I agree. Remembering the condition of slavery is relevant so that we can grasp the progress we have made and look forward to future progress.
For me, Passover is similar. We recount the slave days to heighten the blessings of liberty. "Once we were oppressed and now we are free" is the repeated refrain in the Haggadah. Was not Martin Luther King doing the same thing in his "I Have a Dream Speech?"
Thank you for your comment. As I read Twyman's piece, I wondered how Jews who have been oppressed and persecuted for hundreds of years culminating in the most horrific tragedy of the holocaust including the recent events of Oct. 7th, and yet choose not to forget but to forge ahead and be successful. I don't know of any Jews that are constantly crying about "the system," and white oppression as some blacks do on a regular basis. Yet, when I have posed the question to some by asking would they prefer our ancestors to have experienced the holocaust or work on a plantation , I received the deer in a headlight look. We need more black people to speak up and counteract the false narrative of contemporay oppression to break the back of this aspect of black culture which we are indoctrinated with from childhood. I do so frequently and withstand the ugly looks in return because eventually, I believe, the truth will set us free.
Hi Valencia, really appreciate this. As I am about to go to a Holocaust exhibit locally with my family (I'm not Jewish, just interested in exposing my kids), I often think of the parallels between slavery and the persecution of any group. I wonder about the importance of "not forgetting", but also the power of rising above and consciously counting the wins and the very real progress. And yes, the truth always sets us free. <3
Truth never loses the battle, you know. Falsehoods and mis directions can only survive for so long. I believe one becomes what one thinks about. Being manipulated to focus mental energies on long ago American slavery is negative manipulation. Isn't it ironic that I grew up in a southern suburb but my mental focus was always on the future -- college, law school, the legal profession. I never thought about American slavery in the 1970s in a southern suburb, except in history class and it was understood as being of less importance than the Civil Rights Movement and the election of blacks to City Council in Richmond and the election of a black Governor of Virginia in 1989. My focus was always forward-directed, not backwards leaning. For me, the future doesn't require thinking about American slavery every day or even most days. It is important to not forget but my 4th grade teacher accomplished that task back in 4th grade. Loved your comment.
The evil of Woke Victimization is that no group in America has overcome more than Blacks. To indoctrinate Blacks with hopelessness is the worse systematic racism.
Agreed. There's a difference between empowering people and enraging them. There's a difference between recognizing the wrongs of the past and celebrating the gains achieved. To use any group for political gain and power by telling them they can't achieve/exist/get better without xyz can create a vicious cycle of dependecy and despondency. I prefer to boost people up and aim forward.
You have the wisdom of my black first and second grade teachers in 1967 to 1969 in Virginia. My elementary school remained segregated by race and my teachers were turbo charged with boosting students and aiming forward. Those values and attitudes remain imprinted on my sense of self to this day.
Thanks, Missy. I visited the Holocaust Museum in D.C. many years ago, and the images were quite riveting and painful to view. I've always had a great deal of respect for Jewish people perhaps, because many of them were my public school teachers in my native NYC. Nonetheless, I realize that all groups have a history both good and bad, and it is unfortunate that not enough peoplel recognize the successes many blacks achieved under horrendous circumstances pre and post slavery with family in tact. I imagine those ancestors would not understand the proliferation of woke pablum in 21st century America where there are no obstacles to pursuing their interests. Fortunately, there are increasing numbers of young, black, people who have opted out of riding the victim train. This gives me hope!
Thank you for your thoughtful comment. You have deftly spotted the issue, mindset. Earl Graves, Jr., publisher of Black Enterprise magazine, wrote about the importance of a mindset in moving forward. Made sense to me in grade school. Still makes sense to me as an old guy.
Query whether one has to remember past slavery every day, week or month. For me, I got the point in grade school and it was time to move on , or, as you say "Let's eat." Smile. I hear you but I wonder, for Black Americans, does remembering slavery become like the movie Groundhog Day? I can't change the past but I derive maximum joy from envisioning the coming of a better time. To each his own as these become matters of personality and temperament. And, as a matter of pietas, do we owe a duty to our distant ancestors to live life to the fullest in the here and now? Even better, dream of the coming of a better time beyond the year 2050?
The challenge is that our culture seems to elevate "victimhood" at the moment.
Black people are using their ancestors being enslaved to claim victimhood.
Rural "white" Americans are using AA, DEI, CRT to claim victimhood.
Religious are saying they are victims LGBTQ people converting their kids to LGBTQ.
LGBTQ people are saying they are victims of Religious people when a person won't marry them or a baker won't bake them a cake.
Gen-Z is saying they are victims of corporations and people with power. This one is very amusing because they promote their victimhood while using iPhones, buying from Amazon and taking an Uber.
Um, victimization is a real thing, when it happens, with real effects. Rural whites ‘claiming’ victimhood from DEI and CRT are identifying a real problem people face today. This is not the same as exploiting victimhood as a ‘badge of honour’. We have to distinguish between what is genuine and what is merely a grift.
Came here to say that. DEI is a demonstrably dangerous practice on both practical and civic levels. CRT is a vector for Marxism, with one aspect of it seeking to ghettoize black people into victimhood status, and white people into oppressor status. This rots the core of our culture and both must be abolished through education, debate, and law.
No quarrel from me. Any ideology that denies the dignity of humankind is on my naughty list. I have grown the most in life as I engaged the larger world and perceived the individual, not the group per se. No individual is an avatar for a racial group. We should strive to eliminate labels in our public discourse.
I wonder if anyone still listening to this lively debate might consider that black Americans who grew up in California, a state where there never has been slavery, might have a different opinion about reparations and slavery than black Americans who live and whose families remain in the Deep South.
There was a time when Blackness equaled enterprise. I came of age in this time in a southern suburb in the 1970s. Anyone who defines Blackness as "victimhood" in the year 2024 doesn't have the best interest of young impressionable black children in mind. https://twyman.substack.com/p/black-enterprise-magazine-or-how Victimhood as a mindset for anyone should be rejected out of hand. Personally, I prefer Blackness as enterprise, triumph over adversity and a duty to achieve because we have more opportunities than our parents and grandparents.
