The Question Of A Colorless Society

Bob Law for The National Leadership Alliance

While there is talk of the virtues of a colorless society, the Harvest Institute Freedmen and Black Indian lawsuit brief was filed in the U.S. Supreme Court on November 10, 2009 to prevent the further use of the politics of “colorless” as a tool to deny the descendants of Black freedmen and Black Indians, the benefits due them, as per the treaty of 1866. A treaty that the major Indian nations, (the five civilized tribes as they are called,) refuse to honor and the US Government refuses to enforce.

The notion of a colorless society is certainly not a new idea. It was the prevailing goal of the civil rights movement to create a society where, as Dr. King urged, people would not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. As the movement developed throughout the 1960’s, whites would often say to Blacks, that when I look at you, I don’t see color.

The Black consciousness movement confronted the inherent contradiction in that position by understanding that the use of broad ambiguous terms like diversity, people of color and colorless, is a ploy to avoid addressing the specific needs of Blacks. When you look at the current crop of right wing hate mongers who deliberately tap into latent fears, envy, and hostilities, all of which are based on race, and attempt to use that racism to destroy the Obama presidency and to further marginalize the very real and legitimate issues and concerns of Black Americans, we must consider: could that be so easily accomplished had we been encouraged to see Black, White, Brown, Yellow, Red and the like, acknowledging and even celebrating the differences while we honor and respect each other nonetheless.

To respect someone only when you don’t see color is a morally bankrupt notion. Further, the political construct of the colorless society requires that no corrective action be taken to effectively repair the damage done by centuries of historical inequalities, and institutional racism. It calls instead, for leaving the economic and political imbalances in place, and discourages Blacks in particular from taking any further action toward empowerment and equity for Blacks as a group.

It’s ironic that never in the history of this nation has any candidate for national office ever promised or delivered any benefits specifically to Black Americans in return for their votes and party support. Unlike other groups that are free to expect a friend in the White house to speak out on issues impacting their group, Blacks are expected to settle for symbolism and nothing more.

President Obama has repeatedly and unfairly been called on to point out that he is not the president of Black America but of all America, and as a result, the Obama administration has no agenda specifically for Black Americans. And while he is not the president of Illegal Immigrant America, or Gay America, or Latino America. Or Native America, the president has been free to recognize the special interest of each of these groups and has moved to address their political agendas. The National Leadership Alliance believes that Black Americans are worthy of the same attention and respect.

Recently, the President hosted a meeting with 584 Indian leaders to keep a campaign promise to provide them with whatever they needed to improve the quality of their lives. On two occasions Black members of congress have appealed to Attorney General Holder requesting the civil rights division of the Department Of Justice investigate the disenfranchisement of the Black Freedmen named in the Harvest Institute law suit. And while the government acknowledges the validity of the law suit, the Attorney General’s office has said the best it can do is to explore its authority to conduct an investigation pursuant to existing civil rights law. A process that has been dragging on for some time. Consequently Black freedmen and Black Indians were excluded from the White house meeting, since in this latest version of a colorless society Blacks and their issues no longer exist.

As far as Black Americans are concerned, this nation, along with the major civil rights organizations, and establishment Black leaders, are now practicing the politics of abandonment. That is why we are so pleased to hear of the work being done to build a new national Black organization, a group that without apology, will work to address the very real and legitimate issues and concerns still confronting Black Americans.

Perhaps the traditional Black leaders and organizations, like the NAACP who, according to the November 3^rd 2009 issue of the Washington Post, say the group feels trapped and limited by it’s Blackness, will actually move quickly to the task of providing leadership for all other groups so that Blacks can get away from them long enough to get out of the ditch and move to the next level addressing the unfinished business of the Civil Rights movement, which is to make Blacks politically and economically competitive and self sufficient.

Bob Law is a New York based broadcast  journalist whose syndicated program "Night Talk" has gone the way of most Black Talk Radio. Bob has been involved for many years in activist work with youth in-school, drop outs and push outs and has been a powerful leader and supporter of African-centered curriculum and instruction.