From where we presently stand, the procedure for being offensive and defensive in going through the maze of life is to draw on the past in order to reasonably predict the future. What Black Americans must understand is that to live in the Americas is to be in a society that has been, is now, and will be dominated by Western civilizationa term meaning middle class White males of European descent.
In turn, their mindsets are formed by the USAs 100 richest families–who themselves are controlled by a handful of White men called the Power Elite. The objective of the Power Elite is to control the world; of the richest families, to gain the most material possessions; and of the middle class White males, to have power over dark skinned people. What these three have in commonall stemming from a deep sense of inadequacy and inferiority– is advocating White Supremacy.
This means they: (1) advertise to the world a gross, gross exaggeration of their advantageous points–which they call good; (2) hide their criminal and savage history; (3) deny, ignore, steal, and destroy the brilliant foundational world contributions of dark skinned people; and (4) engage in the defense mechanism of Reaction Formation (converting their envy of Black people into discrediting and despising them).
This is the way it is and nothing is going to change! I have been in the middle of this scenario many times but never allowed any one to define who I was. Yet, the effects of the ridiculous claims of White Supremacy in every aspect of life, when machine-gunned into the minds of Black people, has been to confuse some and to get others to believe it. For both groups, researching Black History is essential for establishing proper self-identity.
Consistent enlightening studies of Black history did not get started until the 1920s when Black psychologists first published their research to shed notions of Black American inferiority (Akbar, Papers in African Psychology, p58). Originally, these studies were mainly a reaction to the existence of institutional racismthe racism created by White institutions, enhanced and maintained by White institutions, and condoned by even non-racist Whites (because they were benefiting from what White racist fashioned).
Black Americans did not start searching to discover who they were until around the mid 1940s. These late beginnings as well as the fact that Black history is basically denied in its true reality to Black Americans students; that it is presented from a White bias perspective in the media; and that it has been rewritten, stolen, and otherwise altered as a conspiracy throughout the world means that Black students must do a great deal of very hard work to gain the information needed for their self-identity. To make this project easier has been the focus of my books (see summary on: jablifeskills.com).
A second reason for studying Black history is to recognize options for ones spiritual mission in life. Black history research will lead to the information needed to allow one to do a meaningful inner world searchin keeping with the Ancient African admonition to Know Thyself– as fundamental for wisdom and right living. Furthermore, Black history will provide ideas about the advantages and disadvantages of each option as one learns more of what a given option is about. Such knowledge then allows one to meaningfully rank each option according to which will do the greatest good, for the most people, and over the longest period of time.
In studying noteworthy Black people, you will find they left the crowd in order to pursue their dream; they gave up short term pleasures for long term gains; and they always had hardships to overcome. It is important to discern what provided them with the resilience to bounce back following setbacks and defeats. When they failed, how did they handle it? Discover the principles involved in their successes and failures so as to use this information to guide you properly. Whereas African Tradition says your mission is to give selfless service to those in need, Black history can help you decide what to do and how to do it.
website: jablifeskills.com
Joseph A. Bailey, II, M.D.