I agree. But that doesn't mean burying the history. It's there--it has something to do with the present--but at the same time, crawling into the past and lying down there is also no way to live.
I agree. A child born after war, genocide, or other horrific injustice is joyful and unscarred by the past. New life brings new hope that inspires others to look forward to a better future. We should avoid speaking in a way that perpetuates a cycle of resentment in our children that would lead to future conflict. We should talk about history to understand what brought us to the present. And slavery is part of that history; we just need to keep it in perspective.
We know most families, with few exceptions, don't continually build their wealth from generation to generation, so this formula is based on a privilege of fanciful wealth growth. The reality is children fight over inheritance, some inherit unequally (sons historically received more), some gambled earnings away, some went bankrupt, some lived on the inheritance and spent all of it, etc. Poor southern whites are also owed under this thinking since free (slave) labor shut out poor whites. This could go on forever. I sometimes think this obsession with past slavery is due to comparing oneself to the ancestors who survived slavery and falling short of their toughness.
In statistical terms, owning a home provides the opportunity to create inter-generational wealth. If some individuals trash the opportunity, that does not invalidate that home owning is an excellent way to build family wealth. (Another is life insurance, but that is too controversial to discuss at this point.)
Presently, a major threat to the poor being about to build inter-generational wealth is Wokeism. In LA, the Woker-Development Alliance has been destroying modest older starter home by the thousands. Not only are those starter homes gone, but a diminished supply puts upward pressure on prices. When developers buy detached single family homes, their purchase raises the nearby home prices since Developers always pay way over market as they plan to build a gazllion apartments and make millions of dollars, while a family only wants a nice home with a yard.
If the Woke cared about the poor, they would fight tooth and nail to save starter homes. The Woke, however, want the poor, especially Blacks in Los Angeles, to be confined to apartments without parking to make car ownership difficult. Studies have shown that the #1 thing to do to help a poor Black, White, Hispanic family in the short term is to provide a car. Long term, owning a home, rather than squandering money on an apartment rent, is the best long term plan to get a family out of poverty.
Wokeism is political movement which makes money off people being poor victims. Hamas is an extreme example of this political ploy and most of the world falls for it.
I don't know the calculations on giving reparations to the surviving descendants of the more than 200,000 mostly white men who died on the side of America to free the slaves in the civil war. Probably not as much as the slave's labor, but you should probably subtract from their earnings their food and shelter, although those were dreadfully meager. (I used to be an accountant) I agree we should be thankful for what we have and move forward to work for the success of ourselves and our neighbors.
Firstly, claims of reparations, in any context, aren't made on behalf of an aggrieved party for "doing nothing" but rather because something was done to them (e.g., deprivation, injury, etc.).
Secondly, this is a major reason why many advocate for reparations for African Americans 1) for injustices suffered during the Jim Crow era--and millions of African Americans alive today were alive then--and not the antebellum era; and 2) that don't have to necessarily take the form of direct cash payments disbursed by the federal government.
At any rate, I was giving you the benefit of the doubt and didn't want to assume anything on the part of someone I've never dialogued with before--hence my question, asked in good faith.
I disagree generally with the Democrat solution to everything they see as a problem, that of more government spending and more government control. Perhaps we could trace the linage of white people who were in the south during Jim Crow and make them each pay something to the ancestors of those hurt by it. Alternatively we could realize we have come to what Thomas Sowell is concerned about. "Have we reached the ultimate state of absurdity where some people are held responsible for things that happened before they were born, while other people are not held responsible for what they themselves are doing today?
I see you are curious about how families of men who died in the war that freed the slaves might be owed reparations as a group. The key is you are viewing things based on group membership. We are all in many groups, but are not defined by them.
What does any of this have to do with the topic at hand? If you believe that the only reason slavery is discussed in 2024 has to do with reparations, then you are sorely, sorely mistaken.
Good article. And yes, we must resist the reenactment element of grievance which is made easier by chromatic differences between descendants of slaves and others. I do notice that the Left is peddling a super depressing narrative especially for Black women. Also, whoever came up with DEI has made progress more difficult because forcing non-white people to have as their profession/position explaining to whites why the unwhite should be part of organizations that formerly excluded such people is absurd.
Good comment. The ideology forces the most privileged black students to present themselves as the most oppressed students. It is, well, sinister. Sadly, most are content to live unexamined lives.
So you write an entire essay on not talking about slavery instead of just not talking about slavery? Seems counterintuitive. Nonetheless, slavery is part of American history. Academics have made careers out of researching and writing on American slavery. Why should we let go such an integral part of American history?
It is not a matter of letting go as it is not to use the past to make people into perpetual victims. "Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death" Auntie Mame
Deep. What does letting go of slavery mean? What does that term mean? The past is the past and one cannot change what has happened. The present and the future are far more exciting. That is the way I have lived my life and I have enjoyed engaging the future.
It takes a lot of gall to say to someone who is only 3 generations removed from slavery to not position themselves as a victim of centuries-long violence inflicted on their specific group. Not to mention, African Americans were subject to roughly another 100 years of Jim Crow policy that locked us out of every aspect of being an American. Who are you to tell my grandmother, for example, to not see herself as a victim, a woman whose grandparents were born enslaved? Everything African Americans have cultivated since 1965 is in spite of what we’ve been through as a group. Why should we have to sweep that part of American history under the rug? We are victims. Triumphant victims but victims nonetheless. Your comment along with the original essay is tone deaf.
