Tuesday, January 14, 2014

The Audacity Of Silence: Insecurity of My Own People-Of-Color & Too Many Democrats Mock MLK's Dream of Equality

With the United States’ living, breathing Constitution compelling even the biggest bigots to recognize the full & equal dignity of every human being living on our homeland, it’s a disappointing realization to know that, while we have journeyed far as a nation in the world of equal rights, not ALL of #ThePeople have ascended to the mountaintop of #equality.

Our nation’s current #President has done a lot for the rights of America’s #LGBTQ community but, in its wake, I am concerned that the quest for racial equality has been swept aside as if racism has already been erased, as if #diversity & #inclusion have already graced the boardrooms & governing bodies of this great country.

As a person of color, I am alarmed by the apathy, hypocrisy & outright laziness infecting our population of color along with many on the left, the many- not all- white Democrats, when it comes to the struggle for equality. But I can understand.

Centuries of being beaten down, mocked, ridiculed, attacked & even murdered have scared my fellow persons of color into silence. And there are some people of color who are drunk with their own perceived success, who have been accepted & allowed to prosper by the powerful #statusquo. As a consequence, they remain silent in exchange for approval & financial rewards, acceptance into exclusive white circles of social & economic power, these are equality’s greatest nemesis in the current century; they naively mock today’s #CivilRights advocates as misguided, laughing as if we are on some quixotic quest.

But I understand.

We all have bills, car payments, vacations, football games, rent or mortgages to pay.  Our livelihoods depend on the paycheck we earn.

So I understand.

But look at the price society has to pay for your silence, for you turning your back on your fellow men & women even as you purport to support equality & Civil Rights. The economy is in shambles; The People of Main Street starve, live in the streets, needlessly unable to find work because discrimination & prejudice still are the rule in America.

Next time your managers are gathered together, take a good look at them. Chances are, they are male & white. You, the person of color, you the woman, are likely more talented & smarter. But you're staring at the statusquo that has controlled the globe for the past 600 years. These guys love your silence, your fear, your acceptance of their discrimination.

So shame on you, man of color, woman of color, who have reaped the rewards from the sweat & blood of your predecessors of color, you who enjoy prosperity in exchange for treachery, for mocking the struggle of your fellow men & women whose skin color- not their skill or abilities- define their social, economic & political standing in this, the 21st Century. 

Your hubris, I do not understand.  

If you think equality has been achieved, show me in pictures. Show me your organization’s management team, your political group. I wanna see diversity & inclusion. For ALL of The People on Main Street, Wall Street & government agencies.

Department of Justice, FBI, NSA, #WallStreet, are you listening to this?

Show me equality so that I know & understand we have indeed reached themountaintop.

I know you can not. And you know why?

You,the silent person of color, are the biggest obstacle in the quest for the equal rights of man & woman kind. Your silence betrays the Civil Rights of all Americans.

You must remember: the United States Constitution has your back! 

It is #TimeForChange. For you, for America.

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