Here's to Black History Month - and more

I wrote the following in response to a friend's comments regarding experiences of African-Americans and the importance of spending time with her grandparents and listening to their stories. I addressed the importance of spending time with her grandparents and a statement that she made regarding African-Americans' inability to trace their roots due to slavery; "... and so forth were stripped from us, far worse than any other race to a point we can not even go back and find it if we wanted to."

The following link is to a Resolution from the Virginia Legislature. Read it and be amazed. It is related to African American History and Native American History. One of the notable "WHEREAS" statements includes the following, "WHEREAS, the Racial Integrity Act of 1924 which institutionalized the "one drop rule," required a racial description of every person to be recorded at birth and banned interracial marriages, effectively rendering Native Americans with African ancestry extinct, and these policies have destroyed the ability of many of Virginia's indigenous people to prove continuous existence in order to gain federal recognition and the benefits such recognition confers, and ..."

Virginia Joint Resolution 728

The "wrongs of the whites" have long been recorded in this country and many others. Slavery is an institution that crosses racial boundaries including African-American, Native American, Asian Americans and Caucasian Americans. If you do a simple Google Search about each racial group and slavery you will find a plethora of information. While researching this you will run across "indentured servant" entries which is how most Whites experienced something close to slavery.

I found this link interesting from both an indentured servant standpoint and a business standpoint. It is mainly about Benjamin Franklin, who broke his indentured servant contract and was a fugitive for a while; and how he went on to become an American success story by overcoming great odds.

Excerpt from Ben Franklin's 12 Rules of Management

More importantly for this month, though, is the following link on Frederick Douglass and the book he wrote about starting out his life as a slave:

Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass

The will to succeed comes from within and usually requires that people get over feeling sorry for themselves and move on to being an advocate for their own lives and the lives of others. Passion plays a role along with determination and a decent intellect. The more specific facts a person knows about their particular passions the more influential and powerful they can become when addressing these issues. Basically, I'm saying to check your facts before your passion makes your fingers or your mouth fly. The complexities of life are more readily available through modern technology these days and recognition of the world's "melting pot" history is important.

I have a friend from Zimbabwe who has related some Zimbabwean history regarding tribal enslavement. It is the story of Black-on-Black Slavery which also occurred in the USA in a different way. There were Black Slave Owners in America, too. It is also known that the Moors enslaved Italians and others for 800 years during their reign in those areas, but this is about American history; so I'll just mention that slavery has a long history all over the world and has been and practiced by people from every racial background.

To address your original intent on your status, though; yes, it is very important for children to take the time to listen to the stories of their elders whenever possible. It provides something so simple as an increasing awareness, respect and love for all parties because loving elders enjoy sharing their stories with their younger counterparts, and the time spent together creates a foundation for further success and happiness. I got the point of your status. I am now just acting as an elder who's father was a History Teacher who cried when he learned of all the things he hadn't been taught in preparation for his vocation regarding the American contributions of so many minorities. We now have access to more information than ever before, and I caution you to continually fact-check this information because while it may be on the web that doesn't make it accurate.

To address your comment about no other racial group has had their identity stripped and are unable to trace their roots like African-Americans, I say, "Hogwash." History has proven that Native Americans have experienced this same phenomenon, to name just one racial group. There are also other social factors that effect a person's ability to trace their roots such as adoption. While being able to trace your roots may hold some importance to some, isn't it more important that we learn to move forward and seek our own truths for our own lives and contributions to our worlds? By continually seeking information and processing that information while being open to having our minds changed, we develop into a more united and understanding people, or at least I hope that we do.

I write this to you as a proud Norwegian American who by happenstance is ethnically 100% Norwegian. Still, I do not know all the specifics of my racial makeup since I have not researched it. I am a "dark Norwegian" in physical description with the knowledge that my ancestors may have traveled to many places in the world including the Ottoman Empire, Africa, Europe, and North America and that the normal practices of the time would dictate that captured people or people met while trading might have been brought back to Norway resulting in procreation. I am proud of my heritage and the changes that have occurred throughout history in Norway. With a foundation in Viking mastery that evolved into a country that was ruled by "outsiders" for centuries which in turn evolved into a self-governing nation that is focused on World Peace among other life-sustaining practices, I feel that Norway has come full circle. This makes me happy.

Here's to a very educational and productive Black History Month. I'm also looking forward to Native American Heritage Month in November.