Sleepin’ our rights away!
“I never sleep, cause sleep is the cousin of death.”
Nas - “New York State Of Mind”
If you are old enough to remember the movie “I’m Gonna Get You, Sucka!”, you’ll remember a scene with Clarence Williams III in which he played a revolutionary. When asked about what happened to his group of revolutionaries, he says something to the effect that they went down to a government building to protest and came back with government jobs.
I think about this a lot when I think about where we, as black people, are going. We have been so lulled to sleep by our “success” that we forget that some of the things that prior generations fought for (and that we benefit from) are hanging on by a thread.
For example, many of us believe that if affirmative action ended tomorrow, everyone would be hired in a job or admitted to a school solely on the basis of merit. We forget that black folks who merited consideration never got a shot and this is why the laws were enacted in the first place. Even more sad is that some of us believe that this is the reason for hostility against us by some whites and they would suddenly accept us if laws like these did not exist.
Well, sadly enough, their “theories” could very well be put to the test in the very near future. Right now, the Supreme Court is looking at two cases that could do away with integration requirements in schools and “Uncle Ward” Connerly is working his hardest to do away with the same affirmative action that has helped him become successful in business. So, this could be the year that affirmative action dies a terrible death.
But, if this is the case, at least the negroes will be happy that “more deserving” white folks will reap the benefits of these changes.
Popularity: 9% [?]
Sphere: Related Content
