- Home
- Editorial and Opinion
- Publisher's New Analysis- The benefit of our labor and sacrifice
Publisher's New Analysis- The benefit of our labor and sacrifice
- By Roy Douglas Malonson
- Published 02/15/2010
- Editorial and Opinion
- Unrated
Roy Douglas Malonson
Roy D. Malonson is publisher of the African-American News&Issues.
View all articles by Roy Douglas Malonson
The success of African-Americans cannot be compared to any other race
of people in America. Nor can our struggles, although we are not the
only ones to suffer from racism and oppression. Native Americans, once
portrayed as savages, were deceived, defeated and their land was stolen
from them. And those who were not killed were swept into reservation
camps where many still live. Those reservations are the equivalent of
the 40 acres and a mule, freed slaves were promised in the
Reconstruction Era.
Throughout the years, Native Americans have worked hard to gain control of their reservations and make them lucrative. Treaties they made with the U. S. government many years ago allowed them to preserve their language and tribal culture. In many ways, they have achieved what Pan-Africans have only dreamed of and the government helped them to do it.
In Texas, Mexican ranchers were killed and their land stolen from them by the now respected Texas Rangers. That is, after the land we now know as Texas was stolen from Mexico. For centuries they have served as under paid servants on land that once belonged to them. They were ridiculed and mocked by the other students.
But the key is that they were allowed to go to school and anywhere else they desired in America. They have worked hard and helped each other along the way. Today, they serve in all branches of government, where they fight to protect the rights of Mexican citizens and immigrants, legal and illegal.
In schools, those who have emigrated, whether legally or illegally, from Mexico have access to English as a Second Language (ESL) and other special education resources in order to help them succeed. They have worked hard to preserve their family structure and build strong support systems for one another. They have always depended on each other to succeed, strongly supporting each other in business, without apology.
Signs written in Spanish only, displayed in front of some Mexican-owned businesses, make it clear who they want to do business with. To some, it is the equivalent of a “Whites Only” sign, but no one accuses them of being racists. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese Americans, even those born in this country, were taken from their homes and placed in camps, forced to live like refugees.
Once the government came to its senses, they were released and the United States made financial restitution to restore them to their former state. Now, a group who considers themselves to be the new minorities enters the scene. The gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender population, much like the women libbers, are fighting for the freedom to marry, adopt and enjoy the same rights of heterosexuals.
I don’t have anything against them but they are doing so on the coattails of the civil rights movement, the war waged by African-Americans to secure our seat at the table. Many say we, of all people, should understand and come to their aid. We should stand beside them because they share the same discrimination we experienced.
They are trying to benefit from the sweat off of our backs and the blood of our people as most other cultures in America do today. But there are fundamental differences in the suffering and struggles of African-Americans and other disenfranchised groups Africans had their land stolen from them. But not before Africans were stolen from their native land.
Africans were then enslaved and stripped of their language, history and culture; separated from their tribes and family members and denied their humanity. They were exposed to cruel and inhumane physical and psychological torture, regarded as property and treated as less than animals. Hundreds of years after slavery, we are still waiting for our promised 40 acres and a mule. We have been told to get over it.
But the behavior continued beyond slavery and they were not isolated incidents. They were a way of life. Our people had to march, demonstrate, protest, lobby and sue. Our people were tortured and died so that we could enjoy the common freedoms the rest of America enjoyed.
No one joined us in our struggle for basic rights enjoyed by other Americans and foreigners, but a few good White folks. But now, it seems every disenfranchised group wants to grab a ride on our coat tails, piggy back off of our sacrifices. They want to compare their challenges to ours, but there is no comparison. To try is to diminish our suffering. It only emphasizes their insensitivity to all that we have had to overcome to get where we are today.
Throughout the years, Native Americans have worked hard to gain control of their reservations and make them lucrative. Treaties they made with the U. S. government many years ago allowed them to preserve their language and tribal culture. In many ways, they have achieved what Pan-Africans have only dreamed of and the government helped them to do it.
In Texas, Mexican ranchers were killed and their land stolen from them by the now respected Texas Rangers. That is, after the land we now know as Texas was stolen from Mexico. For centuries they have served as under paid servants on land that once belonged to them. They were ridiculed and mocked by the other students.
But the key is that they were allowed to go to school and anywhere else they desired in America. They have worked hard and helped each other along the way. Today, they serve in all branches of government, where they fight to protect the rights of Mexican citizens and immigrants, legal and illegal.
In schools, those who have emigrated, whether legally or illegally, from Mexico have access to English as a Second Language (ESL) and other special education resources in order to help them succeed. They have worked hard to preserve their family structure and build strong support systems for one another. They have always depended on each other to succeed, strongly supporting each other in business, without apology.
Signs written in Spanish only, displayed in front of some Mexican-owned businesses, make it clear who they want to do business with. To some, it is the equivalent of a “Whites Only” sign, but no one accuses them of being racists. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese Americans, even those born in this country, were taken from their homes and placed in camps, forced to live like refugees.
Once the government came to its senses, they were released and the United States made financial restitution to restore them to their former state. Now, a group who considers themselves to be the new minorities enters the scene. The gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender population, much like the women libbers, are fighting for the freedom to marry, adopt and enjoy the same rights of heterosexuals.
I don’t have anything against them but they are doing so on the coattails of the civil rights movement, the war waged by African-Americans to secure our seat at the table. Many say we, of all people, should understand and come to their aid. We should stand beside them because they share the same discrimination we experienced.
They are trying to benefit from the sweat off of our backs and the blood of our people as most other cultures in America do today. But there are fundamental differences in the suffering and struggles of African-Americans and other disenfranchised groups Africans had their land stolen from them. But not before Africans were stolen from their native land.
Africans were then enslaved and stripped of their language, history and culture; separated from their tribes and family members and denied their humanity. They were exposed to cruel and inhumane physical and psychological torture, regarded as property and treated as less than animals. Hundreds of years after slavery, we are still waiting for our promised 40 acres and a mule. We have been told to get over it.
But the behavior continued beyond slavery and they were not isolated incidents. They were a way of life. Our people had to march, demonstrate, protest, lobby and sue. Our people were tortured and died so that we could enjoy the common freedoms the rest of America enjoyed.
No one joined us in our struggle for basic rights enjoyed by other Americans and foreigners, but a few good White folks. But now, it seems every disenfranchised group wants to grab a ride on our coat tails, piggy back off of our sacrifices. They want to compare their challenges to ours, but there is no comparison. To try is to diminish our suffering. It only emphasizes their insensitivity to all that we have had to overcome to get where we are today.