Against my better judgment, I wade in here. First, don't use words like "gall" if possible. Gall denotes extreme emotional reaction and, really, what are we squabbling over? Events from three centuries ago? Two centuries ago? That is what people do in the Balkans and the Middle East. Just a suggestion as I would never use the word gall except on extreme occasions of disgust. One can disagree without being disagreeable. To be fair, you should write 3 to 9 generations. To write "only 3 generations removed" is misleading since American slavery started roughly in the year 1665, although there are faint inexact embers of the peculiar institution in the 1630s and 1640s. How one chooses to perceive descent from slavery is a personal, individual choice. If there are over 40 million people, there are over 40 million ways to perceive past slavery. There is no one way. The next word is "victim." I sense from the comments that people are fatigued with use of the word "victim" when understanding Black history. I am. The next word, which might be elevated to honorary status of a "slogan word," is violence. Yes, some blacks experienced violence in our slave past. Some did not. The sweeping use of the term "violence" is appropriate in some circumstances but not other circumstances. For example, would a free black father or husband who purchased a relative be proven to have inflicted violence on a blood relative? I would want to see your proof and evidence on that assertion. Finally, you use the word "group' but ancestors during slave times were individuals. Read Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slave Made by Eugene Genovese. Genovese does a great job of showing individual agency among those who were slaves. In conclusion, your first sentence is not too convincing. With all due respect since I am about nailing down individual truths in our national past free of dogma and slogan words. And I would rather talk about something else more productive as you alluded to earlier. Let's talk about pioneer black lawyers/smile. Best
I'm a victim too, as a person of Celtic descent, whose forefathers were enslaved by the Saxons, and later the British. Where do I go for reparations? Who do the Slavs go to, from whence came the word "slave"? Oh as well, are we paying reparations to the families of those whose kin fought for the North? I'm getting in line there, too. Or the thousands of British seamen (oops, it's getting complicated) who fought to end African slavery in Britain? Oh shoot -- in "1830, 3,775 black (including mixed-race) slaveholders in the South who owned a total of 12,760 slaves..." what are we going to do about THEIR descendants? I'd say it's complicated, but it's not: equal opportunity of access, success from merit. There: Fixed it.
This it the Journal of Free Black Thought. The original essay is on American slavery. You take your issues with the Saxons and the British back to Europe and handle it there. I am not here to stop you from that.
Here is an important book to consider when talking about black slave owners: Free Negro Owners of Slaves in the United States in 1830 by Carter G. Woodson. Most free “black slave owners” purchased their wives, children, and siblings so they could too have a taste of freedom. The system of slavery in America was overwhelmingly white ownership of Negro slaves. And some Indian (Choctaw, Chickasaw, etc) masters that owned Negro slaves too.
We have a lot of logic - and I guess "nerve" too, as these days it's quite shocking to offer heterodox views, such as the author has expressed: there is no need to wrap ones' self in victimhood - the inspired citizen holds her head high, eyes on the horizon, marches on her own merit, and wins the day.
You don’t get to tell me what to do with my ethnic group’s historical experience in my country. You have more nerve than logic. Oddly enough, the original essay implored readers to essentially move on and stop talking about American slavery. And yet, here we are talking about American slavery. You don’t have to like the history or find it interesting but you don’t get to tell me and my people what to do with our victimhood.
So, I have a rule I share with my co-author Jen Richmond. The rule came up when a fellow HLS alum lost his mind over reparations for American slavery. He began to bully and it was quite weird. One can disagree without being disagreeable. Anyway, we referred to the bully as a Klingon. Jen remembers. We had fun with the bully and decided not to engage bullies. Pretty good rule and works for me. So, before I bid adieu, I would note that there were free black owners who owned slaves for commercial purposes. They bought and sold slaves like anyone else. That is truth and reality not covered in depth by Woodson. Woodson captured part of the story but not the whole story. Research free black slave owners in New Orleans and Charleston. Take care.
I don't think anyone is saying that you can't have whatever attitude you wish. (As Viktor Frankl said, "the last of one’s freedoms is to choose one’s attitude in any given circumstance.")
Different attitudes may contribute to different outcomes, including self fulfilling prophecies: e.g., the recent college grad who believes tbat there's no way for him to succeed in society (whatever he feels "succeeding" is) and retreats to his parent's basement.
That others regard certain attitudes as potentially detrimental to one self and that you don't agree with them is not worth getting emotional about.
To be honest, just not talking about slavery is my default position in life. However, the clamor for reparations for American slavery begs the question of slavery, so it is hard to avoid if one opposes reparations as the second worst idea in American history. Not the worst idea but the second worst idea. Yes, slavery is part of American history and so are other forgotten parts of American history -- pioneer black lawyers, black college graduates before 1860, free blacks in Boston, Rev. Lemuel Haynes, free blacks in southern cities, free black property owners in southern cities, free black slave owners in Charleston, South Carolina and New Orleans, etc. I am drawn to these parts of American history most since I define blackness as enterprise. American slavery doesn't interest me. Other parts of our American past interest me more. It is that simple. Notice I write as an individual, not a collective group. Each individual can make of our past what they will. And thank for your question.
I appreciate that, sir. And I couldn't agree more. Reasonable people can absolutely disagree reasonably.
That said, let me concede this. My criticism here isn't that deep. Honestly, I was (mostly) annoyed by the overall vibe of the piece. I think you took a very complicated subject to make a very separate--legitimate--but rather obvious and simple point.
One can discuss slavery and its effects on modern-day society and culture, at length and in depth, without being mired in self-pity or counterproductive attitudes.
*I* would never connect that history with something like gang or prison culture today. But that doesn't mean that the history of slavery is wholly irrelevant.
But your piece seems to suggest that it is. But frankly, that depends.
"Why talk about the Holocaust or the days of segregation? There's so much opportunity here. Let's get on with our lives."
"I'm not talking about WWI. I'm not talking about WWII. I wasn't there. You weren't either. We don't feel any of that pain. Why introduce it now?"
That's how the piece came across to me. Very "Huh? Whaaa...?"
There's a fine line between forgetting the past, and blissful & willful ignorance.
Thanks for making me think. You are on to something which is the "fine line between forgetting the past and blissful & willful ignorance." Isn't there another side of the line which would be obsession or living in the past? I think you would agree that side of the line exists as well. So, let's perceive the issue as a spectrum of daily consciousness. At one end of the spectrum, one can live in the past. Every day becomes Ground Hog Day. It is a free country and one can choose to live in this mindset, this way of being in the world. For me, that doesn't work for many good-faith reasons. I am wired to be future-oriented , not backwards leaning, Living in the past is inauthentic for me as an individual.
