Why Do You Always Make It About Black and White?

#DEI #whitesupremacy #biracialforlife #philanthropy #history #privilege #whiteprivilege #Blackandwhite

I just want to make one thing clear: this country was founded on Black and white. It is always about Black and white. It has always been about Black and white. (For now) It will always be about Black and white. There is no way around this. It is.

I've been deeply researching philanthropy and how DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) practices and principles are lacking in how we carry forth our philanthropic duties in this country. It has brought me to discover more and more about the foundation of our country-neither good nor bad-just what is. I looked back before the early explorers and fell upon The Doctrine of Discovery, which was issued by the Catholic Church in the 15th century. These included Papal Bulls, or a collection of official decrees. The Papal Bulls served to legitimize and encourage the colonization and exploitation of non-Christian lands, laying the groundwork for European imperialism. Here are 3 key Papal Bulls, very briefly:

1. Dum Diversas (1452): Issued by Pope Nicholas V, this bull granted Portugal the right to conquer and enslave non-Christians in Africa, marking the beginning of formalized support for the enslavement of African peoples.

2. Romanus Pontifex (1455): This bull extended the rights granted in Dum Diversas, giving Portugal exclusive rights to explore and claim lands in Africa. It reinforced the idea that Christian rulers had a divine mandate to convert non-Christians and exploit their lands.

3. Inter Caetera (1493): Issued by Pope Alexander VI following Columbus's voyage, this bull granted Spain sovereignty over newly discovered lands in the Americas. It divided the non-Christian world between Spain and Portugal, legitimizing the colonization of the Americas.

So, what was going on then that the Catholic Church had so much favor toward Portugal and Spain? Because that is carte blanche if I must say so myself. So as not to belabor here, this is what I summarized: The Catholic Church's favor towards Portugal and Spain during this period was driven by a combination of religious zeal, political alliances, economic motivations, and strategic considerations in response to the challenges posed by Islamic powers.

Bottom line: POWER. To maintain power, to keep power, to have power. Power.

So these white explores go and capture African and other non-Christian people and take over their lands, justifying their enslavement by framing it as a means to Christianize them while simultaneously exploiting their labor for economic gain. And, truth be told, the more Christians you have, the more money the church will have.

I am not saying this to blame or point fingers. Actually, if I really come out and say it, looking back at our history as if it were a game of Chess (not to take away any pain or suffering of the past 500+ years), the move of the Catholic Church at that time to maintain its power was quite genius. I'm just saying: to bestow a false power onto a group of people who were pumped up to go out and find more lands and stake their claims, to fund it, and then to let them loose as ordained by God on a specific type of people (who, of course, were very different from them in every way-making it easy to do this to them) really created the perfect set-up. And clearly it did because we endured slavery and the transatlantic slave trade for many, many centuries. Residuals still exist today.

So now what?

My experience (let me be clear, this is not truth, simply my perspective) is the need for Black healing and white revealing. Black folx, we must begin to heal from this within our communities, in our families, and in our hearts. We must do this independent of white people and the systems they perpetuate. We must genuinely heal from historical and generational trauma. We must stop passing on the stereotypes and negative histories about our own inadequacies and the experiences we have had with white people (this is tricky-I will come back to this, so please just let this simmer for now). Although it is absolutely true, we must stop living in the, "I can't because of the white man..." We must stop giving away all possibilities to a system that was never meant for us to succeed in in the first place. So we shift. We create something new. We transcend.

And white people, we are the only ones who can fix this! We built the foundation, so only we can tear it up and re-build it, or tear it up and then build it collaboratively with all Americans. White people, we must recognize that because the foundation of this country was created for our success, other people will automatically not be successful. Simple. Stop blaming others for not being able to succeed in a space not created for them. Really simple. And all the little band aides we think are helping, such as DEI and welfare and ObamaCare and affirmative action and Brown vs. Board of Education and whatever else we want to offer, are still rooted in the foundation we built that only supports us. And when others who have been harmed by this foundation, because it wasn't build to support them in the first place, we must stop being upset when they talk about it and express their concerns. Why? Because until white people break down the current system, that is the way it is going to be. Simple. Note: although I am bi-racial and consider myself a Black woman, I also have white privilege in this world, and I include myself as a white person here.

And that makes all of us one of two kinds of people: someone who wants the foundation to stay how it is or someone who wants the foundation to change (and this doesn't matter what color you are).

So this is why it is about Black and white. We will never get away from this because this is what it is. We were founded on Black and white. There is no way around it.

It is plain as Black and white.