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June 15, 2006
Minorities & Politics
Ideology and Aspirations for Self-Government
By Ezrah Aharone
A profound clash of viewpoints recently occurred at the 2006 State of Black
America forum when Minister Louis Farrakhan posed a "prophetic" challenge
to the timing and historical relevance of Tavis Smiley’s "Covenant With Black
America." After calling it "impotent" he impugned the U.S. government’s
honor and trustworthiness. He then quoted Dr. Martin Luther King’s
metaphor that Black America might be "integrating into a burning house,"
and went on to say that if God set America ablaze because of endemic injustices,
then who are we to try to "be firemen" to extinguish the flames – as advocated
by Dr. King.
The atmosphere was never the same thereafter as subsequent panelists had
little space for middle-ground, since defending the "Covenant" on one hand
meant (to a degree) rationalizing America’s flagrance on the other.
I say that the cause of the "burning house" is the Machiavellian nature of
Euro-Americans, and therefore the flames can only be extinguished through
their volition to change – Not through our increased participation or commitment
to Americanization.
But beyond the "Covenant" and all the verbal sparring, a greater message
was cloaked and conveyed through the split applause of audience members on
both sides of the argument. This duality points to a dormant political
aspiration within a segment of Blacks that has long been in search of crystalizing
and ascending to its rightful place among the world’s respected ideologies.
But having descended from a culture of enslavement, Black America has never
been in the business of defining or instituting ideology. That’s been
a role reserved for Euro-Americans. So, up until now, there is no properly
developed intellectual or political framework to transform such aspirations
into a functional ideology, moreover self-government.
If you notice, it’s becoming common in literature and documentaries to call
slaves "African Americans" … It’s like adding sugar to poison to disguise
the effect. Historically however, there were countless, nameless, faceless
Africans who had no aspirations whatsoever to embrace the ideology or be
politically married to Americanization "til death do us part" … Nat Turner
wasn’t an "American" as Webster’s states, and he wasn’t lynched because he
wanted to integrate or drink "white water." He was lynched because
he fought and aspired to be free from Americanization. Joseph Cinque
did not mutiny aboard the Amistad because he wanted to vote or become the
first Black governor of Connecticut. He fought and aspired to be free
to return to Africa. Harriett Tubman ended the Underground Railroad
in the North because railroads can’t cross the Atlantic.
The question was also rhetorically posed, whether any panelists were prepared
to "die" for the "Covenant." I seriously doubt so. But what’s
interesting is when you politically calculate the sum we’ve received in return
for the untold millions who have died. Look around the world and you’ll
find that people don’t fight and die to integrate with those who abuse them.
They do so for sovereignty to govern themselves. No other people in
contemporary times have died in numbers comparable to Africans in America.
Yet we are far from being a "sovereign people," as verified by the keloid
scars we bear from the backlashes of pseudo-integration.
Nevertheless, the aspirations of Blacks who prefer self-government do not
necessarily conflict with those who prefer Americanization. Both can
theoretically coexist in principle alliance and support of the other.
In fact, that should a shared goal and mutual commitment – Just like the
British and Euro-Americans who likewise are one people with two distinct
national identities. Together they represent two of the world’s closest
and strongest so-called democracies.
The notion of self-government being a "pipedream" for Blacks, as expressed
by panelist Cornel West, underscores a primary difference in the psyches
and political outlooks between Blacks and Euro-Americans. They have
a much clearer vision and far greater ambition to amass and exert power,
along with an uncompromisable resolve to lead, not follow. Unlike us,
they cannot be politically appeased by anything less than self-government.
And they don’t check with anyone or apologize for any means they employ (slavery
included) to achieve their aspirations.
I, therefore, contend that the notion of equality is a "pipedream."
Why? Because the Euro-American establishment purposely subjects us
to conditions and sub-standards that history confirms they would never tolerate
themselves, that’s why. Say for example, roles and conditions were
hypothetically reversed, (complete with centuries of inhumanities from slavery
to Katrina) you can bet they would not submit a "Covenant" to a Black government
to appeal for their upliftment. In the enduring spirit of Patrick Henry’s
"Give Me Liberty (Sovereignty) or Give Me Death," they would have bombed
us a long time ago … And we all know it too!
But a major psychological spillover from slavery is our distorted "sense
of self-identity" of who we are, and our distorted "sense of relevance" regarding
our relationship to Euro-Americans. This is typified in the example
of the slavemaster who coughs and the house-slave who asks, "What’s the matter
master, ‘we’ sick?" Today this same "we" distortion exists in the flawed
notion that we share some kind of special democratic bond of sameness that
permanently connects us to Euro-Americans … No such bond exists, which is
why even Euro-Americans themselves know that their days of "democratic dictatorship"
over all Blacks are numbered.
There’s nothing odd or illegitimate about Black aspirations for self-government.
We have just as much right and reason to govern ourselves as any of the near-200
sovereign nations in the world. What we lack is the "strategic intellect"
to institute the proper ideological and political framework necessary to
transform our aspirations into self-government. In the final analysis
of world politics, people without the vision, courage, and intellect to actualize
sovereign aspirations are guaranteed to be perpetual political sharecroppers
of those who do.
About the Author:
Ezrah Aharone is a Scholar of Sovereign Studies and the author of "Pawned
Sovereignty: Sharpened Black Perspectives on Americanization, Africa,
War and Reparations" http://www.1stbooks.com/bookview/18126.
He can be reached at EzrahAharone@juno.com .
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