Enough is Enough (Part 1 of Many)

by Casper Stockham

The recent turn of events during the election and the general disregard for common sense has prompted me to examine the road to victim-hood; how we got here and how we get out.

As the civil rights time line shows, people of color have come a long way on the road to equality. We now have some great and, not so great people that for one reason or another have been lifted to the role of commander and chief of ALL people of color.

I truly wish Martin & Malcolm where here to see this. They would not believe how far we have come as a whole in society. They would also not believe that we have REFUSED to move out of victim-hood into being proud of who we are, what we believe, and what we can achieve.

In some ways the black power movement of the 70's was on the right track. Not the violent part, but the part that says we should be PROUD of who we are. There was a reason that movement was suppressed, but that is a totally different article. We need to be careful not to linger in and on the past, because if we do we will separate ourselves from society. We need society and society needs us.

Black is good, but so is white, brown, yellow and any other race you find on the planet. We are all human, that is the bottom line. It seems the only thing that would unite us together, in this day and time, would be the landing of a REAL UFO.

In the mean time we spend way to much energy pointing fingers and blaming others for our current situation. I have some very good news and some very bad news for you. Where we are as a people is exactly where we decide to be. No one put us here but us.

I can already hear you now. What about the slaves, our ancestors, they where brought here by force. True, I will readily admit to that, however that, as the time line shows, has LONG been resolved. Restitution will never happen and is a mute point.

The best way I can explain this is with the following example. If I took you exactly as you are today, with all your knowledge, experience and wisdom, then I took away your job, your home and contact with your family, then I took you down to the local homeless shelter, how long would you stay there? Or better yet, I took you to a shelter in another state or country, how long would you stay there?

The answer is simple. Remember in this example you are free to walk out any time you choose. If you still have what really counts, your knowledge, experience and wisdom, you would not be there long at all. However, there are those who tell you daily, that you will have to stay there for a long time. Maybe, you will have to stay there forever. Unless of course, they help you, because you need them to get out of the shelter.

As Malcolm would say, we are being bamboozled. The chains have been gone for a long time, but we still feel them, we think that we are not allowed to walk out of the shelter to get back into the game of life. Well, I say ENOUGH is ENOUGH.

Now with all that said, as a black man trying to make it today, I know there are obstacles we face daily that some people do not see or understand at all. My point is this, those challenges face people all over the world. It is not the challenge that worries me, it is the way we have chosen to deal with them that needs to be addressed.

From the beginning of time there have been the haves and the have nots. The good and bad news, is there will always be the haves and the have nots. Today with the access we have to information and technology there is NO reason for anyone to be in the shelter of life, unless they are mentally ill or truly can not take care of themselves. IF you can hold a sign on the corner, you can find a job.

Today it is NOT the have and the have nots that separate us. It is the know and the know nots. An educated man is hard to hold on the farm. An educated man is hard to hold in the ghetto and an educated man will not stay in a shelter.

When I say an educated man I do not mean you have to have a degree of some type. All you need to know is that you do NOT BELONG in the shelter, that is it! If you think you belong there you will stay. If you were to put me in that position the minute you started to walk out I would too. You may ask where I am going and I would tell you "I don't know but, I DO NOT belong here". That is all we need to do!

We, as a people, should NEVER follow any one man or position blindly. There is nothing wrong with stepping back every once in a while, and asking WHY? NO ONE cares more about you than YOU. The government is not there to make sure your pillow is fluffed up at night.

However, they are there to serve and represent us. To make sure our rights and interests are represented. They are also there to make sure we are free to pursue or not to pursue happiness. Nothing is guaranteed, and our happiness is not guaranteed either, sorry.

Your happiness is up to YOU and YOU alone. If you are not happy now, CHANGE. If you do not like your job, CHANGE IT. If you do not live in a good place, MOVE. If there is no water where you live, GO to the water. If you think you can or think you can not, YOUR RIGHT.