The Color Line

“Herein lie buried many things which if read with patience may show the strange meaning of being black here at the dawning of the Twentieth Century. This meaning is not without interest to you, Gentle Reader; for the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color line.” – From W. E. B. Du Bois “The Souls of Black Folk” February 1, 1903

We are now in the beginning years of the 3rd decade of the 21st century with so much history to draw on and learn from in our struggle for liberty, freedom, and equality in this nation. In 2014, we and our nation celebrated the 50th year passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with all its great provisions, promises, and hopes. The history of our struggle reveals a hard fought battle by everyday black folks like my family members and yours who endured insult and assault, who suffered casualty and fatality, and who experienced hatred and brutality while pursuing those fundamental precepts, rights, and liberties foundational to our Republic’s Constitutional Democracy.

Yet that past which informs our present and guides our future calls out to us all that our battle is not won and our struggle for equality and justice is not over. We, as people of color, are still, in fact, suffering the pains of inequality, injustice, and oppression in a nation founded on the promises in the Declaration of Independence and provisions of the United States Constitution.

That the “color line” continues to disrupt, degrade, and destroy Black “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” is evident in the on-going and persistent social inequalities, inequities, injustices, and maltreatment experienced daily by Blacks in the community, the workplace, and even in the local, state, and federal institutions and organizations supposed to equally serve all citizens.

Even more so today, what we understand from our history and our present is that our race and the color of our skin, i.e., “The Color Line,” remain the predominant cause-and-effect construct of our struggle for liberty, justice, and equality more than any other factors determining every aspect of our lives being based on “the lie of Black inferiority still being accepted as truth” (taken from a quote of Dr. King) by those persons and institutions who still reign over and dominate the socio-political, the socio-economic, and the inter-racial customs, structures, and environment in this Nation.

I believe that the problem of the 21st Century remains “the problem of The Color Line.”

Unity and Peace,

Brutha’ Q

July 09, 2022