I recently read an article facilitated by The Ohio State University’s Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity. titled, Whites Underestimate the Cost of Being Black. The basic observation of the research by Phil Mazzocco is “While there has been progress in making racial conditions in American more equal, there's clearly a lot more work to be done,” he said. “Blacks and whites are not experiencing the same America.”
As we approach this Independence Day, I began to ponder the “cost of being Black.”
Independence has a very different meaning for African Americans, and that leaves many of us ambivalent as we watch the fireworks and hear the marching bands and see the parades celebrating our nation’s independence. Freedom for Black Americans came more than 100 years after the Declaration of Independence, and still is characterized by huge gaps in the fruits of independence.
As we look back on our own independence, and evaluate our progress, we are not far removed from the indignities observed by Frederick Douglass , in his Independence Day Speech on the fourth of July, 1852. At that point in the history of our nation – he made this observation:
“At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. Oh! had I the ability, and could I reach the nation's ear, I would today pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and its crimes against God and man must be denounced.”
“The costs of being black in our society are very well documented,” Mazzocco said. “Blacks have significantly lower income and wealth, higher levels of poverty, and even shorter life spans, among many other disparities, compared to whites.”
While whites may underestimate the cost, most Blacks are not far removed from the sentiments expressed by Frederick Douglass. As we celebrate along with our fellow citizens, we must continue to advance, in spite of the costs. It is important to recognize that, while emancipation was officially announced in 1863, we are still paying a higher cost of being Black in America.
For me, this makes my freedom more precious, and provides the motivation to continue the struggle for equality. My vote is more precious. My education is more valuable to me. I appreciate the progress that my parents and grandparents made – as well as my own progress -- because I had to work harder for it. I have a greater commitment to work for the progress of others, because Frederick Douglass also taught us that “power concedes nothing without a demand.”
Do we have something to celebrate on this Independence Day? Yes, we do. We are not experiencing the same America, but this nation is just as much ours as it is anyone else’s. So I encourage you to enjoy the celebration. Just don’t forget the cost.
