Responses
When someone who is part of a community graciously provides outsiders with a view into how that community experiences and feels, it is very unwise to completely trash and deride what they shared. This article does exactly that, Gabe. Racism is not fixed by ignoring it exists — so it is very unfortunate this is what you urge people to do when you say…
I honestly believe many Black Americans are unaware they are as ignorant as they are on these issues. This is a particularly complex and troublesome instance of Americans viewing Africa as monolithic, unfortunately. It isn’t that we Black Americans know nothing of Africa — it’s that what we know is incorrect because we were (and are) severely…
Thanks for the tip. I actually had it done over a year ago. Roughly 1/3 of my genetic makeup is Sub-Saharan African (of this, the vast majority from West Africa), 1/3 is Native American/East Asian (indigenous Mexican— I’m half Mexican, and descended from the Aztecs), and 1/3 is European (likely from both (1) slaveholders raping my ancestors and (2)…
Unfortunately, we Black Americans are limited in what we know of our ancestors (few records exist from slavery days detailed enough to ascertain ancestry). We do know most of our ancestors were West African, so we wear clothing of West African tribes to pay homage to them. Though well meaning, I will concede this homage is poorly executed (especially…