Hello reader and
welcome to my world. I am Sandra “Sandy”
M. (Gardner) Corder and I was born in Jamaica, West Indies to a Cuban Dad and a
West Indian Mom; I am JaCuban. When I
was younger I never understood the importance of my heritage. Daddy only spoke
Spanish when he was pissed off because Mommy never knew the language; hence, my
speaking in Espanola is poquito. Growing up we attended Trinity Lutheran
Church, predominately Caucasian and aside from an elderly African American
couple, who hold a special place in my heart and memories; we never associated
with African Americans even though after five years of being only one of two
Black families on our street; the dynamics of the neighborhood changed. Mommy was a housekeeper for two wealthy
Caucasian families in another community but they were also an extended
family. If my parents wanted to go out,
we would wind up at the homes of one of these families, of which my favorite was
the Hartford family. I was so
embarrassed as a teen because Mommy used to play Tom Jones, Elvis and Engelbert
Humperdinck, she played African American musicians as well but the inclusion of
the aforementioned used to embarrass me but now I find myself enjoying music
from any genre as long as it is not some sad and depressing song. To summarize all of this, I know my heritage
and am not ashamed.
I shared all of
that because I am a foreign born Black woman and mother to four African
American children and for their sake I was required to learn the history of African
Americans in this nation. Living in this
country where one is judged by the color of their skin and not for who they are
has created a very dangerous scenario for society but most importantly, an
entire race of people have been denied the right to know their true racial
identity and the many contributions of their race; not only in this country but
to the world. Many intellectuals and politicians love to mull over the question
of why the condition of African Americans is the way it is and trust me when I
say this crosses party affiliation, religious beliefs; yada, yada, yada. From the moment African citizens were traded
and/or kidnapped from the country of their birth, they have been denied their
identity and it has been most pervasive in the United States. You can see this in the attitudes of foreign
born Blacks [oh, please note that not everyone who is Black is African
American] and some of them will not align themselves with African Americans but
I digress. African citizens turned slaves were not able
to hold on to the customs of their tribes, they were not able to stay with
kinfolks never mind families. By the
way, before some of you with a certain perspective start getting bent out of
shape; let me remind you that you have your ancestral heritage and customs to cleave
to; not so for African Americans. This
race of people were denied how to read and write in the days of slavery and
that has not changed; look at the conditions of the public schools in
economically disenfranchised neighborhoods.
This country was basically built upon the blood, sweat and tears of this
race of peoples yet they are still being denied. Yes, Native Americans,
Hispanics and the Chinese were treated heinously also but they were all left
alone to hold on to what made them who they are: heritage. The audacity of this nation to prescribe one
month to a race who helped many Caucasian families become wealthy and many
(Caucasian males) claimed fame and fortune via nefarious means in that inventions
by African Americans were stolen and Caucasian males claimed credit and it
continues this day. For instance, Garret Morgan (1877-1963) invented the
traffic light[1]
as well as other inventions but the other day I ran across an article giving
credit to a notable Caucasian male; before Avon and Mary Kay, there was Madame
C.J. Walker (1867-1919)[2],
the first African American millionaire[3]. Then we have the classics that so many love, The Three Musketeers, The Man in the Iron
Mask and The Count of Monte Cristo
written by Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870)[4],
a Black man, French but a Black man nonetheless; or how about Charles Drew
(1904-1950)[5]
a Black man and brilliant doctor and scientist who pioneered methods of storing
blood plasma for transfusion but bled to death because a White hospital did not
want to help him after a car accident; then there is Benjamin Banneker
(1731-1806)[6]
who finished the work started by L’Enfant in the architecture of the nation’s Capitol[7]
and there are still “those” who choose to refute it; how can we forget that the
very same Capitol, in which a group of peoples denigrate the first African
American President, was built by African American slaves[8];
and there are countless others. So, ask
yourself why is none of this in the history books? Why is it that even during
Black History month, middle/junior high schools, high schools and public
schools in the suburbs do not really look at the “truth” of the history of
African Americans in this nation? There
is so much to the contributions of African Americans in every war fought on
this terra firma, no matter which side they fought on. Or why deny that Cleopatra was a Black woman?
Heck, many of the beautiful and renowned queens of old were Black yet unless
African American/Black women fit a “certain” description; we are unattractive while
forgetting that so many African American females raised Caucasian children.
Before I finish
I cannot ignore the lack of information regarding the contributions of other
minority groups. If not for Native
Americans, the first group of European settlers would not have survived yet Native
Americans are only remembered during Thanksgiving in elementary school skits. Really people?
How about the contributions of the Chinese and Japanese to this
nation? How about the blood of all these
minority groups that was shed defending this country in wars overseas even
though they were denied the very same thing they were fighting for on behalf of
citizens of those nations? You cannot
have a true democracy in any sense of the word when you purposely choose to
deny that the United States of America was built by minorities as well as
Caucasian men. Many cleave to the idea
of the Founding Framers but no one found this country; it was already
inhabited. Can you stop at a home you
like, just go in and take it from the original inhabitants? Hell no but that is
what happened but no one wants to acknowledge that; it would disrupt the image
they have clung to for so long. Why must
any foreign born that does not look a “certain” way have to change their names
and who they are to “fit in”? That is
not a democracy and this is not a democracy; it is just the idea of one. A true democracy, with its imperfection,
would not force people to fit into a category created by someone else. A true democracy would not attempt to deny its
citizens the ability to participate in any process that is or should be
afforded to citizens, but it is happening.
A true democracy respects and honors the racial, gender, ethnic,
economic and sexual orientation differences of its citizenry; again, that is
not happening in a land that loves to boast of democracy. I am not naïve, I am quite aware of the
imperfections within any society no matter the title they use to describe their
country’s government. After all, human
beings are so very flawed, so why wouldn’t the governments be?
I will close
with the fact that many love to laud that this is a “Christian” nation but if
that were true, they would know that our Creator is no respecter of persons
(Acts 10:34, Romans 2:11 & James 2:1-13) and since the Creator created
every living thing, in essence they nullify their religion in their failure to
acknowledge not only the history of African Americans but their very existence;
thus the lies continue. “The local community is very important in one’s life;
the feelings of identification with a place and a people” (Alexander McCall
Smith); this has been taken away from a race of people.
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