divo02 said:

As a black woman and someone who works with youth, I would have to "strongly" disagree with u. In the history books currently in our school system, most black children only learn about the negativity of slavery mixed in with only a few positive contributions by black people. This results in low self esteem.

When the children learn about their ancient heritage and true contributions to humanity (which have been distorted and covered up by European historians) They feel a sense of pride, and it does alot for them. I think that u are treading on dangerous ground when u imply that somehow our African culture should not be important to us. It is.

.To this day I wish I knew my tribal tongue, my culture, my traditions, It's so cool to see how that knowledge is played out in other cultures like the Asians. Personally I don't like alot of the European ways that have been adopted by blacks, I don't dig Western society much at all.

And time is an illusion..past, present, and future are all the same, ever studied Albert Einstein? He can break that down for you.

In these times, it is best for all people, especially the common people of the world, to not let the past situations affect our quest for unity as one people without race and other barriers that the upper class wants us to stumble over. When we fall, they laugh. The world is the Jerry Springer show to the haters, and until the general public can realize this, those of us who fight for nothing but love will be persecuted and hated for loving unconditionally. The time is almost near for people to choose. It is time to funk or flunk.



Peace,

JD

divo02 said:

thank you for getting to the real issue...what can B done NOW? Let's go forward! How can we as humankind unify and make things better for all of our futures? Family name or not. Is that really the only way to examine one's heritage? I know, I know, at least I got my family name...how do I know that? My parents weren't married and Jah knows how many family name changes were gone thru during MY ancestry. As a matter of fact, what family am I a part of, since I am bi-pedal and with a soul, it must be the human family. My family name is the one I make for myself, the one I'm remembered by. Life's 2 short 2 B pissed off because 200 yrs ago people were fucked up. People R doing fucked up things now. How do we change? Having a "family name" doesn't help. 'tis only division. Celebrate diversity...YES! Bicker about who's worse off than who and who did the shittiest things...NO!
just my opinion...

feltbluish said:

I think it was Berry who said that if something still keeps coming up it is unresolved. Unfortunately, we cannot move forward until we talk about how we got here in the first place, and no one seems to want to talk about the past, a past that is still very vivid in the minds of people who were subjected to Jim Crow less than 40 years ago.

From a psychology standpoint a psychologist would tell u that if your parent suffers from negative psychological influences they usually pass it on to you, and then u pass it on to your children, therefore the black gen x'ers of today have been affected by the psychological scars passed on to them from their parents.

So yes I agree, Let's move on, but we have to dialogue about the past, we do, there is no getting around it, Because blacks are still being mistreated in this country they have "unresolved" feelings about racism. I would offer that perhaps we have a conference on racism and open up this topic nationwide. Then you'll see that's it's not just the Prince.orgers who feel this way, but an entire world of people of African descent who mistrust and have animosity towards the white man for the mistreatment, injustice and inequality that they endure even today.

I would like to offer up a question? How does it make caucasian people feel that your parents and grandparents subjected our parents and grandparents to the laws of Jim Crow. I was recently at a forum on reparations in Minneapolis which white people attended, and this one lady broke down and cried because she had recently discovered that her grandfather was in the KKK, she herself like many of u, doesn't see color, and has friends of all cultures, so u can imagine how this dirty laundry affected her.

Yes, this was all in the past nearly 40 years ago, but, your parents and grandparents had the freedom to exercise their moral concious, and didn't, they allowed the laws of segregation to thrive. And unless they marched with Dr. King, unless they lobbied the gov't, unless they supported the civil rights legislation. they sat by, and allowed other human beings to be treated like second class citizens.

One memory that sticks clearly in my mind is watching Remember the Titans starring Denzel Washington. It was 1973 and there were angry mobs of white people yelling and screaming and spitting at the black students that were integrating their "white" schools. Being that I was only 5 years old then, U could imagine how horrified I was that even by 73' we still hadn't fully integrated.

People are quick to quote Dr. King, his dream hasn't come true, and the man left us only 34 short years ago, so yes in our lifetime people had to endure aparteid conditions and face dogs, and hoses, and lynchings all in the name of fighting for equality that was given to us by our creator, but taken away by our oppressor.

abucah said:

$$$ For those WANTING to BITCH at Dr. Thomas Sowell about where he got his facts from, go to this link below. And GOOD LUCK! You'll need it with this guy!

www.creators.com/opinion_...nsname=tso

jazzy328is said:

$$$ Going against the PRESUMED BELIEFS OF 60 MILLION PEOPLE? Or 60 MILLIION BLOWHARDS? Many times it's that SMALL VOICE,THE WHISPER that bares much truth. Although I don't always agree with him, Dr. Sowell is an unconventional thinker like I am whose not afraid of speaking his mind, even when it goes against the NORM. I admire him for that, and anyone else for that matter.

jazzy328is said:

$$$ The purpose of this article wasn't meant to discuss why slaves didn't have African names. Although a point he brought out does answer the question: Why then call blacks in the United States "African American", when not even their great-great-great-grandparents ever laid eyes on Africa? Also, slaves were given first names, but not FAMILY NAMES. Which is the LAST NAME.

jazzy328is said:

$$$ What documents? If they exist, did the slave owners put them there, or did some government agency at the time do it as a means to keep track of things?

jazzy328is said:

$$$ If you so desire to CONTACT Dr. Sowell about this article or it's VALIDITY, go to the link below. Be sure to ask him questions about his CREDABILITY since you do not view him as being an expert on something he's been doing for close to 50 years.

www.creators.com/opinion_...nsname=tso

divo02 said:

$$$Thanks for the APPLAUDS! But the truth of the matter is quite simple, but too often overlooked, which is: to truely understand your own POSITION, and to VALIDATE your claims, YOU MUST BE WILLING TO CONSIDER YOUR OPPONENTS.

HIGHRISK said:

I wouldn't ask Dr. Sowell about his article any more than I would ask Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell, or Clarence Thomas a question with their conservative "I got my head up the white man's ass views"

eos23 proclaimed:

$$$ Dr. Sowell, as well as many of the people (although I do not like Clarence Thomas) you've mentioned, are intelligent people who have been PERSECUTED for years about this kind of thing. THEY ARE AWARE OF THIS. NEITHER DO THE GIVE A PARTICILAR DAMN. But it comes as no SURPRISE to me that you would say this. It's always easier if you can continue blaming others, rather than focusing on presenting SOLUTIONS. And when that PARADIGM is shot full of holes, we OFTEN BARE OUR FANGS!