At the other end of the spectrum is blissful & willful ignorance. Now, people choose to live in ignorance all the time for various reasons, including mental sanity. Do I choose to be ignorant of American slavery? No, that would be incorrect. Despite learning what I needed to know about slavery in the 4th grade, my natural curiosity led me as an adult to read American Slavery As It is by Theodore Weld and the American Anti-Slavery Society (1839). I didn't have to read 1,001 eye witness accounts of slavery. I could have used that time to watch Star Trek episodes? (Do you like Star Trek, the Original Series? Can't be beat.) I read a horrific book on slavery which was inconsistent with bliss and ignorance. I wanted to learn.
Somewhere in the middle of the spectrum is where I lie. I know about the slave past, more than 95% of Americans I surmise. However, in my daily life, there are things that are far, far more important and relevant. I focus on those things. The knowledge about slavery is always there in my hippocampus.
I choose to live my life in the other 99.9% of existence. And that works for me as an individual.
Q: What do you think? What do you make of my spectrum conception?
I can absolutely relate to the spectrum. I cannot say specifically where I would place myself on it. It really depends on the issue.
We are not that far apart in age. I grew up in all-Black neighborhoods. Didn't have any White friends until college. In my late teens I distinctly remember wondering out loud along with many of my peers, "Wtf happened to us?", meaning, "Why are we as a people so far behind?"
We wanted a real answer. Not a glib one. It is very easy to say, "Because we don't make the best choices for success!" But the obvious follow-up question is, "Why not?"
Here is where you and I might part ways: I, too, was fed a lot of material about slavery and the Civil Rights Movement as a child and a teen. But none of it ever addressed my questions.
"Why don't we have the same mentality as the immigrants?!!"
No one--except maybe the Nation of Islam, I guess--bothered to tell us our minds had been shaped by a history that goes back as far as slavery.
Is that an excuse for conditions today? Of course not. But is it a reason? Yes.
If I said, "Americans are notorious for being parochial and monolingual," most people I know would agree, and most would say there are logical reasons why.
But no one would say Americans are excused for being narrow-minded.
US slavery had major residual effects, not only on the minds of African-Americans, but ostensibly, the entire Western World and it's okay to say that.
Trust me, I am ALL for moving on. But in my mind, moving on is the obliteration of race as a concept; a full-fledged blending of the so-called races sooner rather than later. But I have come to realize that many of the people who tout "moving on" aren't interested in wholesale miscegenation. They are just tired of being deemed the bad guy.
I get that 100%. But like Chris Rock once intimated, "Would you rather switch places with me?"
Despite all of the above, I agree with you more than not. In this land of opportunity, we must put our best foot forward at all times and shun any false or exaggerated narratives about America 2024. A self-defeating mindset in a nation like ours borders on criminal.
But it is nevertheless okay to acknowledge certain realities.
"It's better to be born rich than poor."
It is okay to say that. It doesn't necessarily mean I have a victim mentality =)
Thank you for a very good comment. The caliber of your thought reflects the best in the Journal of Free Black Thought platform. You and I are well versed in the history of our generation. And thank you for acknowledging the material factor of one’s generation. Every generation brings a unique mindset and experience to these questions.
Where one falls on the spectrum of remembering slavery depends on many factors. The number of possible factors is beyond the scope of this limited comment. For example, we are of the same generation but you had no white friends until college. I too lived in a black neighborhood until college but I had white friends since 4th grade in a southern suburb in the 1970s. We learned about slavery and then lived our lives as small town kids. I cannot imagine having no white kids until college. Nor could my family and friends. So, did life experience position us on different spots of the continuum. Probably so but more research needs to be done into why some fall on one side of the spectrum and others fall on the other side of the spectrum. There is no good or bad position on the spectrum. One just is on the spectrum because everyone is an individual and has their unique family, education, friends and turning points in life. Might I suggest you read my recent book, Letters in Black and White? I am a very nuanced and complex person as is everyone. I come at my perception of life honestly and in good faith, as you do.
If there are over 40 million people, well, you know the rest. We are all individuals before we are placeholders for a group.
I wonder what you make of my vision for the future? I believe we should lay the groundwork for a Golden Age in Black Culture and Consciousness beyond the year 2050. And I imagine the next leap in race consciousness will be trans racialism. I have written out my perceptive vision on my substack. Take a look. Look for transracialism or Carmen Delgado.
I have enjoyed this exchange. A sincere thanks for causing me to think more deeply. We may not agree on everything but the fun is in exploring different ideas about life. Best.
Agree 100%. We have to move forward and not keep tripping on what's behind us. Plenty of big issues to work on rather than furiously flaming the embers of prior racism (I think that's Baldwin) and chasing disparities.
I agree. Remembering the condition of slavery is relevant so that we can grasp the progress we have made and look forward to future progress.
For me, Passover is similar. We recount the slave days to heighten the blessings of liberty. "Once we were oppressed and now we are free" is the repeated refrain in the Haggadah. Was not Martin Luther King doing the same thing in his "I Have a Dream Speech?"
Being Jewish, we always add, "Let's eat." LOL
Thank you for your comment. As I read Twyman's piece, I wondered how Jews who have been oppressed and persecuted for hundreds of years culminating in the most horrific tragedy of the holocaust including the recent events of Oct. 7th, and yet choose not to forget but to forge ahead and be successful. I don't know of any Jews that are constantly crying about "the system," and white oppression as some blacks do on a regular basis. Yet, when I have posed the question to some by asking would they prefer our ancestors to have experienced the holocaust or work on a plantation , I received the deer in a headlight look. We need more black people to speak up and counteract the false narrative of contemporay oppression to break the back of this aspect of black culture which we are indoctrinated with from childhood. I do so frequently and withstand the ugly looks in return because eventually, I believe, the truth will set us free.
