You know, there’s something about Oklahoma. I’ve only been there once and I have no intentions on ever going there again. There is a spirit that lingers over Oklahoma; it is oppressive and smothering. Perhaps it is a result of the staggering racial violence that has taken place on Oklahoma grounds. Perhaps it is because white Oklahoma attempted to erase this history from its history books. Whatever the reason the result is real – an oppressive spirit that can zap the joy out of people who are sensitive to it. (For those who don’t know the history of Black Wallstreet – Google it) In a nutshell: WWI-era white racist came back from the war poor and tired. They saw the prosperity of Greenwood and decided that “niggers” could not live better than whites. Then it was the same ‘ole story that we’ve heard so many times that we could write the script in our sleep. A black man was accused of touching a white woman, smiling at a white woman or something. What ever it was the charges were trumped up. A mob mentality ensued ending in a literal war against the residents of Greenwood. White racists used crop dusters to fire bomb Greenwood, they went in on foot and massacred the residents. The governor, who knew what was going on, did not send in the National Guard until basically the town had been destroyed. Compensation and acknowledgement of this government-sanctioned massacre did not occur until the 1990′s!
Fast forward to the present. Jake England, 19, and Alvin Watts, 32 thought it was their right to, once again, massacre African American men. On Friday, April 6, 2012 – these two demonic racists – drove up and down the streets of a predominately African American neighborhood in Tulsa, shot and killed 3 random men who happened to be out walking. They wounded another two. The executed are: Dannaer Fields, 49, Bobby Clark, 54, and William Allen, 31. The press has not released the names of the two who are wounded. Unlike with Trayvon Martin, the local police did the right thing and arrested these two hoodlums even though Oklahoma does have the stupid stand your ground law. Will the mainstream media pick this up? Will we finally get to have an honest dialogue about racism that isn’t the surface crap that Soledad O’Brien tends to create? My money says, “NO”.
It is my belief that the election of President Obama has led to an increase in racial violence and police brutality. White males feel threatened by the reality that their days of being the majority are quickly coming to an end. What people of color must do is take a lesson from South Africa where white men have always been in the minority but some how still held all of the power. We must be very deliberate in making sure that our children are well-educated and ready to take on the careers of the future. Otherwise America will surely slip further into the economic territory similar to a developing nation.
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