2014: Is The Black Male's Legacy Death?

Copyright 2014    Aleasa M. Word   All Rights Reserved

Once again the news is on fire about the death of a young black male. This time it was at the hands of a police officer and he was unarmed. Angry mobs of people have had enough and through their hopelessness and helplessness they’ve torn apart the city of Ferguson Missouri……and no, this is not 1960, it’s 2014 and Michael Brown is dead.

Just a few weeks ago Eric Garner was killed in New York after an altercation with the police where he fell victim to a choke hold and it appeared all he did was ask them to stop harassing him because they accused him of selling cigarettes.  A video went viral on the web and over and over again people like me cried listening to him asking them to “please leave me alone” and finally saying “I can’t breathe” only to shortly thereafter be declared dead.

How many more will it take until people realize the marches and protests aren’t working? The anger isn’t working. The summits and tweets aren’t working either. To Amadou Diallo, Jordan Davis, Trayvon Martin, Emmitt Till, Martin Luther King, Malcolm  X, Sean Bell, Medgar Evers and Eric Garner…..you are all black men and your legacy to this world, sadly,  is death.  The death of your dreams is left behind because it has been overshadowed by violence of today. The death of your potential to make a difference in the world is upon us as we slip backwards every time we step forward.  So many of our black men have shed blood on this land we call America and each day we hear of another act of violence whether black on black crime or white on black crime the ending is always the same….another black man, another black son,  lost.

Someone who was outraged yesterday mentioned there are other stories that get bigger press than the loss of lives of our black boys and men and how they were angry about it. It happens so much many have become desensitized.  My response was simply, until the lives of thriving black males have a positive dollar value attached to them,  most won’t care no matter who they are. The current dollar value on a black male’s life now is attached to the money paid to funeral homes, lawyers, therapists and prisons.  Sadly, this negative value is not new. Slavery itself spoke to the monetary value of a black man sometimes at the cost of his life.  Strong black male slaves sold for a lot as they were at the foundation of the sustainability of the plantations.  Fast forward and even the bus boycotts with the great Rosa Parks showed us that the turn in the tide was about the money that was being lost because African American’s weren’t spending it, not the fact that we need to treat people humanely. Today, black men are at the foundation of the sustainability of prisons and economic downturns in the African American communities.  They continue to be feared simply because they are black even when merely crossing a street in many towns. So, candidly I ask, who amongst you is willing to attach value to what they fear?

The cliché’  “money rules the world” is not without merit and it permeates much of the PERCEPTION of what we believe to be human kindness.  The word value is often synonymous with money and that even stands true regardless of the community you are in.  What we believe VALUE means and what is VALUABLE can be different for everyone.  Lives for some are only as valuable as the money attached to them! This is not to negate the efforts and compassion of others outside of minority communities that genuinely care and want to help. However, to be real about it…all of the hugs, arms linked together and protests in the world regardless of how rainbow-like they are still  haven’t fixed the problems of racial profiling of after effects of Jim Crow.  I’ve said it once and I’ll say it a million times….. fight with your dollars and you’ll go a lot further than with your fists.  

When I asked my 13 year old son how he felt about all of the violent deaths in the African American community these were his thoughts:

“ At this point, every night I really do hope I wake up the next morning……It’s kind of scary thinking when I walk down the street I could die…I know Jordan Davis and Trayvon Martin probably thought the same things I do because they were smart like me…like they wanted to go to school and have a family but they didn’t get the chance.”

He also expressed his anger saying “when a white person kills one of us it’s a big deal and makes the news, but when we kill each other people ignore it…it’s the same thing either way, people are dying and nobody cares.”   

 

Words of a child utter truths that often break the heart. Whether white, black or anything in between, until WE ALL understand that black life has value beyond the dollar, NOTHING will change.  Through the anger over racial profiling and unjust shootings toward those not in the African American community is certainly justified, that same anger must be expressed  towards those who are part of Black America that don’t value the lives of those who look just like us!

We are a broken nation and have been so for a long time. As a parent I teach my children to value the lives of others and wonder how other parents are dropping the ball by not doing the same.  The children who do not value human life over money will be the same ones growing up and having no regard for the black face of a child walking down the street listening to his music.

It’s time to turn the tables. The black man’s legacy in America is becoming nothing more than death in this day. What is left behind is the next generation to repeat the cycle. Instead, we must learn to teach and leave a legacy of pride, integrity, financial stability and most importantly a true love and regard for all of our fellow brothers and sisters. Until we understand the value of a life we will continue to put people out with the trash.

 

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