Hi Valencia, really appreciate this. As I am about to go to a Holocaust exhibit locally with my family (I'm not Jewish, just interested in exposing my kids), I often think of the parallels between slavery and the persecution of any group. I wonder about the importance of "not forgetting", but also the power of rising above and consciously counting the wins and the very real progress. And yes, the truth always sets us free. <3
Truth never loses the battle, you know. Falsehoods and mis directions can only survive for so long. I believe one becomes what one thinks about. Being manipulated to focus mental energies on long ago American slavery is negative manipulation. Isn't it ironic that I grew up in a southern suburb but my mental focus was always on the future -- college, law school, the legal profession. I never thought about American slavery in the 1970s in a southern suburb, except in history class and it was understood as being of less importance than the Civil Rights Movement and the election of blacks to City Council in Richmond and the election of a black Governor of Virginia in 1989. My focus was always forward-directed, not backwards leaning. For me, the future doesn't require thinking about American slavery every day or even most days. It is important to not forget but my 4th grade teacher accomplished that task back in 4th grade. Loved your comment.
The evil of Woke Victimization is that no group in America has overcome more than Blacks. To indoctrinate Blacks with hopelessness is the worse systematic racism.
Agreed. There's a difference between empowering people and enraging them. There's a difference between recognizing the wrongs of the past and celebrating the gains achieved. To use any group for political gain and power by telling them they can't achieve/exist/get better without xyz can create a vicious cycle of dependecy and despondency. I prefer to boost people up and aim forward.
You have the wisdom of my black first and second grade teachers in 1967 to 1969 in Virginia. My elementary school remained segregated by race and my teachers were turbo charged with boosting students and aiming forward. Those values and attitudes remain imprinted on my sense of self to this day.
🧡🧡🧡
Now you're just stating the obvious/double smile!
Thanks, Missy. I visited the Holocaust Museum in D.C. many years ago, and the images were quite riveting and painful to view. I've always had a great deal of respect for Jewish people perhaps, because many of them were my public school teachers in my native NYC. Nonetheless, I realize that all groups have a history both good and bad, and it is unfortunate that not enough peoplel recognize the successes many blacks achieved under horrendous circumstances pre and post slavery with family in tact. I imagine those ancestors would not understand the proliferation of woke pablum in 21st century America where there are no obstacles to pursuing their interests. Fortunately, there are increasing numbers of young, black, people who have opted out of riding the victim train. This gives me hope!
Thank you for your thoughtful comment. You have deftly spotted the issue, mindset. Earl Graves, Jr., publisher of Black Enterprise magazine, wrote about the importance of a mindset in moving forward. Made sense to me in grade school. Still makes sense to me as an old guy.
Query whether one has to remember past slavery every day, week or month. For me, I got the point in grade school and it was time to move on , or, as you say "Let's eat." Smile. I hear you but I wonder, for Black Americans, does remembering slavery become like the movie Groundhog Day? I can't change the past but I derive maximum joy from envisioning the coming of a better time. To each his own as these become matters of personality and temperament. And, as a matter of pietas, do we owe a duty to our distant ancestors to live life to the fullest in the here and now? Even better, dream of the coming of a better time beyond the year 2050?
The challenge is that our culture seems to elevate "victimhood" at the moment.
Black people are using their ancestors being enslaved to claim victimhood.
Rural "white" Americans are using AA, DEI, CRT to claim victimhood.
Religious are saying they are victims LGBTQ people converting their kids to LGBTQ.
LGBTQ people are saying they are victims of Religious people when a person won't marry them or a baker won't bake them a cake.
Gen-Z is saying they are victims of corporations and people with power. This one is very amusing because they promote their victimhood while using iPhones, buying from Amazon and taking an Uber.
How did victimhood become a badge of honor?
Um, victimization is a real thing, when it happens, with real effects. Rural whites ‘claiming’ victimhood from DEI and CRT are identifying a real problem people face today. This is not the same as exploiting victimhood as a ‘badge of honour’. We have to distinguish between what is genuine and what is merely a grift.
Came here to say that. DEI is a demonstrably dangerous practice on both practical and civic levels. CRT is a vector for Marxism, with one aspect of it seeking to ghettoize black people into victimhood status, and white people into oppressor status. This rots the core of our culture and both must be abolished through education, debate, and law.
No quarrel from me. Any ideology that denies the dignity of humankind is on my naughty list. I have grown the most in life as I engaged the larger world and perceived the individual, not the group per se. No individual is an avatar for a racial group. We should strive to eliminate labels in our public discourse.
I like your distinction on real problems versus grift. Well-said and, sadly, some have lost the ability to discern the distinction.
I wonder if anyone still listening to this lively debate might consider that black Americans who grew up in California, a state where there never has been slavery, might have a different opinion about reparations and slavery than black Americans who live and whose families remain in the Deep South.
There was a time when Blackness equaled enterprise. I came of age in this time in a southern suburb in the 1970s. Anyone who defines Blackness as "victimhood" in the year 2024 doesn't have the best interest of young impressionable black children in mind. https://twyman.substack.com/p/black-enterprise-magazine-or-how Victimhood as a mindset for anyone should be rejected out of hand. Personally, I prefer Blackness as enterprise, triumph over adversity and a duty to achieve because we have more opportunities than our parents and grandparents.
I agree. But that doesn't mean burying the history. It's there--it has something to do with the present--but at the same time, crawling into the past and lying down there is also no way to live.
I agree. A child born after war, genocide, or other horrific injustice is joyful and unscarred by the past. New life brings new hope that inspires others to look forward to a better future. We should avoid speaking in a way that perpetuates a cycle of resentment in our children that would lead to future conflict. We should talk about history to understand what brought us to the present. And slavery is part of that history; we just need to keep it in perspective.
A clarion call to learn from the past, live in the present, and look to the future. Thank you for your clear and reasoned thoughts.
