" Black people are followed in shopping malls , some people hold their breath , clicking their car locks shut , at the sight of a black male in any car park ; et all ..."?
That speech coming from someone who himself has experienced racism , carried a lot of weight .
President Obama spoke from his head and from his heart and he spoke the mind of millions of black people and people of colour ; not only in the USA , but in other countries where there IS prevailing racial discrimination .
Yes Prezzie, you 're right . I know what you are ON about and I "feel" you on this one.
Here in the UK, most black people have known it and they have felt it tooIn every race , there are found good , kind people and evil people with diseased minds.
Just like majority of blacks can confirm that they have, I have encountered both covert and overt racism .
But I can also state that the greatest kindness , assistance , support and friendship I have received in the UK and elsewhere have been from my white friends; some of whom are simply fantastic people .
My pleasant racial experiences not withstanding , I know that there is resentment and excessive negative stereotypical mind-frames against black people , every where in the society .
Great Britain has been modelled on a class structure , relics of which are still existing.
Not surprisingly , this racial bigotry against blacks is stronger and more articulated among those persons who themselves belong to the lowest rung of the class structure in the society.
I am not a black male , but I have male relatives , colleagues and friends and I hear their pain and disappointment about the way they have been treated , just because of their skin colour.
They would tell you that black males , especially the ones owning and driving top of the range cars are 12 times more likely to be stopped and searched by the Police , than white males are .
Black men are told that in order for their success and "ratings" , to be " very high , complete and acceptable" , they must climb on the back of a beautiful white woman and they must be seen with a white wife or white partner on their arms in order to gain access into certain functions and specific areas of the society .
I have seen the look on the faces of people whenever they see a black man or woman driving an expensive car and when they see a black person sitting behind the desk in any office in a top flight job in the City.
I know and recognise the look on the faces of some bank cashiers whenever they see blacks coming to deposit or withdraw size able sums of cash or paying in cheques with large sums.
We see men and women dressed as tramps , often picking up cigarette stubs, and empty bottles and cans of drinks from the grounds of premises of night clubs , residential streets , bus stops , Tube stations and even around churches in areas where black people are found in large numbers.
We know these people are not "tramps" ; we know who they are and we know what those stuff they are picking from popular black joints are going to be used for.
Black boys and girls in juniour schools are most likely the ones who would receive counsel from their teachers and school career counsellors that the best place for them is not college or university but it would be perfect for them to go become dancers and musicians , security men and night-club bouncers . While black young girls would be advised to skip college and university, to go learn a " trade or profession" in some Nail Art studio , hair saloon , or go train as dancers and singers .
Some black girls are told , even by their own families that the best of all choices for their future is , they should go get pregnant for just any man or boy , in order to jump the long housing queues !
Blacks are also aware that in the employment market , the rate of rejections at job interviews and the number of rejections for loans , credits and grants to start businesses is very high for blacks .
In this climate of unemployment , of economic and cash crunch here , there have been bitterness and grumbling in the black community about the high rate of non-response to job applications and rejections at job interviews amongst black job- seekers when compared to white job seekers.
Therefore there have been demands that employers should be forced to publish the list of the names and racial groupings of their recently employed staff , in the past five years.
Also people have been grumbling and demanding that the government should force banks and other credit institutions to make public the lists of names and the racial groupings of the persons whose applications they have approved and those they have refused access to credit cards , loans and mortgages in recent years.
Like President Obama said, millions of blacks would confirm that even when there are very few blacks in a shop , the other shoppers from other races have been left alone , but those few blacks have been picked on and followed from stall to stall by shop security staff who would pretend to be looking at the price tags on the shelves.
The bewilderment for black people is that some of these security staff trailing them , are black people themselves
One day , after I had finished paying for my shopping , before I left the shop, I walked up to a black security man who I had noticed was trying to disguise the fact he had been following me around as I shopped and I said;
" Hello sir , I know you' re doing your master's bidding , but please do it with wisdom .
Am done here and am leaving now. So, you can relax now. Please, next time you see me here , don't even waste your time pacing up and down making a fool of yourself ! If I had wanted to shop-lift here , I would have done it easily , without your detection. OK?"
There was this puzzled look and a fake smile on his face as he replied in a Nigerian accent , " Please madam , am sorry , but I don't know you o and I don't know what you are talking about !"
" Of course , no , you don't know o, what I am talking about , o! I am speaking Greek , abi ?
Some one later jokingly said maybe he was not suspecting me but he just liked following me around .
Whatever was his problem , I didn't want to know..
There is also a degree of glaring resentment against blacks which is as undeserved as it is inexplicable.
On public transports , empty seats beside black people are usually the last to be occupied and some people would prefer to stand than seat beside a black person. But who cares who is standing or seating? This is just as well , especially when that black person would be very happy to fill the empty seats with their hand bags and shopping bags . Moreover it is common knowledge that some people don't take a shower , don't brush their teeth and don't change their clothes , socks and underwear for many days .
Owners and staff of some business premises would not welcome the sight of black shoppers , even when they know such black customers could be heavy spenders there.
Staff of top restaurants and night clubs are the major culprits of this open hostility against black customers.Blacks are the ones most likely to get the "It has been taken" response to their replies to adverts for jobs and vacant accommodation.
In some posh neighbourhoods in London and especially in some parts of Northern England , if a black person especially a black male male is sighted on their streets , the Police phone lines will immediately be inundated with alarm calls from the residents !
This same alarm and resentment must have been triggered in Zimmerman' s head when he sighted Trayvon Martin in an area of the city , which Zimmerman believed must be off limits to human beings like Trayvon..
I think the answer to that is blowing in the wind and must be grabbed by blacks themselves.
Black people firstly, should start with loving each other and assisting to lift up their fellow blacks , instead of pulling each other further down.
Stop confirming the saying that " Blacks are their own worst enemies ".
Appreciate one another by stopping black on black racism, tribalism , selfishness and in-fighting .
Receive healing in your minds and stop blaming other races or your absentee parents for everything which has failed or is failing in your lives.
To yourself be true . Do not accept to remain on the garbage heap where people expect you to remain , forever.
President Obama is a good example of a very successsful Black man and he is an excellent role model of how a Black person can surmount all obstacles in their path and rise to lofty heights.
Emulate black men and women like him .
President Obama summed it all up in a recent speech at the Graduation ceremony of the historic Morehouse College , Atlanta.
Go to link http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/may/19/obama-at-morehouse-black-men-cannot-use-racism-as-/#.Ue1Z-DDbNTh.blogger
