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leonceg

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leonceg last won the day on February 7 2018

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  1. You've also got to understand the mind-bogglingly small variations that account for the various phenotypical differences. As stated in the book, "The Human Genome Project proved that humans share 99.99% of their genes, regardless of their so-called “race.” “And of that tiny 0.1% difference, 94 per cent of the variation is among individuals from the same populations and only six percent between individuals from different populations.” That means that only 6% of 0.1% represents variances between different populations or so-called races." Just because these differences are discernible does not make them determinant. That aside, define who, then, is black? Is is 30% African blood? Is it 51%. Does the person with 49% African ancestry then qualify as white? When we talk of race we're talking skin color. That's all we have to go by, and it is a piss poor indicator of genetic backgroud. Take, for instance, Jordan Peele, the director of "Get Out" who is bi-racial, yet looks like many other black man. Meghan Markle is biracial and looks white. Go figure. Culture is the determinant factor here. We have been so hung up on white folks' definition of and conceptions of race for so long that we have allowed ourselves to be blinded to our own historical and cultural treasure. There is a difference between being sociologically 'white' and actively adopting a 'white' identity. The former is neither here nor there. It's like someone saying they have two legs. The latter is acceptance of a toxic identity steeped in oppression, dehumanization, and race hatred. Being "black" is just another biological incident. It's like having two legs. It simply IS. Being born into or adopting Afro-American culture tells us the history with which you identify, and the culture borne of that history that influences how you live, think, etc. It's culture, not color that defines us.
  2. I believe the first step is to put our self-education into our own hands. We are currently relying on public schools run by those who accept a culture that continues to discriminate against us, dehumanize us, and limit our opportunities. The history we have built in this nation is ours. No one should teach it to our young but us. There is an old saw that "Black history IS American history." I reject that. Afro-American history is something utterly different from the history experienced, inherited, or adopted by Americans who can call themselves white. It's that history -- and that difference - we have to codify and embrace.
  3. I talk in the book about the whole "not really black" thing surrounding Obama in 2008 was actually a misguided cultural conversation. What folks meant was that Obama was not raised in the culture of the descendants of African slaves. He adopted that culture in young adulthood. However, we didn't have the language to discuss it because all we had on-hand was "black" and "white." And that's not enough. ShackledToRace.com
  4. Agreed. That's the whole point of this book. On the one hand, we must know how the mainstream has been taught to regard themselves and us, then we must teach ourselves our own history and culture so we have the tools to battle their toxic indoctrination. No one is suggesting that we ignore race, just that we refuse to submit to it. I think we need to teach ourselves to live in the often-racist society we have vs. pretending that we will, any day now, reach the colorblind shangri-la with which too many in the majority credit themselves.
  5. I, too, was raised in a military family and spent time in Germany. My parents were also strivers, but that was back in the early-mid 1960s. I wrote this book because they struggled and fought all their lives to keep their children from succumbing to the image whites might have of us. Their goal was admirable, but they didn't have the tools to go about it in a way that didn't do almost as much damage. As DuBois said, if you constantly look at and measure yourself through the eyes of those who despise you, you are doomed. My parents could not yet see Afro-Americans as a cultural force second-to-none. They were still fighting for basic respect in the workplace and the right to shop and live where they wanted. I believe we have an enormous amount to gain by shedding some of the mindset of our past. Some of that mindset has served us brilliantly, but it's time to move forward as opposed to constantly looking back. We now have the cultural tools to teach ourselves who we are and stop looking at ourselves through others' eyes. Political equality is all one can ask of politics. Cultural equality is a demotion. We are have come farther and accomplished more than any other group of Americans. I think it's time we acknowledge that, and teach ourselves this brilliant history and culture we've created, instead of waiting for those who have spent a history despising us to fill that role.
  6. I had been following this closely. I just released a novel based on the black/Creek Indian Rufus Buck, who formed a teenaged gang in 1895 to reclaim Indian lands and went on a 13 day rampage to accomplish his goal. Research showed a fascinating period in black history, little known and rarely discussed. The relationships between blacks and Indians varied from tribe to tribe, but to attempt to deny it is grotesque. I Dreamt I Was in Heaven - The Rampage of the Rufus Buck Gang http://www.buckrampage.com
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