the value that we place on our own history is being snuffed out not by any “oppressor”, but by our own conditioning to respond to what affects us in the here and now. In short, to many of us history this is not “active” is history not worth much.

So just remember, as we as black Americans today scoff at and attempt to bury the memories of people like black slaveholders and confederates, keep in mind that if this “selective” trend continues, the future generations of black folks will soon forget that it was mostly blacks that were selling drugs to other blacks, or mostly blacks that would pimp their own women, and the sad statistical category of black on black crime. By forgetting these important historical facts, we will once again be resetting the clock of history repeating itself.