Over the last 4 decades I have been recognized as a black male. I have been known or referred to as many different titles over the years, but they all fell under the umbrella of a black person. This year I was given the option to decide if I wanted to be a black male, an African American male, or a negro male. Should I appreciate the choices? Should I look at this as an insult or a compliment? Should I look at this as a form of voluntary division between people of the same race? Should I feel like someone is trying to patronize me? If I get upset at anyone, who should I be upset with?
The questions were more to myself than to anyone else, but they should paid attention to by the people that they effect. Not only could the question of race be confusing to an adult answering it, it could also be confusing to everyone as a whole, especially our children. How would three children of the same race react towards each other if one is raised as a black person, the second one is raised as an African American person, and the third one is raised as a negro?
We already have this type of division in our race because of economic status, social up bringing, religious beliefs, and even age brackets. Do we really need any more divisions within our race? Can our race actually take any more divisions?
Separations create weaknesses and it is these weaknesses that cause us to fight against each other to show strength. Using our strength against each other is not as productive as using our strength together, it is actually counter-productive and defeats our own purposes. Our purposes are supposed to be productive men and women, which means that we need to set productive examples for our children that are watching our every move. When we separate our self from our neighbors, we are teaching our children to do the same. We are actually telling our children to look down on people that look exactly like them. This statement is not directed at one particular class of our people, it is directed at all of our people that believe that they have a reason to separate their self from another group of people that look exactly like them. Prosperous looking down on the poor, poor looking down on the prosperous, educated looking down on the under-educated, the under-educated looking down on the educated, and the list goes on.
We are all individuals, but we are also the group of people that do not stick together long enough to make the contributions that everyone else is afraid to see. Let's put our differences aside long enough to accept one another and make the power moves that other races make. The question of race might seem like we are given a preference, but is it really a way to divide our people more than we really are? Blacks, African-Americans, and negros need to come together long enough to decide what race WE really are.
Emmanuel Brown is the owner and founder of SeeingGrowth.com. He is currently working on Seeing Growth 365 - Black Women and Black Men Making History through his website and seeking short biographies of positive black men and women to serve as positive bridges between adults, youth and our communities.
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