We know most families, with few exceptions, don't continually build their wealth from generation to generation, so this formula is based on a privilege of fanciful wealth growth. The reality is children fight over inheritance, some inherit unequally (sons historically received more), some gambled earnings away, some went bankrupt, some lived on the inheritance and spent all of it, etc. Poor southern whites are also owed under this thinking since free (slave) labor shut out poor whites. This could go on forever. I sometimes think this obsession with past slavery is due to comparing oneself to the ancestors who survived slavery and falling short of their toughness.
In statistical terms, owning a home provides the opportunity to create inter-generational wealth. If some individuals trash the opportunity, that does not invalidate that home owning is an excellent way to build family wealth. (Another is life insurance, but that is too controversial to discuss at this point.)
Presently, a major threat to the poor being about to build inter-generational wealth is Wokeism. In LA, the Woker-Development Alliance has been destroying modest older starter home by the thousands. Not only are those starter homes gone, but a diminished supply puts upward pressure on prices. When developers buy detached single family homes, their purchase raises the nearby home prices since Developers always pay way over market as they plan to build a gazllion apartments and make millions of dollars, while a family only wants a nice home with a yard.
If the Woke cared about the poor, they would fight tooth and nail to save starter homes. The Woke, however, want the poor, especially Blacks in Los Angeles, to be confined to apartments without parking to make car ownership difficult. Studies have shown that the #1 thing to do to help a poor Black, White, Hispanic family in the short term is to provide a car. Long term, owning a home, rather than squandering money on an apartment rent, is the best long term plan to get a family out of poverty.
Wokeism is political movement which makes money off people being poor victims. Hamas is an extreme example of this political ploy and most of the world falls for it.
All true and home ownership can pass down to heirs, but multiple children, the other things I mentioned, and healthcare costs due to longer lives can limit the building of wealth, otherwise we would all be wealthy. Predators throughout history find ways to help separate people from their assets. A reverse mortgage is an example. You mentioned rent and there's a very clear turn towards more and more single-family homes becoming rentals. There's a new suburb being built about an hour away from us and every single home will remain with investors collecting rent. I think back to the financial affairs of Thomas Jefferson. https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2015/07/the-debt-and-death-of-thomas-jefferson-2/#:~:text=Jefferson%E2%80%99s%20estate%2C%20and%20debt%2C%20were%20inherited,by%20his%20daughter%2C%20Martha%20Washington%20Jefferson%20Randolph.
An interesting comment.
Thank you!
You're quite welcome. Interesting comments contribute to greater understanding in the world. That is a good thing/smile!
I don't know the calculations on giving reparations to the surviving descendants of the more than 200,000 mostly white men who died on the side of America to free the slaves in the civil war. Probably not as much as the slave's labor, but you should probably subtract from their earnings their food and shelter, although those were dreadfully meager. (I used to be an accountant) I agree we should be thankful for what we have and move forward to work for the success of ourselves and our neighbors.
Upon what basis would the White descendants of Union casualties during the Civil War be owed reparations as a class?
On the same basis as black people today want money for doing nothing- None.
Firstly, claims of reparations, in any context, aren't made on behalf of an aggrieved party for "doing nothing" but rather because something was done to them (e.g., deprivation, injury, etc.).
Secondly, this is a major reason why many advocate for reparations for African Americans 1) for injustices suffered during the Jim Crow era--and millions of African Americans alive today were alive then--and not the antebellum era; and 2) that don't have to necessarily take the form of direct cash payments disbursed by the federal government.
At any rate, I was giving you the benefit of the doubt and didn't want to assume anything on the part of someone I've never dialogued with before--hence my question, asked in good faith.
I disagree generally with the Democrat solution to everything they see as a problem, that of more government spending and more government control. Perhaps we could trace the linage of white people who were in the south during Jim Crow and make them each pay something to the ancestors of those hurt by it. Alternatively we could realize we have come to what Thomas Sowell is concerned about. "Have we reached the ultimate state of absurdity where some people are held responsible for things that happened before they were born, while other people are not held responsible for what they themselves are doing today?
I see you are curious about how families of men who died in the war that freed the slaves might be owed reparations as a group. The key is you are viewing things based on group membership. We are all in many groups, but are not defined by them.
What does any of this have to do with the topic at hand? If you believe that the only reason slavery is discussed in 2024 has to do with reparations, then you are sorely, sorely mistaken.
Good article. And yes, we must resist the reenactment element of grievance which is made easier by chromatic differences between descendants of slaves and others. I do notice that the Left is peddling a super depressing narrative especially for Black women. Also, whoever came up with DEI has made progress more difficult because forcing non-white people to have as their profession/position explaining to whites why the unwhite should be part of organizations that formerly excluded such people is absurd.
Good comment. The ideology forces the most privileged black students to present themselves as the most oppressed students. It is, well, sinister. Sadly, most are content to live unexamined lives.
So you write an entire essay on not talking about slavery instead of just not talking about slavery? Seems counterintuitive. Nonetheless, slavery is part of American history. Academics have made careers out of researching and writing on American slavery. Why should we let go such an integral part of American history?
It is not a matter of letting go as it is not to use the past to make people into perpetual victims. "Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death" Auntie Mame
Deep. What does letting go of slavery mean? What does that term mean? The past is the past and one cannot change what has happened. The present and the future are far more exciting. That is the way I have lived my life and I have enjoyed engaging the future.
It takes a lot of gall to say to someone who is only 3 generations removed from slavery to not position themselves as a victim of centuries-long violence inflicted on their specific group. Not to mention, African Americans were subject to roughly another 100 years of Jim Crow policy that locked us out of every aspect of being an American. Who are you to tell my grandmother, for example, to not see herself as a victim, a woman whose grandparents were born enslaved? Everything African Americans have cultivated since 1965 is in spite of what we’ve been through as a group. Why should we have to sweep that part of American history under the rug? We are victims. Triumphant victims but victims nonetheless. Your comment along with the original essay is tone deaf.
