Humanization: Part 1 ( Inter-racial Relationships)

About a decade ago, when I was in seminary, a dear professor stated to the class that the best understanding of inter-racial relationships could be found in the Disney movie, "Beauty and the Beast". As I listened, I understood what he was saying, but now, a decade later, I get it. I now realize that I wasn't fully able to grasp the concept. I saw it no deeper than the socialization aspect. But now I get the impressions of the psyche that are manifested in the concept that was being presented.

What caused my further understanding has been a reflective re-reading of "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" by Paulo Freire.  Amazingly this book dissects some basic experiences in terms of their affect on the psychological thought process of a person. So by taking the concepts presented in this book and framing my understanding of why inter-racial relationships are important for so many in this day and age. I get it.

As a 'free spirit' who does not look kindly on attempts to further oppress me, I now understand all the more the reasons why I have never been that interested in inter-racial dating as a choice for myself. I guess I could slightly correct that statement, depending on what you consider inter-racial, since I have dated persons other than African American. Anyone who knows me personally will affirm that I am truly my own person.  That is not to say that I have not had my own battles with being oppressed because I have, and on so many levels. But at this point in my life, I am enjoying the freedom to embrace who I am, both internally and externally. And in some ways, I realize that I am still working to define my own humanity in this world that sets limitations on individuals not only on the basis of race, but also based on gender.

Ok, so since my point here is not to write about myself, I must return to my topic. According to Freire, oppression is grounded in dehumanization. Seeing one's self as less than human is the ground work that must take place for all parties involved to agree to the situation of being oppressed. With that in mind, upon looking at the stereotypes that people of the African diaspora live with on a daily basis, it only makes sense that some would seek to be viewed on a higher level of humanity.

After all, most of the times when we leave a relationship behind, it is about the denial of one's own humanity. When you begin to realize that one is being treated in a dehumanizing way, that is when one begins to look for the exit door to the situation. I would further argue, that those who remain in dehumanizing situations do so because they are not able to fully embrace or affirm their own humanity. This is also the same reason that an individual who treats a person of a different race better than they would consider  someone of their own race as deserving to be treated. Somewhere in their mind, they realize the need to elevate their own sense of humanity, but at the same time, they are still willing to deny another person the same need to be appreciated beyond the status of sub-human.

When I was younger, I would always hear people talk about the people, back then it was mostly men, who chose to date outside of their race, as attempting to 'to socially upgrade'.  But at this point in my life, I would argue that it is an attempt to be viewed as one who has done more than evolved, but who has faced the challenges of the psyche to embrace one's own humanity. It is the refusal to be seen as anything less than human. It is the denial to accept the oppressive forces of being dehumanized. It is the internal self awareness to see one's self as deserving all that is humanly possible in life and love.

So, you might ask, is inter-racial dating necessary for all of that? No, but for some people, it is the manifestation of their internal awareness that they need to be view as fully human with all of the life and breath that comes from living as one who is free to exist instead of one who has to ask the world to pardon their being in the world. It is un-apologetic about the right to have the life and companionship of a fellow HUMAN-being regardless of the outer skin. It is so much more than just the meshing of cultural differences, it is about the embracing of all that it means to live and love and to do so regardless of race or ethnic background.

Those who oppose inter-racial relationships do so because they see one of the races involved as less deserving of what the other race has to offer. And they protest the infiltration into their own race for fear that it will dehumanize by association. It is the struggle to continue to oppression of others by way of feeling oppressed in one's own being.

Lastly, I would argue, that when one fully becomes aware of who they are attracted to and why, then it will never be a struggle to embrace one's own humanity, and therefore the individual can be free to love based on the connections of the human spirit and not just because of the outward skin.

Relationships are about embracing the humanity of each other with mutual respect and admiration. Relationships are about BEING  human together and to each other. Love is about acceptance- as is- but with the growing potential to become better together.  When your ambitions within the relationship fully manifest the humanity of the other person, then both individuals can find the freedom to love. And love definitely transcends race, creed or national origin.

