G u e s t A u t h o r
Nick Wright
“I’m not American; I’m Black”
My good friend and roommate made this claim the other night while we were watching something about American politics abroad. I found that to be a very interesting distinction that I’m sure some Blacks agree with and some that certainly do not. However, the point is not whether or not his sentiment is echoed by others. The point is that he was drawing the line between two racial or ethnic identities. I do not necessarily have a problem with that. I have many Hispanic friends who consider themselves Hispanics but also consider themselves Black in a way because to them “Black” means people of color, any color. Once again, I am not making a moral evaluation of those determinations, I am simply stating that I have heard multiple times people draw a line as to what race or ethnicity they believe they fall in to. I truly have no problem with any of this. However, what I do have a problem with is the following. I have no tolerance for, let alone patience for, people who feel like they are X first and a human being second (X being some racial group).
To me, it is wholly unacceptable to feel a stronger tie to your individual race or group than you do to humanity as a whole. It is because of this type of people and this thought pattern that so many injustices and horrors go on in our world. Whether it be the Sudan today, or Rwanda of yesterday or hate crimes in the United States of yesterday, today and, to be sure, tomorrow, all of these problems were precipitated on the belief that people owe a loyalty to their own ethnic group that they do not owe to humanity as a whole, and that is morally repugnant.
Now, I am certainly not saying one should not have ethnic pride or even that one can’t enjoy seeing people of his ethnicity succeed more than he would enjoy seeing others succeed. I also have no problem with the idea of identifying strongly with your heritage and ancestry and trying to teach your children the pride that goes along with that. But, that simply does not excuse teaching your children or believing yourself that your first loyalty in the world is to “your” people, rather than simply to “people”.
Racial and ethnic pride can be a majestic force. It can bring together downtrodden and struggling communities unlike almost anything else. However, it also has the power to destroy everyone in its path when people stop losing site of the face that while there are Black people and White people and Yellow people and Brown people and the one thing all of them have in common is that they are all just that–people.