Against my better judgment, I wade in here. First, don't use words like "gall" if possible. Gall denotes extreme emotional reaction and, really, what are we squabbling over? Events from three centuries ago? Two centuries ago? That is what people do in the Balkans and the Middle East. Just a suggestion as I would never use the word gall except on extreme occasions of disgust. One can disagree without being disagreeable. To be fair, you should write 3 to 9 generations. To write "only 3 generations removed" is misleading since American slavery started roughly in the year 1665, although there are faint inexact embers of the peculiar institution in the 1630s and 1640s. How one chooses to perceive descent from slavery is a personal, individual choice. If there are over 40 million people, there are over 40 million ways to perceive past slavery. There is no one way. The next word is "victim." I sense from the comments that people are fatigued with use of the word "victim" when understanding Black history. I am. The next word, which might be elevated to honorary status of a "slogan word," is violence. Yes, some blacks experienced violence in our slave past. Some did not. The sweeping use of the term "violence" is appropriate in some circumstances but not other circumstances. For example, would a free black father or husband who purchased a relative be proven to have inflicted violence on a blood relative? I would want to see your proof and evidence on that assertion. Finally, you use the word "group' but ancestors during slave times were individuals. Read Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slave Made by Eugene Genovese. Genovese does a great job of showing individual agency among those who were slaves. In conclusion, your first sentence is not too convincing. With all due respect since I am about nailing down individual truths in our national past free of dogma and slogan words. And I would rather talk about something else more productive as you alluded to earlier. Let's talk about pioneer black lawyers/smile. Best
I'm a victim too, as a person of Celtic descent, whose forefathers were enslaved by the Saxons, and later the British. Where do I go for reparations? Who do the Slavs go to, from whence came the word "slave"? Oh as well, are we paying reparations to the families of those whose kin fought for the North? I'm getting in line there, too. Or the thousands of British seamen (oops, it's getting complicated) who fought to end African slavery in Britain? Oh shoot -- in "1830, 3,775 black (including mixed-race) slaveholders in the South who owned a total of 12,760 slaves..." what are we going to do about THEIR descendants? I'd say it's complicated, but it's not: equal opportunity of access, success from merit. There: Fixed it.
(cough, cough) I know a few of those descendants of black slave owners (cough, cough)
Have you talked with them about your being a victim? Do they think race relations will improve by condemning the white people in this country?
This it the Journal of Free Black Thought. The original essay is on American slavery. You take your issues with the Saxons and the British back to Europe and handle it there. I am not here to stop you from that.
Here is an important book to consider when talking about black slave owners: Free Negro Owners of Slaves in the United States in 1830 by Carter G. Woodson. Most free “black slave owners” purchased their wives, children, and siblings so they could too have a taste of freedom. The system of slavery in America was overwhelmingly white ownership of Negro slaves. And some Indian (Choctaw, Chickasaw, etc) masters that owned Negro slaves too.
You people have a lot of nerve.
We have a lot of logic - and I guess "nerve" too, as these days it's quite shocking to offer heterodox views, such as the author has expressed: there is no need to wrap ones' self in victimhood - the inspired citizen holds her head high, eyes on the horizon, marches on her own merit, and wins the day.
Stay focused. Don't engage bullies. At least, that rule works for me.
You don’t get to tell me what to do with my ethnic group’s historical experience in my country. You have more nerve than logic. Oddly enough, the original essay implored readers to essentially move on and stop talking about American slavery. And yet, here we are talking about American slavery. You don’t have to like the history or find it interesting but you don’t get to tell me and my people what to do with our victimhood.
"you people"? What kind of a comment is that?
I’m sure they’ve been called worse.
So, I have a rule I share with my co-author Jen Richmond. The rule came up when a fellow HLS alum lost his mind over reparations for American slavery. He began to bully and it was quite weird. One can disagree without being disagreeable. Anyway, we referred to the bully as a Klingon. Jen remembers. We had fun with the bully and decided not to engage bullies. Pretty good rule and works for me. So, before I bid adieu, I would note that there were free black owners who owned slaves for commercial purposes. They bought and sold slaves like anyone else. That is truth and reality not covered in depth by Woodson. Woodson captured part of the story but not the whole story. Research free black slave owners in New Orleans and Charleston. Take care.
I don't think anyone is saying that you can't have whatever attitude you wish. (As Viktor Frankl said, "the last of one’s freedoms is to choose one’s attitude in any given circumstance.")
Different attitudes may contribute to different outcomes, including self fulfilling prophecies: e.g., the recent college grad who believes tbat there's no way for him to succeed in society (whatever he feels "succeeding" is) and retreats to his parent's basement.
That others regard certain attitudes as potentially detrimental to one self and that you don't agree with them is not worth getting emotional about.
To be honest, just not talking about slavery is my default position in life. However, the clamor for reparations for American slavery begs the question of slavery, so it is hard to avoid if one opposes reparations as the second worst idea in American history. Not the worst idea but the second worst idea. Yes, slavery is part of American history and so are other forgotten parts of American history -- pioneer black lawyers, black college graduates before 1860, free blacks in Boston, Rev. Lemuel Haynes, free blacks in southern cities, free black property owners in southern cities, free black slave owners in Charleston, South Carolina and New Orleans, etc. I am drawn to these parts of American history most since I define blackness as enterprise. American slavery doesn't interest me. Other parts of our American past interest me more. It is that simple. Notice I write as an individual, not a collective group. Each individual can make of our past what they will. And thank for your question.
I am mostly a fan of FBT than not. But Lord, this op-ed was unforgivably weak.
Well, how was it weak? Always interested in where I can grow. That said, reasonable people can disagree without being disagreeable.
I appreciate that, sir. And I couldn't agree more. Reasonable people can absolutely disagree reasonably.
That said, let me concede this. My criticism here isn't that deep. Honestly, I was (mostly) annoyed by the overall vibe of the piece. I think you took a very complicated subject to make a very separate--legitimate--but rather obvious and simple point.
One can discuss slavery and its effects on modern-day society and culture, at length and in depth, without being mired in self-pity or counterproductive attitudes.
*I* would never connect that history with something like gang or prison culture today. But that doesn't mean that the history of slavery is wholly irrelevant.
