How do we solve the "race" problem in America? How do we get to a better place? The first step is to expose 'THE LIE'. by Dr. Andrew Brown, III

THE LIE

How do we solve the "race" problem in America?

How do we get to a better place?

The first step is to expose 'THE LIE'. by Dr. Andrew Brown, III

THE LIE: PART 1 (3 minute read).

YOU ARE NOT A WHITE PERSON.

Race: A concept legalized in 1681 by British colonial aristocracy to stifle Colonial rebellion by separating humans into distinct groups. An effective tool that keeps me hating you and you hating me, and the tragedy is that neither of us recognizes that we've both been played.

If you ask a person from the African continent what they identify as, they are likely to answer: "I'm Ugandan, I'm Ethiopian, I'm Nigerian, I'm South African and so on. Likewise, if you ask a person from the European continent what they identify as, you are likely to hear: "I'm Irish, I'm British, I'm Dutch, I'm German and so on. The same with the Asian continent where, if you ask the same question, people respond with: "I'm Japanese, I'm South Korean, I'm Vietnamese, I'm Malaysian and on it goes. Only Americans tend to self-identify as "White" or "Black." Why is that? While the rest of the world self-identifies according to place of origin, which informs about one's predisposal to cultural, ethnic and spiritual practice, only Americans tend to lump their identity into a "Black" or "White" category.

In order solve the "race" problem in America, we must understand the root of the problem. Think of it as an organic process of weed removal. To eliminate the weed in your garden and prevent it from re-growing, you must pull it out by its root. It must be painful to that weed as you dig deep and try to go under and around it. As you pull it out, there is so much resistance to your pull. It may take some time but if you keep at it, the weed finally weakens and relinquishes. Once the weed has been completely removed, the landscape heals and becomes fertile for new and better growth. We must begin the process of healing by pulling out the weed.

The concept of White people on planet earth starts in 1681. That's when Colonial lawmakers created this group identity for European laborers. It did not matter if you were German, Irish, or British, you were now given a new identity as a "White" person as a matter of law (Jacqueline Battalora, Ph.D, JD, 2014).

The legislation of 1681 afforded, by law, privileges and advantages to the group now identified as "White people" following Bacon's Rebellion in 1676. Francis Bacon was one of many disgruntled settlers, and he spearheaded a revolt against then Governor Sir William Berkeley in an attempt to disrupt the Virginia fur trade. Poor and indentured European laborers fought along with indentured Africans. After the rebellion was put down, lawmakers in the Virginia Colony devised a divide and conquer strategy to prevent future rebellions (see "Stamped from the Beginning" by Ibram X. Kendi for detailed discussion).

In order to execute this strategy of divide and conquer, Colonial lawmakers in Virginia adopted and enforced laws designed to separate laborers by classifying them. Post-Bacon rebellion laws now specified that free Africans were prohibited from holding public office, prohibited from marrying Whites, prohibited from possessing a weapon, and prohibited from testifying against Whites.

This new legislated identity based on skin color proclaimed that "White" laborers, as a group, irrespective of nationality, were now deserving of rights and privileges from which "others" or "Non-Whites" could be denied.

While these new laws did little to move freed European laborers toward the class of English Colonial aristocracy, they stripped African men of any patriarchic power and plunged them into a permanent underclass. Hence, the birth of White supremacy as legislated by Colonial rule.

Legalization of the new group termed "White people" was the tool to divide laborers in order to avert future rebellion in the Colonies. It afforded this new group, now designated as "White" males, the center of patriarchal power and legalized a condition of superiority over people considered Non-White.

The legislation served a sinister purpose to both Whites and Non-Whites; by eliminating the rights of 'Non-White' laborers, it tried to appease poor White laborers by creating the psychological illusion that they, somehow, had shared affiliation with the class of English elite. The legislation was an attempt to make this group feel that they "belonged", that they were a "fabric" of the same cloth of entitlement.

This "promise" of supremacy to the group legislated as White in 1681, remains an operational LIE in 2020. As it was in 1681, the LIE continues to be used as political rhetoric to sustain division between people.

Ultimately, the legislated appeasement failed as the sustained corrupt acts and atrocities imposed on the Colonies by England's King George III resulted in the Revolutionary War. The die, however, had been cast 95 years prior to 1776; White supremacy, as official decree, was already born in the land that was to become America.

As noted by Dr. Battalora: "White supremacy had nothing to do with genetic phenomenon, rather, it was a human assertion of power"{sic}.

As long as you think you are White, there is no hope for you."                                             - James Baldwin