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Oprah
Winfrey’s interview with Prince Harry and Megan Markle exposed
what a bunch of us already suspected. The biracial Megan wasn’t
getting the royal treatment. Further, that sistah-girl was not likely
to put up with it for long. There were some who believed that Megan
should’ve known what she was getting herself into - a white,
hierarchy wrapped in monarchal traditions. The princess had made her
bed, now she must lie in it.
A
recent “60 Minutes” segment exposed the hurdles being
placed in front of St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner as she
attempts to carry out the reform agenda mandated by the voters who
have elected her twice. For her commitment to duty, Gardner faces a
deluge of daily death threats. When she was sworn in as the first
African American prosecutor, should Gardner have been aware of all
the racist ugliness that she would face?
I
think about other Black folks who accepted certain responsibilities
and knew it would be no crystal stair. They had to endure personal
and professional attacks that their white counterpart never dreamed
of. Blacks challenging white institutions with their bodies often pay
a high price. The history of violence against Black people who dared
to buck the white status quo is well documented.
When
Black women push open the doors of organized religion to serve the
same way as male priests, ministers, and pastors, these sistahs’
expectations to be ordained and accepted by a denomination are met
with resistance and ridicule.
Baseball
great Hank Aaron played the sport because he loved it just like
Jackie Robinson. Robinson paved the way for Blacks into professional
baseball and caught hell for doing so. Between 1947 and 1974, there
was not much racial progress on the baseball fields. As Aaron
approached the home run record of white icon Babe Ruth, he received
hate mail and death threats. Should he have expected this reception?
We
can only imagine the issues of safety that President Obama and First
Lady Michelle have to confront on a regular basis.
This
thing, this is the notion that when Black people enter a particular
white institution, they should suffer the slings and arrows silently
because they knew the nature of the beast, the beast being systematic
racism. These courageous folks made - and continue to make - a
conscious choice to cross the unspoken line.
We
cannot ask the drum majors of the world to lead us if we don’t
support them and fight with them for our collective dignity and
power. We cannot elect people to office and leave them to fight for
us without us.
As
for Megan Markle, I’m sure she understood that there would be
some tough times as did Ida B. Wells, Thurgood Marshall, Bessie
Coleman, General Benjamin Davis, Sr., Jack Johnson, Annie Malone,
Josephine Baker, Crystal Bird Fauset, Berry Gordy, Tiger Woods and
many others who were the first in arenas deemed for whites only.
We
should not leave them hanging. Instead, we can stand beside those who
are working to shatter the foundations of oppressive systems that
limit the boundaries of human potential.
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