An End To Racism
David A. Rockwell, Founder of Rapping Up Conflict
Violent racism is deeply entangled within our American identity. We are a nation founded upon Renegades who stole land from more peaceful people. I am proud of our fight against the British Empire but embarrassed by our treatment of the Native Americans and our over reliance on slave trades: both African American and South East Asian.
When I was taught about the days of Western Expansion, I was told about “Cowboys”. These Cowboys fought the “Indians” and protected their families, farms, and settlements from the savages invading their lands. Read a book and you’ll learn the lie we tell ourselves and continuously glorify: the natives were the heroes who were protecting their families and settlements from us. We were the savages invading their lands and raping their women. When was the last time you saw a movie depicting a white man raping a Native American or African American woman on the Frontier?
When I think of war, I’ve been conditioned to think of the GI’s storming the beaches of Normandy. That instance is one of the few rare occasions in which we were right. We went to fight against an expanding fascist regime. We didn’t initially go to save our Polish, British, French, or Jewish brethren as we should have. It sure seems that way when I watch the movies, though. Instead, we went there reluctantly to preserve our sovereignty only after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. We were compelled to fight against an ideology we feared.
Thus, after the election of the First American-African President, Barack H. Obama in 2008, this violent past and miseducation came to a head. Hate groups began to rise. They embodied the American Renegade spirit, manifesting itself into a severely flawed ideology. This violent extremist ideology consumed the killer, Dylann Roof; it became a part of his identity. Identity is created through environment. Nobody is born with hate, rather, hate is taught or experienced.
What happened in Charleston is a mixture of these events in our American History. We teach this and glorify it in our history classes in a way that Howard Zinn warned us about. We have a problem with civil obedience versus civil disobedience. We are obedient in what we are fed without question. If we are serious about peace, what are we willing to sacrifice and do?
In order to help tear down the constructs of racism in our country, I traveled to Charleston so I could mourn alongside my brothers and sisters of diversity. What I witnessed brought me to tears. I saw people with physical differences come together in unity to promote peace and tranquility. Charleston was not going to be baited into a race war. Rather, Mother Emanuel AME helped us pray together, engage in discourse, and build empathy in the wider community.
When I was in Charleston I had no fear, but I expected to encounter fear. I hugged, cried, sang, and held hands with complete strangers at Mother Emanuel. I could feel the love. I was an outsider, accepted by a community after their trust was viciously violated by another days earlier. This was a profound experience that helped wipe away the years of misguided education.
Through the sacrifice of the Civil Rights movement, we have torn down the divisions so we can all gather in one room. However, we have not acknowledged the past atrocities nor have we repaired them. Conversation is still difficult, reluctant, or non-existent. Now, is the time to fix this issue, once and for all. In order to stop racism, we must begin to have community based events in which sustainable dialogue is facilitated between all walks of life.
We, as a species and as a nation, have been deeply entangled in this epic battle that is becoming our Odyssey. Light battles darkness in the hearts of humanity, and within this battle there is a constant push and pull between the forces of right and wrong. If more people are willing to engage and push their cultural boundaries towards coexisting, then we have increased the likelihood that our nation will stand the test of time and overcome the plague of racism and hatred.
David A. Rockwell is a survivor of gang activity in Rockford, Illinois.
He is the Founder of Rapping Up Conflict, a program that uses poetry, hip hop, and lyricism to manage and resolve conflict with school-aged children.
