Jun 5, 2020
Racism- Is it the colour of our skin or the colour of our money?
Obviously everyone is emotional right now and rightly so. The inequality we experience as black people is infuriating at best and sadly deadly at it’s worst.
But I am not going to jump on the current media bandwagon which I believe has no interest in addressing the situation. But rather is to create further division and social unrest ultimately to destabilise the current administration ahead of the elections in November. Whether you like Trump or not this stuff was happening before him and will happen after. My point is try to take a step back, think objectively and not be used as a pawn . Once they achieve their desired outcome this subject will be off the agenda again. In the mainstream at least all we will see are images of blacks looting and burning shops. This is going to do nothing to make any positive change and it will be sad to see a genuine movement being soiled and manipulated.
What I would rather do than post #blacklivesmatter, curse out and cut off people who don’t “speak up” and force an “if you don’t agree with me you’re a pariah” approach society seems to adopt nowadays, which does nothing to change views or unite people; is explore how we can actually achieve effective and sustainable redress to the imbalance.
Personally, I believe that the solutions to the imbalance are ones we can and have the capability to resolve ourselves, if only we would unite and have some vision.
Economics
For us to understand the issues we need to understand what the current system is built upon which is economics. Put simply it’s a system built on trade and service.
Now, lets say you put your house up for sale and someone comes along and says “give it to me or I will stand outside and protest until you do” you are surely going to tell them where to go right? What if they then threaten to smash the windows or burn it down? I imagine you still wouldn’t give it to them, you would probably call the police! What if they did it? Well unless you are killed in the fire you would claim the insurance and move on. Point is the protestor won’t get the house, despite the fuss they kick up. Now if that person came in the first place with a solid offer which was acceptable to you the property will change hands.
So what makes us think that if we stand outside shouting, screaming and destroying our neighbourhoods that we will get the change we are demanding? We have not brought anything to trade with, but rather are totally reliant on someone changing the rules of the house which benefits them with nothing in return. It’s insanity.
This is not to say that the protests shouldn’t be happening, to the contrary they should! It’s right to express our disdain for these events and organise to demand reforms. Protest is for sure a key factor in this.
The point I am making, for it to have any telling influence is, firstly it needs to be strategically organised and secondly very well funded. We can look at recent movements for change including the LGBT movement and climate change. They are not just a bunch of people with placards making demands, they are heavily backed by billionaire benefactors. This means they can organise sustainably, drive political influence and very importantly control the narrative to deliver the message how they see fit. Not as currently is the case, be at the mercy of the mainstream media who are already hijacking it for their own interests.
With those factors in play we have tools to trade with, and influence to wield.
I believe that rather than look to the white man to give us a “fair crack of the whip”, which I think is subservient in itself, we present something compelling to trade which forces them to play ball. The Chinese community do it, the Asian community do it, why can’t black people do it?
What I am talking about is building an ecosystem through collective organisation.
We are the answer to our own problems
I, like many black folk have experienced discrimination directly and indirectly throughout my life. Going to a job interview knowing you had to be ten times better than your white competitor to have half a chance, a lot of us have been there right? Frustrating isn’t it? So what did I do about it?
I resolved to focus on what I could control and create my own solution. Mine was business. “Why do I need to cross my fingers and hope I would be given a job when I could create my own?” That’s exactly what I did.
Now I have something to trade with, I offer a service which is negotiated and agreed with clients of my choosing. I don’t need to beg for an opportunity. I present a solution to a desire or need, they agree to pay and I decide if I want to work with them. There is no inequality, there is a trade that suits both parties, there is balance.
Take responsibility and be accountable
The issues we need to overcome are embedded within our own community, our mentality and vision (or lack of). Why are we looking to the white man to give us opportunity when we can create our own, employ ourselves and have our own ecosystems? Look at the way the Chinese community and Asian community (just a couple of examples) work together, building businesses, creating employment, owning properties, creating generational wealth they pass down and continue. Do you see the cops running into Chinatown brutalising the residents? Why not? Because they have collective bargaining power, they have trade and in turn you have to play ball with them to keep the cogs moving. You just cannot mess with them like that, there is too much at stake economically and that is what influences behaviour.
I often say “people soon forget their prejudices when money is on the table”. I say this because oppression is seldom to do with the colour of your skin but rather your economic position and in turn your reach of influence. Do you think they would treat Oprah Winfrey, Will Smith, Kanye West et al like George Floyd?? No way! They just couldn’t there is too much economic influence on the table. This is the harsh truth of the sick system we live in that in the context of how it works; those black lives on the poverty line don’t matter to a system based on the economic ideals I am talking about, they are disposables. I will add that this factor is colourless, it’s simply the case that black people are disproportionately on the poverty line and are associated with it.
I mean think about it, how often do you see that people wouldn’t bat an eyelid if a local dies but as soon as it is a celebrity the tributes pour in like they knew them all their lives? Their life somehow had more meaning because of their position and influence, commodities that they trade with! Unfortunately, we are conditioned to treat people with money and influence with more regard than those who don’t, who are as a matter of fact often abused. For example, how many homeless people of any race get urinated on and abused in the streets? Why? Because sadly in our system they have no value. What groups are trafficked, brutalised, abused, enslaved? Those in poverty, all roads lead to economics.
