Page 3
1976—
The darker
brother says,
7 Too, Sing America'
"Some people are arguing that the Negro has nothing to
celebrate this Bicentennial. He has everything to celebrate. He
has overcome all kinds of obstacles. If he cannot celebrate, no
American can."
Roy Wilkins, Former Executive Director
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
by Tonya Widemon
Editor
In 1852, ex-slave and
abolitionist Frederick Douglass
asked the meaning of the Fourth
of July to the American Negro. He
angrily told America that he and
enslaved Black people had
nothing to celebrate because they
were excluded from the freedoms
and privileges that white
Americans enjoyed.
The character and conduct of
America never looked blacker
than on the Fourth of July,
Douglass said.
July 4th will never have the
same significance of gaining
liberty in 1776 for Blacks that it
has for white Americans because
we were not allowed to share the
first celebration 200 years ago.
We had worked equally hard, if
not harder, than any people in
America atthattime. Generations
of Black men, women and
children have endured gross
injustices—and in many cases
today, we still suffer. Human
rights and human liberties had no
discernible meaning to many
generations of Blacks born on this
continent for more than 200 years
(about 1619-1865) because they
had never experienced freedom.
There was, however, a raging
spirit of liberty in their hearts.
That undying hope is what July
4th means to the American Black
today.
The same hope was raging in
the heart of Crispus Attucks, a
runaway slave in 1770. Leading a
group of Boston patriots against
the British, Attucks was killed—
the first martyr during the War for
Independence at the Boston
Massacre.
Salem Poor, James Forten,
James Armistead, Prince
Whipple, a woman who called
herself "Robert Shurtliff"
(Deborah Gannett) and hundreds
more Blacks dedicated their lives
as soldiers and spies for the
liberty of America. Many had even
been runaway slaves guaranteed
freedom in return.
At the close of the American
Revolution, Blacks were cheated
of their American rights, and even
more, their human rights. They
were forced even further away
from the realizations of liberty and
justice for all and every man
created equal.
Still, those people had toiled
and lost lives in the struggle. The
investment of their lives has been
too great for us, today, to deny
that part of our heritage. If we
Black American "Moses'
Harriet Tubman
refuse to recognize our part in
building the United States of
America, then we deny those
Blacks who shed blood and
sparked the centuries of hope that
one day we, too, would be able to
sing America.
The hope for freedom also
burned in the heart of Harriet
Tubman—the Black American
"Moses” who led 300 slaves to
freedom safely by way of the
Underground Railroad. She also
directed Union raiding parties
during the Civil War and built a
home for old and sick ex-slaves.
Blacks felt that hope surge
again when the Emancipation
Proclamation dissolved slavery in
1865. Again, Blacks believed that
their dreams for American
citizenship and human rights
would come true. And, again, they
had given lives as soldiers and
spies during war. But, the true
liberties and privileges did not
come even then.
It took more than 100 more
years through Reconstruction,
the Freedman's Bureau, lobbying,
legislation, lynchings, Jim
Crowism, riots, World Wars, court
orders, nonviolent marches, more
riots, more court cases and even
assassinations, before we finally
began to experience the rights of
humans and of Americans.
Faced by these obstacles. Black
people continued to make worthy
contributions (although
historically ignored) to the total
American heritage, in education,
politics, labor forces, arts,
sciences, and civil rights causes.
Today, we are beginning to see
the dream come true—the
privileges of freedom and
citizenship.
"Being a Black American
means being perenially hopeful,"
wrote professional tennis player
Arthur Ashe. (Readers Digest,
March, 1976). "Hopeful that one
day we will be able to live any
place we can afford. Hopeful that
we may one day not have to worry
whether race is a factor when
applying for a job—or, worse,
have to explain to our children
why more Black Americans are
not found in our history books."
During the 1976 July 4th
celebration year. Black
Americans do have something to
be proud of—our own Black
heritage and the victories of the
undying hope that only we can
know.
The hope that Attucks and
Tubman had is still our hope
today—the hope that one day,
each Black American can say, "I,
too, sing America."
1, Too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes.
But 1 laugh.
And eat well.
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I'll sit at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.
Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed,—
1, Too, am America.
Langston Hughes