A BLACK HISTORY MONTH RETROSPECTIVE: WILLIE LYNCH WIN, LOSE OR DRAW
Whether you believe the Willie Lynch Letter (WLL) is real or fake is really not the point of the post. Even if the letter is fake, that shouldn’t stop us (especially black/African heritage people) from examining the concepts within the letter and looking at where we are today. Black people are not a monolithic group and just like there are many shades of black people, many of us think differently about issues and aren’t representative of some of the negative characteristics mentioned in the WLL. There is always something about generalizations that set people off and the observations in this post are not intended to represent every black person you know or have come into contact with on this earth. However, there are some general attributes that are common to a large majority of black neighborhoods/communities and that’s where the greatest hits will focus on today.
As you can see from the WLL, the whole point of Willie’s method was to have black people self-impose mental, physical, emotional and spiritual chains on each other for hundreds of years. Here is a question for you to consider: Did Willie, Whitey, slave master, and countless shady Negroes succeed in their objective?
Light vs. Dark
We can all agree that this has been an enormous issue for hundreds of years and is still an issue today. However, it’s pretty debatable as to whether black people carry disdain or distrust based on the various shades within our community. Some still think light, damn near white equals good, while black, darker skin equals bad. If we happen to see black people as models, up until recent times most of them have been light skinned. Along with other industries besides modeling, lighter complexion often opened up doors closed off to darker skinned blacks. It’s no secret that many black people continue to internalize American/European beliefs that lighter skin blacks are smarter and safer to be around than darker blacks. I want to say this issue has improved over the years, but it’s hard to remove hundreds of years of internalized oppression just because white people “allowed” black people to go to school with them. VERDICT: WILLIE WINS
Old Blacks vs. Young Blacks
The WLL states you must pit the old black person versus the young black person. It would be easy to say that Willie and the crew didn’t succeed at this endeavor because black people tend to revere and defer to our elders, especially “Big Momma”, “Madere”, “Poppa” and so on. Often, older members of our families lived with us and because they cared for us as child, we naturally cared for them in their golden years. However, as times have changed, families are less connected and we have sections of town rather than neighborhoods and communities. Young people believe older people can’t move forward because they are stuck in the past, while older people can’t understand a younger generation that doesn’t seem to care about its history that may lead them down a path to repeat a terrible past. Leadership opportunities within black communities often mean a person must have some gray hair (or no hair) in order to be considered a legitimate and essential stakeholder. Young blacks only know of integration and believe anything less would be taking a step backward, as if all-black neighborhoods, schools, universities, and communities didn’t yield some of the greatest achievers (despite the obstacles) the world has ever known. I think it’s too early to say whether Willie and crew succeeded in pitting young versus old, but it’s not looking good. VERDICT: DRAW
Female vs. Male
Black men and women love one another and that can be seen in many black families across the nation. Are there issues between black men and women? Yes, but that can be said for men and women throughout the United States. Regardless of race, divorce rates are 50% or higher in most areas; domestic violence statistics seem to get worse every year; and, there remains a gender gap in terms of annual income. Despite the fact these are universal American issues, the negative aspects within each category are magnified within the black community. The divorce rate among black people is higher than the national average; domestic violence-related crimes are reported at a higher rate within the black community; and, the income gap between black men and women still remains albeit not as large as other groups but these numbers do not include the staggering unemployment rate of black men as compared to the rest of the population. The number of single-parent households (for whatever reason) within the black community is disheartening and debilitating at times. In no way are marriage, heterosexual and/or dysfunctional relationships the only answer because as mentioned earlier, people get divorced all the time; but that’s no excuse for both parents not to be in their children’s lives. If we analyzed the type television images or music lyrics that often portray black men and women as dysfunctional and natural enemies, the situation looks even worse. When did “pimping” women or cultivating a “sponsor” replace love and respect? The categories mentioned in this section are not all encompassing and they are limited in terms of measuring the strain or animosity between black women and men. However, they do illustrate that the division between black men and women exists and has major ramifications on and within the community. VERDICT: WILLIE WINS
Distrust and Envy
Again, these two concepts are not uniquely housed within the black community. That fact alone doesn’t mean Willie loses. We have to ask ourselves: Have distrust and envy distinctively affected our community in such a way that perpetuates a cycle of stunted growth and in some cases, death? Am I my brother’s (or sister’s) keeper? There are several issues and areas within the community that should give us pause. First, the unconscionable number of black-on-black crimes, especially murder, in the U.S. is truly astonishing. Do we do these things to each other for “justifiable” reasons or are we conditioned to distrust and hate one another in a manner that suggests that black lives aren’t worth much to us? Second, the level of distrust among black men and women is mentioned above, so no need to rehash that subject. Finally, in this area of distrust and envy, we have to really examine how integration or at least our attempts at integration leave us distrustful of our own community. Many of us growing up in the U.S. have been conditioned to believe black is bad and white is good. This inferior-superior complex we have internalized has made us look for truth, goodness and justice outwardly rather than within ourselves. Since the end of segregation, we don’t support (i.e., trust) black businesses anymore; we don’t support Historically Black Colleges and Universities anymore; we don’t support black news media and outlets anymore; and many of us are often afraid to live in own communities anymore. We envy what other communities have, but we aren’t willing to sacrifice to obtain those goals. Before integration, black communities depended on each other. We had our own doctors, attorneys, retail stores, auto dealerships, colleges, parks, etc. When integration became the new law, we immediately ran to the other establishments to the detriment of our own. Somehow, we were led or wanted to believe that the non-black establishment, item, perspective, or whatever was better. We trust others to do for us what we used to do for ourselves and at the end of the day we have ask ourselves, are we any better because of it? VERDICT: WILLIE WINS
Final Thoughts
White flight, school segregation, racism within the entertainment industry, and the lack of positive black male and female images everywhere demonstrates on a daily basis that other groups directly or indirectly would prefer not to integrate with us. We continue to trust that the “good” ones in those other groups will become enlightened and all of the ills within our community will change rather than trust ourselves to be the change we want to see in others. How can we change the vicious cycle from repeating itself?
In the spirit of Black History Month, we must do what our ancestors did everyday to sustain their communities. First, we must love each other. Yes, I’m fully aware of the old adage that states, “All of my skin folk, ain’t my kin folk.” There are members of our community who must be held accountable for their actions. However, we must start from a place of love with them and ourselves if we want to make a positive change in the black community. Our ancestors loved, trusted and respected themselves and one another and we are a living testament of those principals. That brings me to the second way we can make a change and that’s with taking responsibility for loving, educating and developing our children. If we continue to expect others to educate, develop and love our kids, we are doomed to repeat these cycles. If you don’t have any children, become a mentor, tutor, big brother/sister, godfather/mother, role model, coach, friend or any sort of positive influence within a child or teenager’s life. Those acts of giving are the best examples of love and will help our younger generation understand the true meaning of their value not only to themselves, but also to our entire community.
They say there are only two emotions in life: love and fear. Black people have had enough self-inflicted and external fear directed at our community, but we have an opportunity to love ourselves individually and collectively in order to heal, as well excel in the future. So, as we reflect on past failures, achievements and successes during Black History Month, let’s learn from previous mistakes and love each other so that Willie Lynch can be a thing of the past.
“I AM BECAUSE WE ARE” (African Proverb)
