Keeping It Simple -- Race Relations between Blacks and Whites

By Terry McGahey

Comedian Chris Rock made the statement that he believes, and I quote, "Part of healing race relations in America is by white people owning the actions of their ancestors."

Now wait just a minute! The largest majority of white people who lived during the time before the Civil War and through the Civil War were what we would call working class people or even very poor people such as homesteaders.

These people never owned slaves, only your more affluent plantation owners and other wealthy whites were in a position to own slaves. Wealth and power are the things which drive certain individuals to these types of things, no matter the color of their skin.

I guess because I am white I should own the actions of those people even though no one in my family ever owned slaves? Just the same as the vast majority of white people did not either.

I am sick to death of hearing how we white folks are the problem from that period of time, and because we are white it's still our fault that slavery had taken place.

This hatred comes out of the mouths of people like Mr. Rock, Al Sharpton and many others.

Damn political correctness. What I am saying in this column may piss off a lot of people and some will even call me a racist because of it.

Well, I am not a racist, just a man who is tired of hearing people like Chris Rock making uneducated statements and watching people like Al Sharpton who loves to keep the pot stirred.

There is not one ethnic group in this world who hasn't been enslaved at one time or another throughout history.

Yes, wealthy white people owned black slaves for many years. From the time of our founding fathers up until the end of the civil war.

It was also white people who put an end to slavery. So why do many people, not all, within the black population, want to blame all whites for slavery?

This would be the same thing as if I blamed all blacks because I was jumped one night by six black guys while in high school after a dance, for no other reason, but because of my skin color.

It's easier for a certain amount of blacks to point their fingers at all whites than to open their eyes and see where the slavery of blacks originated.

If you want to place blame on someone for your people being delivered into slavery Mr. Rock then you must first look to your own people as well as the wealthy white slave owners.

During that time period in Africa one tribe would conquer another and turn the survivors into their slaves, then they realized they could sell or trade those people that were captured to the white slavers. This went on for many years and the main port where blacks sold blacks to whites was in the country of Niger -- pronouncing the "I" as upper case.

Mr. Rock and others like Mr. Sharpton do nothing but perpetuate racial problems by stating things of this nature.

I do not care if you are black, brown, white, or of any other ethnic group, a good person is a good person, and a hater is a hater, it's that simple!

I do not dislike a person because of the color of their skin, I dislike a person because of their indecency towards others, no matter who they are or what color of skin they may have.

I once worked with a black guy in Arizona who was a cowhand, and he was not only a great guy, but also one hell of a hand. We did not judge him by the color of his skin but by his attitude and his ability, which was also the way he judged us in return.

Chris Rock is wrong by making his statement.

The only way to cure race relations is when all of us realize that we are just people trying to get through life the best way we can, and also realize that we are all Americans in this country, and we must stand together as a nation of people.

If we are to survive as a people of freedom, we as a people cannot stay divided upon racial lines. Fore if we do, we will all fall together, instead of living and going forward together as a nation.