We need to open our eyes and stop selling ourselves out
Look at Africa, a continent that is phenomenally rich with resources yet has been sold out to foreign companies who mine those resources and take the wealth. How is it that Chinese farmers have been able to come in and build factories, and mine gold? How is this possible when you have locals that can be doing this? If the expertise is not in certain places why can’t we hire in those resources to train the locals and create a sustainable system? I say these things because the leaders in Africa are highly schooled individuals often in the west where they can adopt concepts that work for their own people and give them huge bargaining power on the world scene.
My view is we as a community get blinded easily by greed, vanity and lack a long term vision. Those corrupt leaders are more interested in buying luxury cars and jets than building factories, industry and a sustainable economy for their countrymen. Imagine what we could achieve if we worked together! No one in Africa should be wondering where their next meal is coming from. This is a cancer we need to cut out our own community, the lack of organisation, lack of unity, the greed, the short term selfish mindset, we only kill ourselves with it.
In western society we have to work together, not kill each other, hate on each other, destroy our own communities, disrespect our women, sell ourselves out for a quick buck.
We can make our own products, create our own jobs, better our own communities, educate ourselves, we need to unite with a common vision borne from endeavour, sustainability and cemented in trust.
What is racism?
My view of what racism is probably differs to many. I believe racism in the sense you are hated for the colour of your skin is a distraction, that aspect in my view is a tool used time and time to great effect to create the division and infighting we are witnessing at present. I make this statement because believe it or not I have spoken very openly in the past with people you would consider to be racist. The conclusion I have reached is “black” has been programmed in society to have a particular representation. Those include, dependency, crime, slavery, poverty, hunger, unemployment, welfare etc. These are all virtues that represent worthlessness and have no trade-able value in our economic system. Often you will hear ‘racists’ say they couldn’t care less about the colour of their skin it’s the idea of what they represent, some of the connotations above.
If Michael Jordan went for a jog you think he will be followed and shot? They would be chasing for his autograph! See the difference?
However, I will add the psychological affect is telling and it is a weight every black person carries. Everyday you wonder if people are looking at you because you are good looking or because they think you are going to do them some harm! I live in Spain and in the back of my mind I think often if I will get stopped by the police when a police car goes past, it was the same case in the UK. There for certain is a lot of healing that needs to take place within ourselves and society as a whole to change our self image and importantly to educate others that these learnt behaviours are wrong and are simply tools of division and oppression.
This is a division that plagues our communities in the sense of how we perceive each other also as black people. It serves as a barrier to the unity that is needed to build ourselves in the collective way required to change things for the better and for us to take control of our own path.
Race is a distraction to the real tragedy
I urge people to take a step back and think. All these mechanisms such as race, religion, sex essentially our differences are used to divide and ultimately distract us from the large scale inequality in our society where only a small group reap huge benefits and the rest quibble about who’s more down trodden. This is while those slightly better off bask in the feeling they are doing OK and can look down on and oppress the ones at the bottom. Meanwhile a very tiny group sit on wealth they couldn’t spend if they tried. They then use the media they control to have us in perpetual fear of one another, hating one another and creating a situation that lacks dialogue and understanding. I’d compare the system to a pack of hungry dogs fighting over the scraps, while the wolves feast on the banquet.
The real scam is the disparity between the top 5% and the rest of society regardless of the colour of their skin.
There is good news there is hope!
What I love seeing is that there are communities that are uniting and building their own businesses in their localities employing locals, improving the local infrastructure, creating trade and local political influence, look at Harlem in the states as an example of that spirit and there are more and more black people repatriating to Africa to take business concepts there.
I am excited by a project a close friend of mine is launching teaching financial literacy, entrepreneurship and understanding of investments to the black community. Bringing together talent to make real change, change through our own means and collective spirit. I will be honoured to play my part contributing to that initiative.
In the US for example, the epicentre of the protest 1 in 10 Americans are Black. We are talking about 30 million people. Now just imagine everyone contributed $1 a month to fund a sustained and strategic protest and political movement for example, suddenly you have something with legs. You can put out the message you want to get across in media, you have the birth of something to trade with politically. Imagine they all came together to raise funds to fund local entrepreneurs, create trade links in Africa and the Caribbean, buy our own fashions instead of Gucci and Prada, support our own restaurants instead of McDonald’s so on and so forth. In the spirit of our community which is open and welcoming to all; we sell our culture for our gain not through corporations who love to sell our culture but not include the originators of it.
These concepts are nothing new you only have to look up Marcus Garvey to know what I am talking about.
This requires strategy and unity, and for us to think strategically we need to calm down, collect our thoughts, understand what we are dealing with and get to work.
Imagine us having our own clothes factories, mining operations, small businesses, employment, property, investments, local government influence, media, education etc. Lets come together take control of our own destiny and have something to trade.
