Re-Revisionist History
American history might not be as black and white as you've been told.
Re-revisionist history
We hear that a black man can’t make it in America. Why not? And how do we explain Dr. Ben Carson, Neal Tyson deGrasse, Thomas Sowell, LeBron James and an endless list of black men who are making it in America? Oh, but these are famous people, so they don’t count. Right? The AVERAGE black man can’t make it in America, right? OK, then, what about everyday white men in America? How are they doing? In equivalent situations, do white men get better treatment than black men? Is there research that even examines that question? Well, there’s this from Saturday Night Live:
SNL White Like Me Eddie Murphy
But I started to write this, not about black men today, but about a black woman from a century and a half ago. That woman is Madam C J Walker. If you haven’t heard of her, why not? In the early 1900s she became the wealthiest self-made woman in America. And you may have guessed, she was black. She was the daughter of former slaves, born shortly after the civil war. She had no advantages, was married at fourteen, and distinguished herself in no way whatsoever, at first. I won’t go into all the details, but there is a link below for more info.
My real point is, yes, anyone can make it in America, and it’s easier now than ever. Opps, did I say ‘easy’? The word success implies effort and persistence. A person can be born to wealth or win a lottery. Either way, that person is rich, but they have succeeded at nothing. Madame C J Walker succeeded. Big time.
Sitting on your ass and complaining is a form of self-fulfilling prophecy. In a time when blacks were being lynched, in the time of Jim Crow, in a time when woman generally could not vote, Madame C J Walker came from nothing and became the wealthiest self-made woman in America.
Success takes effort. The two terms go hand in hand. What do you want, and how hard are you willing to work for it?
Comments are welcome:
Madame Walker was an inspirational figure. The tongue-in-cheek satire by Eddie Murphy is all the more ironic when you remember that he was, at the time, among the most sought-after and highly paid performers in the world. We have not made much progress by dictating equity over equality of opportunity.