Dear Editor,
I am a black male living in Massachusetts, USA and I recall that many years ago, a co-worker remarked that I had three strikes against me; I was black; I was a black male; and I had a foreign accent, so I wouldn't be able to be successful in Finance in Corporate America. I didn't internalize it; maybe I was ignorant of what she was trying to say.
Maybe, if I had understood and responded to her assertions, I would have just sat around and found excuses not to achieve. I therefore firmly believe that the descendants of former slave masters have nothing to do with the enslavement of Africans and should not be held responsible for that past atrocity to a race years ago.
This idea of reparation is just for some professors to remain relevant since history in some of our schools of higher learning is not a dynamic course. Are we holding the Africans who participated in the slave trade responsible as well? This is mental slavery, to quote Bob Marley. Let's try to free ourselves, and not try to misinform a young generation, many of whom don't even consider themselves descendants of former slaves unless being reminded, to sit idly by, find excuses and blame the Europeans for our progress or lack thereof.
We are responsible for ourselves and lives and to continue bring up a useless subject like reparation is a waste of energy and distraction from real issues. Issues like how we compete in the global market and position ourselves in a technology driven competitive world.
I am a black male living in Massachusetts, USA and I recall that many years ago, a co-worker remarked that I had three strikes against me; I was black; I was a black male; and I had a foreign accent, so I wouldn't be able to be successful in Finance in Corporate America. I didn't internalize it; maybe I was ignorant of what she was trying to say.
Maybe, if I had understood and responded to her assertions, I would have just sat around and found excuses not to achieve. I therefore firmly believe that the descendants of former slave masters have nothing to do with the enslavement of Africans and should not be held responsible for that past atrocity to a race years ago.
This idea of reparation is just for some professors to remain relevant since history in some of our schools of higher learning is not a dynamic course. Are we holding the Africans who participated in the slave trade responsible as well? This is mental slavery, to quote Bob Marley. Let's try to free ourselves, and not try to misinform a young generation, many of whom don't even consider themselves descendants of former slaves unless being reminded, to sit idly by, find excuses and blame the Europeans for our progress or lack thereof.
We are responsible for ourselves and lives and to continue bring up a useless subject like reparation is a waste of energy and distraction from real issues. Issues like how we compete in the global market and position ourselves in a technology driven competitive world.