Ignoring The Black Separatists

May 21, 2003

It’s amazing to hear the cacophony of outrage over black and white students in Georgia having separate proms when you could hear a pin drop around the black graduation ceremony in Philadelphia.   Oh, you haven’t heard?   That’s no surprise.   The double-standard applied to these types of situations is commonplace in today’s media.

You’ll, of course, remember the furor surrounding the separate “proms” in Georgia a few weeks ago.   To set the facts straight, there was a dance for blacks and a dance for whites, neither sanctioned by the school.   Apparently, the school stopped having Junior/Senior proms years ago.

Now we learn that the University of Pennsylvania held pre-graduation ceremonies for blacks.   Billed as the Black Senior Celebration, these students walked to the front of the room when their name was called to receive colorful pieces of kente cloth.   Then some poet/social worker poured water on a plant in an African libation ritual.

Latinos and Asians each had separate ceremonies, as well.   And I thought diversity meant doing things together.

A couple of things, here.  

First, it’s fine to celebrate your culture but black culture is richest here in America.   I guess I could celebrate my culture with a Spanish bullfight but my ancestors left Spain in the 17 th Century.   My culture is here in the United States.   Why some people choose to reach back for something that’s not there is beyond me.

Second, if a bunch of white folks had gathered for the White Senior Celebration, the left-leaning media would’ve been all over it.   The only reason they covered the Georgia prom story is because they were able to spin it as a “white prom” when, in fact, the black students had decided to have their own prom.

There’s some comfort in knowing that half of the black students at the University of Pennsylvania did not attend this nonsense.

Let’s face facts.   A gathering of white folks to the exclusion of blacks is called racism.   A gathering of black folks to the exclusion of whites is called progress.   In reality, they are both racism, no matter who is doing it.

To those of you who insist on being black separatists, I would remind you that it took a majority of white folks like me to help achieve equality in this country.   It took enough angry white folks like me who detested the way black people were being treated to make the necessary changes in the law.   The Congress that passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was overwhelmingly white.   The Supreme Courts that have ruled in favor of Civil Rights have been largely white.

Also understand that those who choose to call themselves African-Americans are putting Africa first and America second.   Quite frankly, I find that offensive.   Sure, we’ve made mistakes in this country but we’ve also undergone one of the most significant moral transformations the world has ever seen.   I am proud to be living in the greatest country on the planet.

I’m not a Spanish-American.   I’m not a Southern-American.   I’m an American.   My culture, my history; they’re here, not on some distant shore.   Celebrate your culture, sure.   Be proud of your heritage, by all means.   But keep things in perspective.   Remember who you are and don’t pretend to be someone you’re not.

Graduations are a time to celebrate a major achievement in life.   The fact that these young people are graduating from an Ivy League school should be enough to melt away any accusations of a racist system.   If they’ve come this far only to yearn for the days of separate but equal, they have a long, hard life ahead of them.