"Apologies aren't enough" by Dr. John Hope Franklin

[MCh 404 Data & Education]

Dr. John Hope Franklin: It's going to become epidemic now. People are running around apologizing for slavery. What about that awful period since slavery—Reconstruction, Jim Crow and all the rest? And what about the enormous wealth that was built up by black labor? If I was sitting on a billion dollars that someone had made when I sat on them, I probably would not be slow to apologize, if that's all it takes. I think that's little to pay for the gazillions that black people built up—the wealth of this country—with their labor, and now you're going to say I'm sorry I beat the hell out of you for all these years? That's not enough. They ought to develop some kind of modus operandi that they can do something else—something to absolve themselves of three centuries of guilt from which they are the direct beneficiaries.

How large is the black population now living in abject poverty in this country? How large is the population of blacks who have poor health? Sometimes they inherited the poor health right from their forebears who were beaten and treated like they were animals all over this country. It's simply not enough. And I'm impatient with the piety that goes along with it. They're so syrupy in their apologies. What does it cost? Nothing.

What else do you think they should do?

[TheArtiste Hassan]

It is very important for us to study and know White Histoty (all of us) just as it is important for us (all of us) to know Black history. Both are case studies of people DOWN GETTING UP AND THE APPROACHES USED TO DO SO. Someone took the initiative long back to define the roles of people in turns of color in order to profit from this type of division. It (separations by color) has been going on now for as far back as we care to know about. My case in point is that some ones of us (who see to whole picture) has to establish order, priority and balance back into the equasion as the LEADERS OF THIS NEW AGE. We can not keep doing the same things historically expecting a different result.

GOOD OVER EVIL HAS NO COLOR.
BAD AND GOOD HAS NO COLOR.
RICH AND POOR HAS NO COLOR.
APOLOGIES HAS NO COLOR.
REVENGE, HATRED AND UNFORGIVENESS HAS NO COLOR...
BUT RACISM DOES...
IN ORDER TO BE A RACIST, YOU MUST BE A PART OF A RACE BASED GROUP WHO BY IDENTITY GIVES YOU PROVILAGES NOT AFFORDED BY OTHERS WHO ARE NOT... AND THEREFORE YOU BY CLAIMING PART, HELP TO PERPETUATE SUPERIORITY.
FORGIVENESS ALONE CAN NOT ERACE THIS FROM PEOPLES MIND JUST by SIMPLY CLAIMING TO BE EQUAL AND HAVING EQUAL RIGHTS DOES NOT change it or MAKE IT SO.

THE SYSTEM WHICH BUILT ALL THIS UNBALANCED ECONOMICS AND WEALTH ON THE BACKS AND THE PREMICE OF RACISM AND WHITE SUPREMACY HAS TO COME CRUMBLING DOWN IN ORDER FOR ALL OF HUMANITY TO LIVE IN PEACE AND PROSPERITY. The Rich and Greedy (of all colors who fail to start giving back) will not be able to enter into what the future has to offer those who know better than to keep going around on the same vicious merry-go-round nightmare. NO APOLIGIES ARE NOT ENOUGH. THE ENTIRE SYSTEM MUST COME DOWN WHILE ESTABLISHING A MORE FAIR AND JUST SYSTEM AND REDISTRIBUTING THE WEALTH!!!!!

I DON'T WANT REPARATIONS... I WANT REDISTRIBUTION OF THE WEALTH AND NOT DETERMINED BY THE POLITICIANS, THE RELIGIONS OR THE GREEDY WHO WE HAVE SEEN OVER AND OVER DEAL UNFAIRLY, UNEQUALLY AND UNJUSTLY.