Full Circle: F. Godfrey, 10/29/02

Full Circle

It has often been said that what goes around comes around. I have observed at least three examples that support this contention.

Slaves were nor allowed to read on the plantation, as the master knew that books might well hold the key to liberation. Slaves who were caught with a book could be whipped, have a limb chopped off, or even hung.

The descendants of these same slaves have access to all of the knowledge in the world, and too many of them still do not read! It has been said that if you want to keep something from the black man, put it in a book.

So, what is the difference between the old slave and the new slave? The old slave had no doubts about his or her condition. On the other hand, the new slave thinks that he or she is free merely because they can stand in line with white folks at a McDonald's. The old slave was not allowed to read and most of the new slaves won't read; so there is little difference between the two. What goes round comes around.

Not too long ago, the greatest fear that a black man had of being killed was at the hands of a white man. Today, 9 out of 10 times a black person is killed, he or she is killed by another black person.

Many blacks marched, protested, and even died for the right to vote, but to day too many blacks refuse to vote. Black apathy has allowed many candidates to be elected to office who do not have the interests of blacks as a part of their platform. Too many blacks have been brain-washed into believing that their vote doesn't matter. Mush of this brain-washing comes from other blacks.

It is also quite possible that some of the sons and daughters of the former slave masters still recognize the danger of books and the right to vote and have effectively continued the same strategies used by their ancestors. On the plantation, quite often the "house" Negroes were pitted against the "field" Negroes and the light-skinned pitted against his brother of the darker hue. Today, blacks kill each other over such things as colors, and so-called turf, to which they hold no legal title.

If this cycle of apathy and self-destruction continues unabated, the oppressor need only sit and watch as we not only destroy each other, but also in effect, dismantle most of those things that many of our ancestors fought, and in many cases, died for. What goes around comes around, but it doesn't have to remain that way. We must instill in our youth a passion for not only reading, but also reading about our rich past. We must show them why it is important to vote. And, we must teach them to love one another as brothers and sisters who all have their roots in Africa. Each one teach one, each one reach one.