Black Americans are so confused it’s disgraceful. One of the main points of confusion is our very identity. We are confused because we are in denial about who we really are: African people.
However, we’d rather be American. After all, most of us have never been to Africa and we were born in America-so we’ve been told. The problem is that America never existed for us.
How can America say it’s the land of the free when it condones slavery? Is it really the land of the free? Obviously not.
If black people are really American citizens, why did we march, fight and die to gain rights that true citizens exercise? It’s because we are only three-fifths of a human being, according to the Constitution of American- the law of the land.
Genetic and archeological research has shown that black people were the first people on earth. Africans have been here in this country for nearly 400 years years-most of which was spent in bondage. And now we’re not African?
If you took flowers native to South America, and bred a few generations in Antarctica in a greenhouse, are they Antarctic flowers? Of course not! Apply that to African history.
Black people do many African things, unwittingly. Dances from the “Bankhead Bounce,” to break-dancing, the “Crip Walk,” to the “K-Wang” have been found to include ancient African dance traditions. We like our music with hard drums and big bass. Brothers in America and Africa place value on sisters with big buttocks. When someone dies and we pour out a little liquor, we are paying homage to our ancestors- that is one African tradition of libation.
A tree cannot stand without roots. Every minority that succeeds in America does so because they know and accept where they came from. We’ll never advance until we acknowledge our African heritage.
In the end, we’re all entitled to define ourselves however we choose.
To those Black folks who claim America, there is a yes or no question you must truthfully answer for yourself. If the founding fathers looked you in your face, would they call you an American?
Theo Wilson, 21, is a senior theatre student from Denver. He can be reached at Tejthedimond@hotmail.com.