State of the onion

Written for my Creative Writing Multimedia class. The assignment was to write about race in America in any format using our own expierences as a guide.

I am a Black woman living in a white man’s society. That is my truth. To be quite frank those experiences are tiring. It is exhausting to live in a world where even if you are accepted, you are judged and scrutinized. Where you have to be perfect for your oppressor to think about considering you equal. The ongoing racism in not only this country but worldwide, is tiring to us that have to bear the weight of the oppression. There is generational trauma rooted so deep in this country and people are too ignorant to unearth it. This trauma has been manipulated and misconstrued into negative stereotypes. Running from slave catchers turned into running from the police. Fathers being forcibly separated from their families turned into Black men do not stick around to provide for their families. Not being taught how to read turned into Black people are stupid. Being fed the same scraps that animals ate turned into Black people are lazy and diabetes bound. Pseudo-science “proving” that Black people are stronger and have higher pain thresholds turned into Black mothers having the highest pregnancy mortality rates. These stereotypes are harmful because they aid in keeping a system of oppression in motion forever. The United States is particularly keen on glossing over not only slavery but racism as a whole in this country. From the mere second settlers set foot on land that was not theirs they felt entitled to it; They tried to wipe away an entire nation of cultures, practices, and beliefs for their “religious freedom.” To the sly re-imagination of slavery within sharecropping, black codes, and jim crow segregation laws. Why is there such pride in fighting for the losing side of a war? Why is there such pride in being a traitor? Why is there a constant cry for law and order? As a nation, we have lived more years apart than together. It has been 55 years since the 1965 Civil Rights Act was passed. My parents are 59 years old. This is to say that being a Person of Color in America is complicated. Patriotism and American pride are hard to have when you look realistically at America’s racist past and live with the lasting effect every day. When you would rather believe that the earth is flat than that slave owners would skin Black people and use the skin for wallets and bags, then from the mouth of former President Gerald Ford, “I must say to you, the state of the nation is not good.”