Stacey Dash, I listened to your comments that you made on Fox News and in all honesty, I wish what you had said would be absolutely true.
You stated that "We have to make up our minds. Either we want to have segregation or integration, and if we don't want segregation, then we have to get rid of channels like BET and the BET Awards and the Image Awards, where you're only awarded if you're black...If it were the other way around, we would be up in arms. It's a double standard." You have also stated that "There shouldn't be a Black History Month. We're Americans, period. That's it." [1]
Ms. Dash, I truly wish your statement could be true; I truly wish that the United States of America would truly adhere to its principles that make us the greatest country in the world. I wish that the United States of America just recognizes all races that were born, migrated and raised in this country as Americans. I wish that the United States of America would adhere to the principle that "we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" that Thomas Jefferson stated.
I truly wish that the United States of America would adhere that "from every mountainside, let freedom ring" and that we "crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea". If all of this were true, then we as African-Americans would not have been deemed property by the Dred Scott decision which legally set us up as not only equal, but that the aforementioned principles don't apply to us because we are not human, let alone property.
If this were true, then our race and ancestors would not have been enslaved for over 400 years, striped of our lineage and culture by eliminating our family names and identities. If your statement were absolutely true, Frederick Douglas, Nat Turner, both of whom are on the extreme spectrum in the name of freedom would have not had to sacrifice their lives to prove to the people of the UNITED states that we as a people are Americans as well.
If this were true, then Harriet Tubman and countless other pioneers in the name of freedom would not had to use codes to praise God and offer guidance to run for freedom in spirituals; if this were true, Richard Allen, Absalom Jones, Henry M. Turner and William P. Quinn would not have had to walk out of St. Georges Episcopal Church because they weren't allowed to pray and worship at the same altar and therefore form the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
If what you stated was true, then Booker T. Washington and W.E.B DuBois would not have to convince our race of the strategies to get the White American race to see us as equals; if it were true, the Jim Crow System wouldn't be hanging strange fruit on trees and admire them in its splendor; if it were true, the word NIGGER would not be used to identify us in the eyes of other Americans. If your statement were true, there would be more than 31 African-American winners of the Academy awards out of nearly 3,000 winners AND they would win for movies where they have acted in different segments and not for movies that focused on slavery, inferiority, corruption and struggle for acceptance.
If what you stated was true, then we would not have to constantly remind the United States of America that we are a part of this great quilt of unity and freedom; that our communities would be also a part of the upward mobility, that we didn't have to be separated from White and Colored in all parts of the country by ways of de facto and de jure tactics of segregation. If your statement were true, the United States of America would recognize the inventions that African-Americans were contributing to the upward mobility and dominance in all industries.
If what you stated was true, then African-Americans would not have to be afraid to run governor, senator and even President where we have only had less than 10 senators, and governors who have been elected and only 1 African-American president in its over 220 years of this great country's existence.
If what you stated were true, then globalized media would not subliminally and explicitly mark us as a people who are thugs, athletes and uneducated; they would not see our communities as rags of the economic and political struggles that plague our country, the civil rights movement would not had to occur because there would be no need for Malcolm X, Dr. King, Bayard Rustin, Rosa Parks, Adam Clayton Powell, Marcus Garvey, Ella Baker, Mary McLeod Bethune and countless others to advocate and strive for freedom and equality.
If what you stated were true, NO one would BE ABOVE THE LAW; where officers who blatantly harass, attack, brutalize and even kill an unarmed African-American man would rot behind bars for their abuse of power and not walk away free and live a quiet life; where people like George Zimmerman brags about his 'White Privilege' by constantly escaping the arms of the law and makes money for bragging living his life while families of Martin, Gardner, Brown, Rice, Bland and countless others are grieving not only for justice, but their loved one.
If what you stated was true, then the United States of America would not blatantly disrespect the office of the Barack Obama, President of the United States of America by hurling racial slurs and countless other attacks that he has to deal with on a daily basis. If what you stated was true, then we wouldn't need to have our own channels to highlight our successes and stories because it would be transparent across all streams of media; if it were true, you wouldn't have to go on BET to get your career going because you would be able to get countless opportunities on ALL channels, you wouldn't need to succumb to magazines that exposed your black beauty to get attention, instead you would be in magazines that show off your beauty and success that is more than your derriere among other races, live Vanity Fair, Elle and others.
Stacey Dash and countless others who agree with you, I truly wish that what you said were true. But guess what, it's not and therefore as a proud African-American man, I am working hard to counter this mirage of ideals that we know it will take generations for us to realize. The real sad reality is that despite all that you say, the people and the world still see you as color first before character. You are a Black woman, an African-American woman, whether you want to accept it or not and your lineage is tied to all of us and the rich and ongoing struggle for life, liberty and pursuit of happiness and to be equal under the law.
Honor our ancestors, our legends who sacrificed their all in the name of what you believe because their work is still ongoing. Miles to go before we sleep.