IT’S TIME TO DO AWAY WITH BLACK PESSIMISM

Black People Need Allies of Success Not Allies of the Oppressed

In my interactions with black people outside the continent of Africa—specifically from the USA and Europe—one consistent theme I’ve observed is the outlook of pessimism which seem to have settled over the countenance of many black people, casting a long shadow like an eclipse and hovering menacingly like a bird of prey.

This observation is in contrast to the attitudes of most black people in Africa who despite their dire conditions, tend to see the cup as one-quarter full as opposed to three-quarters empty. This adaptability, however, is a double-edged sword as complacency may set in and people readily adjust to a new harsh reality rather than fight for improved conditions.

That being said, the pessimistic outlook of black people outside Africa is by no means a good thing either. To consistently frame the position of black people as one of “victims” or “the oppressed” does nothing good for the psyche, especially of young black people.

Black people must know that, conditions for them are not as bleak or hopeless and that there is a way out of any bad situation; a way that is within the grasp of any black person who cares to look for it. While not everybody can by personal efforts uplift themselves, that maxim is true enough for a critical mass of people who try.

I recall a recent conversation I had with a black man on one of the discord servers. His position characteristically was to bemoan white supremacy and juxtapose it with the position that black people have no power and continue to toil under the overarching arm of white supremacy bent on keeping black people powerless in all regards in perpetuity.

In my engagement, I asked him what the solution would be, how do black people escape this evil of white supremacy, so they could rise above it and manifest their true destiny. He answered that the way to go was black separatism—an ideology I wasn’t familiar with. I had heard of Pan-Africanism but never black separatism. I was curious to know what it was.

I prodded to get him to unveil this ideology. He explained that for black people to be truly free from white supremacy, black people needed to separate themselves in all regards, physically, economically, culturally and otherwise. Black people needed to create a black ethnostate where black people hold all the political, cultural and economic power away from the influences of white supremacy.

I reminded him that what he sought already existed on the continent of Africa, where there are 54 independent African countries with the majority of them being black African states.

He responded that even if that was true, what about other oppressed groups in the west. He rallied that black people needed to build alliances with other oppressed groups in the west as a matter of survival. In his words, “we need to make allies of the oppressed.”

I was astounded by that statement “making allies of the oppressed?” what a defeatist thought that was. Continuing our engagement, I said, I’d rather black people built allies of success rather than allies of the oppressed.

I’d rather black people framed a positive attitude and chase a narrative of success rather than the tired, overlaboured and weary attitude of “black people are oppressed.”

Pressing home my point, I highlighted the tremendous Jewish success today despite their treacherous history, how they have survived millennia of oppression and genocide after genocide to become a people—in relation to their number— with an oversized influence and power in the world today.

I explained that perhaps black people should be taking notes from the Jews, learning how they were able to build such unimaginable wealth and influence less than a century after six million of them were killed in one of the greatest atrocities of human existence. While not discounting the successes black people have had in the face of legalized oppression, I argued that black people cannot be successful enough to not try harder and that conditions are ripe for such success to manifest itself.

Taking my critique back home to Africa, perhaps African countries can take notes and learn from certain Asian countries like South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, which in the 1960s had economies that were comparable to that of many African countries. Today these Asian countries are light years ahead of any African country in terms of economy, technology and science.

I was not prepared for his comeback even though it didn’t surprise me that he’d go that way. He chided me for using an example of the Jews who were themselves oppressors of the Palestinians and he saw in the Palestinians a better kinship and relationship than with the Jews.

Interesting, I thought, of all the things he could have taken from the Jewish experience, the only one he could relate to was framed in a narrative of oppression. I saw his binary thinking for what it was, there were no nuances, no middle ground, life was a binary of oppressor versus oppressed and all the oppressed needed to band together in solidarity to survive.

It is not a bad strategy to make alliances with people whose interests are aligned with yours, it is ultimately desirable. But the interests of black people today would be better served by making allies of success.

I only relate this story to highlight what I think to be the negative thought process that should not be allowed to flourish within black minds anywhere and to foster an attitude of positivity.

Recently, I saw a picture culled from an article with the following words “Starting from today, chaining a dog outside or putting heavy weights on them will be illegal in Texas” to which a black person in the comment section of the article responded, “Does this law apply to black people too?”

Are black people so oppressed today that making a comparison between the treatment of dogs with the treatment of black people is deemed appropriate? What surprised me the most was that more than two thousand people agreed with this comment and thought it made sense enough to give it a thumbs up.

It confuses me that the black people who have gotten the better deal today—black people in the west—compared to the lived experiences of other black people—those in Africa—are the ones that unabashedly peddle this wanton pessimism.

Excerpt from Hotel Shendam

He looked lost and fatigued; the sweat breaking out at his brow a testament to that. His arms, numb from the weighted bags extending from them, lay limp at his side as he trudged along the dirt road to the destination unknown. Brown dust, coated his leather shoes—which in turn left their prints embedded on the face of the sandy road. He caught a glimpse of the lighted signboard of what appeared to be a hotel, its name undecipherable. It was some minutes away by foot and his legs protested an estimation of the distance—he couldn’t find any means of transportation to take him down to the hotel, so he settled for walking the distance. A passerby he approached for directions, confirmed to him that there was indeed a hotel in the direction he was headed.

The sky was coloured crimson by the sun in its late stages of descent, painting a mural of fiery patterns—splashed about like tentacles, engulfing patches of white-blue sky in a reddish web—as it made its way to the underworld, to rise again with dawn. Nightfall was imminent. The dry northern wind agitated dead leaves, strewn about on the street. The dead leaves coloured a dark brown, danced about to the rhythm of entropy……

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Charles Ekokotu (Pharm. D.) is a bibliophile, prose fiction writer, poet, and playwright. His first self-published novel, Hotel Shendam—a crime fiction novel featuring a debate on race and colonialism—is available on Amazon. A very fun read! Grab a copy now!

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