By Lucius Gantt, THE GANTT REPORT
From the very first moment your kidnapped ancestors set foot on American shores, Black men and women were differentiated, distinguished, contrasted and categorized.
All slaves were exploited and oppressed but most slaves became field hands, or “field Negroes”, that generated wealth for the wicked, deceitful and devilish slave masters. A few others worked in the slave master’s homes and were called “house Negroes”.
The slave masters were fond of all of their slaves that were obedient and whistled, so to speak, while they worked from sunup to sundown in the cotton, tobacco, sugar cane, corn and other fields.
But the slavers loved the Black men and women that worked in the house!
The field Negroes slept on the ground and ate food that the slave masters did not want and the house Negroes slept on a wood floor and when the cooks and butlers cleaned off the dinner tables, if a piece of corn bread or a spoonful of white acre peas was left on a plate, the house Negroes were welcome to consume anything that was left.
The slave masters fed the slaves that they liked!
Today, the modern-day racists, nationalists, separatists and closet klansmen continue to feed the Negroes they like.
It doesn’t matter if you’re more educated, more experienced, more talented or more loyal, if you’re not willing to bow down, head scratch or buck dance on demand you will have to find a way to feed yourself.
Don’t take my word for it. You tell me, who gets the jobs, the promotions, the contracts, the loans, the interviews, the accolades and the opportunities?
They feed who they like. They want African Americans around them that will be forever happy with their status, that are reluctant to ask questions and those that will be hesitant to stand up and speak out about injustice and unfairness.
The people in power in the United States, and around the world, don’t want to be around or associated with Blacks that want to rise up or progress and those that want to improve themselves and their communities.
There are some actors, entertainers and business persons that are pointed to as examples of Black people that make a million or even a billion dollars but which African American has that Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates or Warren Buffet kind of bank roll? What Black man or woman here owns the amount of land that Ted Turner owns?
You get the point. If they like you, you may be invited to a dinner but you can’t sit at the dinner table and you can’t eat what the truly wealthy can eat. You have to be happy to get any crumbs that fall on the dining room floor!
Don’t expect too much from recently elected public servants. Lots of women of color will get titles and jobs along with a few Black men but government will always do more for rich people than what they’ll do for you, believe that.
We have food deserts in our communities and I’m not just talking about the lack of grocery stores. We are hungry for jobs, contracts, loans, opportunities and progress because the masses are not being fed.
Who has a plan to feed us? Can we ever buy the land we need, create the businesses and jobs we desire and will we ever be able to feed ourselves the way that other races overcome economic, political and communal starvation?
God will send us Angels and Soldiers that can get us to the Promised Land but we have to recognize brothers and sisters that have the correct vision. We have to stop putting our faith in so-called business, educational, religious and community leaders that have eyes but can’t see! True Black shepherds know how to feed their flock!
Lucius is a contributing columnist to NNPA newspapers around the nation, and the author of “Beast Too: Dead Man Writing,” available on Amazon.com and from bookstores everywhere.