Birther Fiasco = Attempted Political Genocide

Here we are, well into President Obama’s term in office, and this rumor that actually surfaced during the primaries some years ago seem to have built steam and come back to life – with help of Donald Trump.  The ‘Birthers’ are a group of people
who question the legitimacy of President Obama based on whether or not he was born in the U.S.

This irritates me for a couple of reasons, no, correction, for several reasons. I am amazed at how many ‘Born in the USA’ – Americans were not paying attention in Social Studies and/or Political Science, when we learned the requirements AND procedure to become a legitimate candidate for president. There are some prerequisites and a lot of paperwork to fill out,
which has to be submitted and approved long before a name can make it to the ballot.

So, as I watch all of the people who jump on this board with this theory, I know that they were sticking gum on someone’s chair while this was being covered in school. Ok, so let me be a little bit lenient about it, lets not talk about those struggling puberty years when paying attention was hard because of all of the important stuff that was going on socially, but what about now when most everyone has internet and google in their home, on their job, or maybe in hand due to a smartphone. With today’s access to information, anyone who didn’t know the qualifications to run for political office could
still find out whether or not this kind of issue was worthy of a second of mental energy.

But the truth is that most Americans are mentally lazy and want someone to do the thinking and the speaking up for them. Most Americans function with the herd mentality. Why is it so unthinkable to think and discover the truth for one’s self?  There are people who are declaring that ‘Americans need to take their country back’, but what I want to know is take it back from whom, and where was it taken to by who ever took it?  What are they really saying?

Seriously, if President Obama was not qualified to be the leader of this country, wouldn’t someone have put a stop to his candidacy long before well into his term as president? If there were some scandal that would have discredited his candidacy, wouldn’t they have made sure that information made its way to every news outlet long before now? So what is the investment for Donald Trump or anyone else bringing this ‘birther’ issue up now?  It is obviously because the campaigning is about to begin for the next election and this was an attempt to get President Obama out of office before the end of his term, or at best destroy his potential to be elected for a second term.

So why would I call this genocide? Simply because genocide is an attempt to erase not only an individual but an entire ethnic group. If President Obama could successfully be thrown out of office, it would not only require that his presidency be erased from history, but it would also set the stage to discredit any and every future non-WASP seeking the high office of president.

It wasn’t so long ago that a similar methodology took place in the US, so that one who crossed the boundaries would have to become the example that would let all others know that this would be your fate, if you too get out of line, manifested by an ‘I cant stop you, so I need to destroy you’ mentality. And all though, many want to act like lynchings didn’t take place in this country, they did. And although there are many who have never heard of Emmett Till, it did happen. Sadly there are plenty whose names and faces didn’t make the history books as their lives were taken because of the mentality of those who held true to act upon the sentiments of their heart toward the destruction of others, but that doesn’t mean that it didn’t happen.

So when I see our current president being subjected to challenges of his legitimacy to stand as our president, I have to wonder, what are they really saying, other than they don’t like his policies or what he has done since he has been in office? This is definitely more than an attempt to out campaign the incumbent. This is an attack to discredit his right to lead this country by declaring that he is not American enough to lead America. 

What would make President Obama American enough in their eyes?

What could be changed about President Obama to make him the man that they would proudly accept him as president?

Now that the long form of his birth certificate has been presented, not only to the press, but available online, now what? 

What will be the next attempt to demand that he not go down in history as our first African AND American
------President? 

Isnt it ironic that with so many Africans brought to this country by force that the president would actually be the child of an African who came to this country of his own free will? It is certain that the sentiments of many regarding certain blends of heritage are present in what is said and what goes unsaid. How do Mitt Romney’s remarks really sound to us?

Lastly, if Donald Trump truly had intentions of becoming our next president or even someone with respect in political circles, why isn’t his energy going towards dealing with his tycoon buddies over in the oil industry, convincing them to help this struggling economy by lowering gas prices at the pump and therefore allowing for more cash flow in the overall economy, which would create economic stability across industries for more than those at the very top?  If Donald Trump or any candidate for that matter, really wants me to take him seriously as a candidate for president, he will have to cut his hair into a normal and reasonable style, and he will have to show that his love for this country is about the lives and economic survival of all Americans.