Break These Chains

Break These Chains


Are the days of slavery over? If so then Why do we as a black people treat one another so badly? Our minds have been conditioned this way from slavery, it's known as “The Willie Lynch Theory”. I decided to do some research to find out why is it that when I see another black woman in the grocery store and look to her for eye contact to greet her she refuses to acknowledge my presence. This has happened on more than one occasion. I wanted to find out why this continued to happen. I wanted to know why is it that we find it difficult to compliment one another yet we find it very easy to ''hate” on one another.
Why is that we cannot allow our relatives to live in our homes when they are facing a difficult time or some type of hardship and when we do allow our family members to move in we begin to badger them about moving out in a few days time, and about how much food they eat, and the utilities that they use.
In reading the novel “The making of a slave” a novel written by a slave owner by the name of Willie Lynch the answer to these questions has become clear. You see Willie Lynch was sought out by other slave owners who were having difficulty with making their slaves “behave”. Willie Lynch informed the slave owners of his theory. This Theory was for the slave owners to use techniques that would cause the slaves turn against each other. This would create havoc among the slaves causing them to hate and distrust one another. This theory also played a part in how the black races became divided based upon the different shades of their black skin. The lighter skinned blacks were the “House Negroes” while the darker skinned blacks were in the fields therefore known as the “Field Negroes”
Sadly 400 hundred years has passed and though slavery no longer exist we still are held captive. Our minds are held captive by the training that we endured in the past when we were in bondage. We have have allowed the teachings of the slave owners to condition our minds preventing us from loving and trusting one another. We are ourselves own enemies, when I see how the black culture treat each other it saddens me. The holiday gatherings are merely a facade, the black families are at odds with one another 362 days of the year and we try to pretend that all is well during the holiday season just for the sake of keeping the peace and “tolerating” each other.
Instead of realizing how far we have come, we have allowed the conditioning of our minds to prevent us from moving forward. Is this because we are afraid? Is this because we are still in the mind set that I have to “get mines” the hell with whether or not you get yours when we are actually striving towards the same goal. I have tried time and time again to befriend other beautiful black women such as myself only to find out that their friendship was not sincere. I have tried to find many ways for myself and other black women to connect on a more intimate level to discuss the trials we face by simply being a back woman.
These attempts were to no avail yet I continue to see how badly we treat one another. I often wondered when will there be a change, when will my people come together and love one another despite of our differences. When I observe the bonds of Mexican American families and their culture it brings joy to my heart. We often make jokes about how many families live in the same house in the Mexican American culture, but this is a symbol of what family truly is. The Mexican culture will pull together in difficult times showing an undying faith in God, helping one another get through the difficulties of life. Through my experience the Mexican American culture seems to never lose focus on the true meaning of “Family”. I have seen In this culture the ex spouse in the presence of one another with their new spouses in harmony for the benefit of their children.
How do we set ourselves free? How do we start to see each other as equals and inferior? I think that it has to take place on an individual basis, I went to a pub the other night, this beautiful black woman was sporting this short and sassy hair cut it was very beautiful and so was she. I decided that instead of staring at her I wanted to break the chain and so I compliment her. I told her how beautiful her hair was and I also told her that she was a very pretty woman. I was not prepared for what happened next. She bent down to thank me and asked me for a hug her words were “ I thank you so much give me a hug I need some love show me some love” she stated this as we hugged me.
I was in awe because something happened, I saw this beautiful woman who appeared to have it all together, any man would have been proud to have her on his arm yet based on the way she welcomed my compliment, it made her feel validated and I believe that was the “Eureka moment” for me that inspired me to write this piece. Perhaps we are angry as black people and as a culture. The black men are angry because they are seen as a “threat” as a second class citizen compared to Caucasian men. This shatters their self esteem and their self confidence which will eventually taint his abilities to reach his full potential as a man.
This causes the black man to be angry eventually taking his frustrations out on those who love him causing them to become angry Then there are the educated black men and women who speak English proper and pure yet these blacks are looked upon as of “thinking that they are white” I have cousins who often tell me “you speak like a white girl” How does a white girl speak? I speak English. This is how we have been conditioned to think. We as black people do not have to speak “slavery English” using backward language reversing our words. We now have the resources to become educated and taught proper English yet when use these resources to better ourselves we began to label one another as “talking white” or “acting white” even going as far as saying “he or she is not black enough”. This has become another factor that has caused the division among our race we judge one another based on the way we speak, the way we dress, the amount of education we have or the lack of education, along with what we posses.
There is an internal envy that exist among us and within us that never seems to subside. I find myself saying “I do not want to be surrounded by a lot of blacks”, I say this because we in the black culture treat one another so badly and I want to be as far away from the drama as I can. My hope is that one day we can come together in unity as a culture to recondition our minds to learn to love and accept one another. I pray that we will no longer allow the “Willie Lynch Theory” to exist today among our people.
Those who came before us were humiliated and stripped of their dignity and self respect. They paid the ultimate price for us to have the ability to be free. How can we enjoy our freedom when we allow our actions towards one another to exhibit captivity.