I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.
Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed—
I, too, am America.
Nearly a century after Langston Hughes penned this powerful poem in 1926, the recent killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmad Aubrey remind us that the fundamental question remains: Are all who “sing America” actual Americans?
Not in the ideology of white supremacists, who are quick to point out that America was designed for white people. The awkward truth is they are correct. Few of the Founding Fathers, a group of predominantly wealthy, white plantation owners, intended America to be a haven for anyone other than white people.
Many of our founding fathers held black human beings in bondage for generations. History books have given them a “free pass” because slavery was commonplace, justified in the writings of Aristotle and Plato, and accepted by many cultures and religions across the world. They have yet to bear the consequences for their immoral, unethical and inhumane actions, which continue to stain the American experience.
No longer must we praise the words, “All men are created equal,” not when many Founding Fathers didn’t really mean all men, or women for that matter. Africans in America, before and after the Civil War, have been denied the “unalienable rights” of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” The founders didn’t count a black human being as a “full person” in the Constitution; small wonder that many white Americans, who feel they are legitimate Americans, don’t count us as real Americans.
While the Constitution was amended to provide legal privileges long denied to black Americans, from an ideological standpoint, black and brown Americans are still seen as “guests” to be tolerated. This notion is evident in today’s immigration debates. Educated Europeans are the favored immigrants; black and brown people are to be barred.
Enslaved Africans, unlike immigrants, didn’t come here in search of the American Dream. When black people seek to elucidate obvious inequities and injustices, they ironically become “un-American.” Consider how many white people reacted when then-NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneeled during the national anthem. He disrespected “their” flag, overlooking that black people have fought and died in every U.S. war—suffering the first casualty in the Revolutionary War—and helped build this country in successive generations. Kaepernick’s ancestors earned that flag, but it didn’t belong to him.
Slavery launched the most pervasive and continuous money-laundering scheme in history. The illicit, though legal, wealth generated from slavery has been passed down through generations and multiplied through the stock market, real estate, venture capital and new businesses. The accountability for these ill-gotten funds has been washed away, especially the contributions to educational institutions, hospitals and other worthy nonprofit entities.
The United States is the world’s greatest economy today because of slavery. Black slaves toiled under insanely brutal conditions, enduring constant humiliations, family separations, physical exhaustion, forced breeding, castration, rape, physical violence and lynching. Despite being more valuable than the combined capital invested in manufacturing, railroads, and banks, their compensation was a place to sleep and enough food to keep them working.
This system generated wealth beyond the American South. Northern banks and life insurers profited from loans and insurance policies provided to southern slaveholders. Northern businesses profited from the sale of slave-produced raw materials. The global shipping industry profited from transporting the materials to New York and then Europe. European manufacturers profited from selling clothing and other products made from the materials. Local merchants profited by buying and selling these products.
When it was finally over—when the jig was up—the government compensated slaveowners for the loss of their slaves. Freed slaves had to fend for themselves.
Everyone in America today has economically benefited from the bondage of black people. But accountability for the ill-gotten gains of slaveowners and their descendants has yet to be paid. Black people are a national treasure worthy of celebration beyond the token commemoration of Harriet Tubman and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., or a Black History Month in a country that also observes National Pizza Month.
Statues of unknown slaves should rise in every major U.S. city, but particularly in southern states where slaves comprised nearly one third of the population in 1860. Such reparations cost little but speak volumes. The travesty is that France’s gift of the Statue of Liberty initially extolled the emancipation of slaves, but promised funding dried up on these shores. The chains by Lady Liberty’s feet are a reminder of the initial design.
We also need new terminology to describe our status as full Americans. Putting the word “African” before “American” serves as an asterisk, relegating black people to second-class citizenship. We don’t call white people European American, nor should we call black people African American.
Mr. Hughes, I’m ashamed to admit that America has yet to equitably share the table. We still sing America even louder than before, shouting from the mountaintop, “We, too, are America.” Our voices are hoarse, but will not weaken.