But your piece seems to suggest that it is. But frankly, that depends.
"Why talk about the Holocaust or the days of segregation? There's so much opportunity here. Let's get on with our lives."
"I'm not talking about WWI. I'm not talking about WWII. I wasn't there. You weren't either. We don't feel any of that pain. Why introduce it now?"
That's how the piece came across to me. Very "Huh? Whaaa...?"
There's a fine line between forgetting the past, and blissful & willful ignorance.
Thanks for making me think. You are on to something which is the "fine line between forgetting the past and blissful & willful ignorance." Isn't there another side of the line which would be obsession or living in the past? I think you would agree that side of the line exists as well. So, let's perceive the issue as a spectrum of daily consciousness. At one end of the spectrum, one can live in the past. Every day becomes Ground Hog Day. It is a free country and one can choose to live in this mindset, this way of being in the world. For me, that doesn't work for many good-faith reasons. I am wired to be future-oriented , not backwards leaning, Living in the past is inauthentic for me as an individual.
At the other end of the spectrum is blissful & willful ignorance. Now, people choose to live in ignorance all the time for various reasons, including mental sanity. Do I choose to be ignorant of American slavery? No, that would be incorrect. Despite learning what I needed to know about slavery in the 4th grade, my natural curiosity led me as an adult to read American Slavery As It is by Theodore Weld and the American Anti-Slavery Society (1839). I didn't have to read 1,001 eye witness accounts of slavery. I could have used that time to watch Star Trek episodes? (Do you like Star Trek, the Original Series? Can't be beat.) I read a horrific book on slavery which was inconsistent with bliss and ignorance. I wanted to learn.
Somewhere in the middle of the spectrum is where I lie. I know about the slave past, more than 95% of Americans I surmise. However, in my daily life, there are things that are far, far more important and relevant. I focus on those things. The knowledge about slavery is always there in my hippocampus.
I choose to live my life in the other 99.9% of existence. And that works for me as an individual.
Q: What do you think? What do you make of my spectrum conception?
I can absolutely relate to the spectrum. I cannot say specifically where I would place myself on it. It really depends on the issue.
We are not that far apart in age. I grew up in all-Black neighborhoods. Didn't have any White friends until college. In my late teens I distinctly remember wondering out loud along with many of my peers, "Wtf happened to us?", meaning, "Why are we as a people so far behind?"
We wanted a real answer. Not a glib one. It is very easy to say, "Because we don't make the best choices for success!" But the obvious follow-up question is, "Why not?"
Here is where you and I might part ways: I, too, was fed a lot of material about slavery and the Civil Rights Movement as a child and a teen. But none of it ever addressed my questions.
"Why don't we have the same mentality as the immigrants?!!"
No one--except maybe the Nation of Islam, I guess--bothered to tell us our minds had been shaped by a history that goes back as far as slavery.
Is that an excuse for conditions today? Of course not. But is it a reason? Yes.
If I said, "Americans are notorious for being parochial and monolingual," most people I know would agree, and most would say there are logical reasons why.
But no one would say Americans are excused for being narrow-minded.
US slavery had major residual effects, not only on the minds of African-Americans, but ostensibly, the entire Western World and it's okay to say that.
Trust me, I am ALL for moving on. But in my mind, moving on is the obliteration of race as a concept; a full-fledged blending of the so-called races sooner rather than later. But I have come to realize that many of the people who tout "moving on" aren't interested in wholesale miscegenation. They are just tired of being deemed the bad guy.
I get that 100%. But like Chris Rock once intimated, "Would you rather switch places with me?"
Despite all of the above, I agree with you more than not. In this land of opportunity, we must put our best foot forward at all times and shun any false or exaggerated narratives about America 2024. A self-defeating mindset in a nation like ours borders on criminal.
But it is nevertheless okay to acknowledge certain realities.
"It's better to be born rich than poor."
It is okay to say that. It doesn't necessarily mean I have a victim mentality =)
Thank you for a very good comment. The caliber of your thought reflects the best in the Journal of Free Black Thought platform. You and I are well versed in the history of our generation. And thank you for acknowledging the material factor of one’s generation. Every generation brings a unique mindset and experience to these questions.
Where one falls on the spectrum of remembering slavery depends on many factors. The number of possible factors is beyond the scope of this limited comment. For example, we are of the same generation but you had no white friends until college. I too lived in a black neighborhood until college but I had white friends since 4th grade in a southern suburb in the 1970s. We learned about slavery and then lived our lives as small town kids. I cannot imagine having no white kids until college. Nor could my family and friends. So, did life experience position us on different spots of the continuum. Probably so but more research needs to be done into why some fall on one side of the spectrum and others fall on the other side of the spectrum. There is no good or bad position on the spectrum. One just is on the spectrum because everyone is an individual and has their unique family, education, friends and turning points in life. Might I suggest you read my recent book, Letters in Black and White? I am a very nuanced and complex person as is everyone. I come at my perception of life honestly and in good faith, as you do.
If there are over 40 million people, well, you know the rest. We are all individuals before we are placeholders for a group.
I wonder what you make of my vision for the future? I believe we should lay the groundwork for a Golden Age in Black Culture and Consciousness beyond the year 2050. And I imagine the next leap in race consciousness will be trans racialism. I have written out my perceptive vision on my substack. Take a look. Look for transracialism or Carmen Delgado.
I have enjoyed this exchange. A sincere thanks for causing me to think more deeply. We may not agree on everything but the fun is in exploring different ideas about life. Best.
Good stuff, WT. Will check out your stuff for sure.
Agree 100%. We have to move forward and not keep tripping on what's behind us. Plenty of big issues to work on rather than furiously flaming the embers of prior racism (I think that's Baldwin) and chasing disparities.
Also there is a lot of racism still in the matrix as we speak that white people like myself do not even witness everyday.
I wonder who his intended audience is because it sure as hell ain’t me
One other thing. Maybe they keep slavery in their hearts because they love their loved ones and it hurts to see them basically raped