going4roses said:
But there are way too many whites that enjoy this accept this thus approve of this.
Imagine trying to live life under this impending threat ever MF day of ones life. Black people (descendants of slavery only) have daily trauma embedded in out DNA going on 500+ years.
And we still have to be 2-3 times better than everyone one else and still are not accepted on a basic human level
Then we have the house ______. Like barkely ,elders, owens and Steele who give racist f ucks talking points. Other minorities have sellouts but those minorities have achieved higher status because they did not experience slavery and and ... in this country
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMeaQaNrF/
But there is no racism ...
Okay, so based on your use of Our and We, I assume you are black. And you mention that certain psychological things have been passed down to you based on your family's history. This is super interesting to me!!! See, I've been bit by the genealogy bug 15 years ago. I like researching for clues about my ancestors.
I first began grabbing names, dates, places of people - just to fill out the tree as far back as I could go. Some lines 500 years, other lines only 200, which is still pretty good! When I began I only knew names of my great grandparents in my head, but really nothing about who they were.
As I went along, I had to have a better understanding of US history. Like, wait, if this guy was in a fairly populated town in Illinois in 1844, why did he go to rural BFE in Minnesota in 1852, where he soon thereafter died? A: the US Govt began granting homesteading acres to new settlers, no doubt as a way of simply taking over the land from native populations.
That's just one example of me having to learn about social policies of the time, and how it impacted my inter generational story. Another would be post Rev War, a family moved due north from CT to Canada. Why? A: they must have been tories, loyal to the English King. Another would be the opening of the Erie Canal: several family groups took that technological advancement to move over the Appalachians into the Midwest... So, you get the point. I began to digest and consider the "time and place" narrative about who they were, how I became me, how WE as Americans today have become "us".
I have over 4800 people in my tree. I'm 10th cousins with my wife, who herself is distantly related to my stepfather and an uncle. I found that my daughters are 5th cousins with a friend from school. We have famous people galore in our tree as stuff like 5th cousins 7 generations removed. Some names:
Eli Whitney, inventor of the cotton gin.
Founder of Macy's.
Levi Coffin, Underground Railroad in Indiana.
Lucretia Coffin Mott, "first feminist".
Sarah Palin, Kathryn Hepburn, Bing Crosby and I are all descendants of William Brewster of the Mayflower.
Arial Bradley was a 7 year old spy of George Washington.
I have 7 or 8 US Presidents in my tree as distant cousins: Bushes, FDR, Coolidge, Grant, Adams, Taylor.
You get the idea.
I've learned how deeply interconnected we all are.
A couple of genealogy shows I've enjoyed:
"Who Do You Think You Are", and
Henry Louis Gates' "African American Lives" and his "Finding Your Roots".
There IS a question for you in here, by the way...
Through Gates' work, I began to understand issues, histories, stories of black America, and it's quite a different experience that I hadn't truly encountered, experienced, or considered much. He really educated me, enabled to see things differently and I am forever changed and grateful for Gates!
So, my question to you, Going4Roses, is: have you ever dove back into you genealogical heritage? Have you ever uncovered stories about your past and digested what the time and place narrative has meant for you and your current family? Like an episode of WDYTYA or FYR, which is what my entire 4800 tree study has been, I'll bet your own Book of Life (Gates' term) would be very interesting - to you, to me, and I'd like to learn from it.
Like, what is in that story that made you write this:
"Black people (descendants of slavery only) have daily trauma embedded in out DNA going on 500+ years."
Nothing wrong with the statement, and I'll never know the story, but I think white people could benefit a lot from having that perspective - which is why I say "Henry Louis Gates is doing more to improve black-white race relations in this country than anyone else!" Because his show tells a story and gives that perspective every damn week.