Not since Jimmy the Greek's statement on race has there been an author this edgy! He says what everyone would like to say but are scared to say. Straight out of the projects of Bronx New York, this author Peter Brownlowe has traveled down many roads and has experienced many of the things that most will not have had the opportunity to do. He openly exposes some of the problems and feelings that he believes is plaguing his people and our country.
As one of those people of color, I believe that we are taking ourselves back into a different form of bondage without even realizing it, however this time we are doing it to ourselves.
Slavery is long gone. Over 400 years of slavery is no excuse for us not to be doing better when it comes to education, reducing crimes, and in other areas of our lives that are conducive to a safer and better world. There is simply no excuse for us to still be killing and hurting others and ourselves as we are witnessing on a daily basis in the media, and other areas of our lives. The rates are very alarming and staggering.
Martin Luther King and many other good people have fought and died for peace, justice and many of the things that we now take for granted. They did not, nor should not have died in vain. It is beginning to appear that some of the very same people that he and others have given their lives for in order for us to be able to do the things that we can now do were not worth the sacrifice. If anything, the fact of just knowing that slavery did exists, and all the pain and losses that we have already endured, should have been enough to have kept us on the straight and narrow and not resort to what I would call this “madness”, that I am seeing today.
It appears that instead of continuing Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream; we have taken it and turned it into a nightmare where we have now become our worst enemy. Though these words are very harsh and cruel, I believe it is necessary in order to grab the attention that we need in order to get us moving again in the right direction.
If by chance we all don’t get it, or attempt to make a move in the right direction after knowing how so many of us feel, then we will soon reach a point where we can no longer look at ourselves in the mirror and ask ourselves “why?” We will not be able to do so because the answer will already be right there steering us in the face. A reflection of what was once considered a victim would now bear the resemblance of the perpetrator.
Of course this does not apply to everyone and only a fool would think so. A reflection is only a view of something that is real. In many cases a reflection may appear so real it becomes very difficult to differentiate. When it becomes difficult to differentiate we are more willing to choose security rather than insecurity when given a choice. Tough many of us are a lot more complex in our thoughts, it is often the easiest and most sensible and reliable thing to do. In time I believe everyone will get better aquatinted and skilled in this arena, however for now though, I know we know who we are, and I believe the American people know who we are.
Millions of our people are still dying all over the world. Whether it is because of an illness or by the hands of one of our own, or even someone else’s, it is still too many. Thousands, are still being robbed, raped, beaten, murdered and killed in their communities, in their homes, by our own race, and in some cases even their own relative, which makes no sense at all. This just makes you wonder, is it really Nurture or Nature?
