I am a brownskinned daughter of America who, along with my sisters, brothers and cousins, have
Last edited Thu Nov 8, 2012, 08:35 AM - Edit history (5)
always tried to get my country to love me as much as the rest of the American Family. My bloodline is a long river made up of a blend of springs, creeek and streams that merged to become me.
The first stream begins as a trickle that began when some of my family was FORCIBLY "abducted" by the denizens of a young America from our mother Africa: brought here to to build her as a country and fill her coffers with such obscene wealth that her is still considered to be one of the wealthiest countries on the face of the earth.
This Stream is widened and fortified by the American Spring of my family roots were already here for at least 25, 000 years before they were ripped away from our ancient nations & Motherland. They were violently snatched away from their cultures like copper skinned Cinderellas, locked into a horde of metaphorical closets most know as reservations.
They were forced onto these geographical back rooms, locked away on these economic wastelands but not before they were abused, raped, murdered by bullet and smallpox infected blankets until they were but a tiny vestige of what they were prior to the arrival of the Europeans. Their story was always twisted by Hollywood to portray them as savages that deserved this HORRIFIC treatment visited on them by somebody's sick idea of Manifest Destiny. Sadly, too many believed too long that my people contributed nothing to this country. The Native people have given this country so much but I challenge the average American to name something other than the first Thanksgiving,Teepees, Pocahontas or Sacajewea of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Yet many of these UNITED STATES were named by my ancestors...KANSAS, OKLAHOMA, MASSACHUSETTS, TENNESSEE, UTAH,MISSOURI, KENTUCKY, IDAHO, ILLINOIS, ARKANSAS, CONNECTICUT, MINNESOTA, MISSISSIPPI, WISCONSIN, DELAWARE, WYOMING...native Americans discovered the meaning of ZERO, gave the world the Tomato, Potato, Chiles, Squash and Corn... I think you get the idea and yet, their contributions to to this country are minimised to the point of invisibility.
Yet another stream that joins the river comes from Asia, my two GGGRANDFATHERS, (one from the Piillopines and the other from GuangZhuo China) came here to help build the American Railroad BUT were not allowed to bring women here to marry and raise a family. It was illegal for them to do that, so they married my gggrandmothers who were women of a European, AmerIndian and African Admixture who saw these men as human beings who they promptly fell in love with. My Chinese Grandfather had his queue cut off by cruel, ignorant types to humiliate him and to harrass him for being the "other" and the fact that his wife looked white. He fought back in his own quiet way, going on to raise a strong family.
I also have Mexican blood which flows as a strong river in my veins. These are "them" ,the brown folks that are constantly harrangued to leave a country whose southwestern half BELONGED TO MEXICO UNTIL IT WAS ANNEXED, (read stolen), to become California, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada...all those good old Anglo Saxon names given to those states. These were the folks who were living in cities bigger and more every bit as sophisticated as those in Europe but they are denigrated as "illlegals, wetbacks, beaners" and any number of disgusting slurs.
The roaring river of people are joined by the blood of the Irish. Many do not know that the Irish were considered as revolting to "decent white folk" as blacks, mexicans, Jews & DOGS. There actually were signs that told Irish along with the people pf color and animals that they were not allowed into stores, buildings and even certain towns and cities.. My grantgrandfather, Willl was called "that white "N@gger" because his wife was a black as he was white and he was well off during the time of the Depression when many people, black, white and polyester, were struggling to just put a meal on the table.
All these bloodlines flow in my veins and I have always known that my country, which I love with all my heart has never loved me with the same intensity.
Things have slowly started to change. In 1984, I saw felt that my country might not despise me as much as I thought with the election of the first Miss America, who happened to be of African descent even though she didn't look like it. Even though beauty queens and Iconic figures have emerged in ways I never thought would happen in the almost 30 years since Miss Williams, I never allowed myself to seriously entertain the idea of a president, whose skin was dark like mine, whose hair soft and wooly like my hair.
The one thing that most black people will tell you is that we never thought we would live long enough to see a president elected that looked like me. The first time Obama was elected in 2008, I cried like a baby, asking my deceased mother, grandparents and child if they could see what was happening. It' seemed like I was living in a dream, watching the first family walk up to the podium to great the adoring crowds but still, I wondered if it was some fluke, some cruel trick that would be over before Obama got a chance to really impose a change for the better of all of America, like a soap bubble sitting too long in the sun.
This feeling seemed to intensify with all the lies, vitriol and hate on the right. Some would think that the hatred espoused by the right was widespread and that my America would never love her dusky daughters and sons as much as we love her even though we have spilled our blood in every War since the Revolution. In fact, African Blood was the very first blood spilled for this country...his name was Crispus Attucks.
However last night, as we watched President Obama win over Romney in a landslide, as we watched the multicolored crowd scream and applaud as they REELECTED this president, I burst into tears once again but this time, for a different reason. It had alot to do with the fact that this man was not elected as a fluke or mistake, not as a protest vote against the worst president in US history but because America has finally understood and accepted the importance of her brown children, her black children, the yellow, red and tan. I cried because I understand that after more than 300 years, my country is finally returning the love that all those people in my bloodline have always had for Her.
We are no longer thought of as the children of a lesser god, as stepchildren to be tolerated but not respected. I cried because I realised that we are finally loved as Americans, as members of the American Family and not seen as " the other".
= new reply since forum marked as read
We loved you all along .....
PS Beautifully written
Thank you so much for sharing yourself this way.
I am white; my grandparents came here from Greece and Yugoslavia after WWI. I knew very little about them until I saw a PBS program on how Russian and Yugoslavian immigrants were treated back in the 20s. They were determined, based on certain facial features, to be below normal intelligence and somewhat subhuman. This explains how a man who fathered geniuses ended up trapped in the coal mines of WV.
And I, too cried in 2008 as I watched President Obama inaugurated. And, after overcoming some doubts based on some of his choices in his 1st 2 years, I cheered at his re-election the night before last....
I have no doubt he has learned on the job from his first 4 years and will be kicking some GOP/teaparty ass in the 4 years to come!
It represents ALL OF US. You put into words everything that I have wanted to say since 2008.
wow...there's somthing in my eye...must be allergies
one day, they will. Beautifully written; I so appreciate your sharing your families history and your very personal experiences.
