I am confused. I was taught that you were supposed to give back to the community that supported you. I am a product of several communities; the black community is one of them. I attended all black schools until high school. I grew up in a variety of black communities all of my life. I attended a historically black college. Most of my mentors, teachers, and preachers were black. As I recall, most of my neighbors and friends were black people; all of which wove a colorful pattern of support for me and my family. At every turn, I had someone reminding me of my potential and my responsibility to develop my gifts to greatness. This collection of people prepared and propelled me forward into high school, college and graduate school. It is the strength of that community of people that lifted me above poverty and mediocrity. The success that I am experiencing right now is largely due to that group of people we refer to as the Black Community.
I recently talked to my 7th grade math teacher from East St. Louis, Mrs. Nave. Ironically, she is the reason I am a writer and speaker today. When I was young, I questioned everything. “Why is the sky blue? Why do birds fly south for the winter? How do they know which way is south?” This frustrated my family and most of my teachers, but not Mrs. Nave. She taught math and she had answers. As a result, I developed a love for math and she developed a name for me, “Attorney Hodge.” She saw potential in my inquisitive nature. I found value in it also. Today, I am paid well for asking questions and finding solutions. But here’s the problem: Where are they now? I’m not looking for the individuals but the community.
Most of my adult life I have lived in predominately black neighborhoods and my son has attended public schools. However, most of my son’s teachers are not black. We are very fortunate to have had wonderful teachers. However, I can’t help but wonder “where are all the black teachers?” Similarly, I have found a shortage of blacks in social organizations, black business associations, and political associations. One would think that St. Louis didn’t have very many blacks.
Where does one go to find a diverse representation of blacks in St. Louis? Where do we live, work, eat or play? Where’s the black part of town? Where can I find black art, cultural, restaurants, museums, music or plays? Where can I go to just find black people to talk to? Are these questions inappropriate to ask? Is it racist to suggest that there might be such a place? Nearly every other racial or ethnic group in St. Louis can answer these questions. Why is it so difficult for us?
The reality is that we have been divided into two camps. It began about 56 years ago with Brown vs The Board of Education Topeka, Kansas Supreme Court decision. The result of this decision dissolved race-based schools and communities. Gradually, black communities like The Ville in St. Louis City were abandoned by “well-to-do” blacks seeking better schools and communities among non-blacks. This left poor blacks to develop a sub-black cultural of its own. Consequently, what we have left is half of the former black community speckled into large white communities and the other half concentrated in abandoned black territories. Neither of these groups represents the whole. It is even more tragic that these two group rarely come in contact with eachother. Yet, we promote and continue to discuss the Black Community as if it actually exists.
Today, we are faced with this perplexing reality. There is no longer a real black community at all. It seems that we have given it up for integration. Is that what we intended to do? If so, where am I supposed to do my community service?
No comments:
Post a Comment