How Did This Happen?
by Nathan Long
Northern Hills Fellowship
April 30, 2001

The events surrounding the rebellion here in Cincinnati (some call them riots) tend to elicit the response, "How did this happen?" We often find ourselves saturated with people and politicians arriving at conclusions that fail to address the situation from an historical-economic-political perspective.

Historically speaking, the year 1619 provides us the first reason why we are still mired in the race-relations debacle today. When the first slave ship arrived in Virginia, the bondage-systematic oppression of African Americans via servitude and eventually as pure chattel led to the overwhelming systemic problems we face today. From this point, African Americans rebelled constantly, attempting to fight the injustice of a society that would neither listen nor advocate. Yes, we had abolitionists, but few of them came into full force until the late 18th and early 19th century. Years of both direct and indirect negligence on the part of white folks occurred. I contend that the history of violence toward blacks extends far beyond law enforcement entities. Rather, it stems from those forbears who made every effort to keep people of color from ever rising to prominence. Only the few like Booker T. Washington, who offered himself as an accomodationist, were provided open doors... but how open they truly were is a question that plagued W.E.B DuBois and a majority of the Black Community.

Very closely tied to this historical piece is the obvious economic condition that accompanied slave and free black alike. This economic condition did not cease to exist after Emancipation. In fact, one of Lincoln's major concerns was the battle for African Americans to assimilate into the free market economy. It should also be noted that the largest sector of the abolitionist population were not necessarily humanitarians, but rather, industrialists in pursuit of the cheapest available labor. Slaves cost money to house and feed, so industrialists saw the financial benefits of Emancipation. Unlike even the immigrants, emancipated slaves and prior free blacks alike, found the next 100 years (and some would argue up to the present) to be one of Jim Crow, segregation, and the consequence - the glass ceiling by which most African Americans were confined to the lowest of all working classes, rarely, if ever, rising in economic wealth.

Their labor was truly exploited, and if not exploited, it was untapped — for the aforementioned reasons. While we have many poor whites in our country, in addition to other poor ethnic and racial groups, African Americans have suffered from having few networks to build upon, and fewer people to rely upon to help lift themselves up from the tyranny of economic oppression. Sadly, their skin color has denied them the luxury of assimilation. And, only recently has the black middle class risen to prominence, though this is a small percentage in proportion to whites (obviously, we should not be in the business of determining which group is worse off, for we also have the systematic stripping of rights and privileges of many other ethnic and racial groups). Nonetheless, when asking the question, we must consider our query from a perspective of historical economic insolvency and oppression.

It is also important to acknowledge the fact that the political/ judicial landscape in this country (tied once again to historical process) has a history of structural violence against blacks. We need not go far back; the 1896 Plessy vs. Ferguson Supreme Court case is a prime example. The separate but equal clause gave a green light to this behavior, in addition to other court actions that fell silent during lynching, the infamous Scottsboro case and on and on. The history police brutality against blacks stems as far back to 1919 (and of course earlier). It provides us an interesting framework to understand current conditions, for in all of these cases, blacks revolted when no one listened or few advocated for the injustices against blacks. Of course, these riots spurned short-term action — i.e. race-relations councils, but in all cases, the business of "racism as usual" was the preferred course of action. All things considered, it should not be difficult to understand why we still have problems to this day.

I have only begun to scratch the surface of this multi-faceted problem, but it is something I hope will spurn further thought. Without a full understanding of the political/ societal/ economic disenfranchisement, we cannot adequately address any question about the current situation. It seems that a knowledge and understanding of this history of oppression is assumed, but in reality, the vast majority of Americans do not understand and refuse to understand the historical momentum/ entrenchment regarding race relations. We discuss this in very limited terms; some attention is given to Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, but next to no consideration is ever given to Toussaint L'Overture, Equiano, Gabriel Prosser, Denmark Vesey, WEB DuBois, Alain Locke, the Thurmans and on and on (if you are asking who these folks are, my point is proven).

When we talk about what we can do and how this happened, the better question to ask is perhaps, Why are we still not educating people about this oppression — subversive and overt alike? Why are we not educating our police officers on diversity training initiatives, in addition to balancing out the police force with more minorities? It is a proven fact in several cities that this not only reduces racial tensions, but helps to provide mentoring and positive camaraderie amongst the citizens and police force alike (I will cite Boston as an example). Why are we cutting back economic growth opportunities, dismantling affirmative action, and so on? Why are we allowing our schools to crumble in the inner-cities and middle-class black suburbs? We must not only dwell in today but must ask ourselves the painful questions that only history — solid history — can answer. Many Americans revel in a self-aggrandizing sense of patriotic history, while failing to acknowledge that the darker side to our history— attributed to a competitive economy and over-emphasis on individualism at the cost of others— has contributed immensely to many of the problems we face as a society today. We must teach. We must enlighten. We must seek enlightenment. And, as a Unitarian community of mainly whites in a liberal community such as Northern Hills Fellowship, we must advocate for justice... both in word and deed. While it is critical to recognize the international impact of this event, it is also essential to realize that this is far from over. An indictment is in consideration; many people will be affected regardless of the decision, and we here at NHF have an opportunity to be an integral part of the healing and peace that can prevail if we join our brothers and sisters of color, our police officers, and our politicians in solving the Problem.

Reader Response
Did you like this publication? Was it helpful to you? What elements do you agree with? In what ways do you have a different view? You may send your comments and thoughts to Nathan Long at nlong@uunhf.org.

Copyright ©2001 Northern Hills Fellowship