Celebrate every ancestor who triumphed over slavery. How did they triumph? You exist.
Now, let me turn you off. I found the controversial Leslie Jones Saturday Night Live (SNL) comedy piece about large African-American women getting more attention during slavery than now to be very funny.
I am not politically correct, ignorant of history, callous, misogynistic, an apologist or a collaborater.
Leslie Jones (SNL) video
I had a visceral reaction, but my visceral reaction was to all of the visceral reactions to the comedy sketch. I had to think a while to put my finger on what bothered me so much about the negative reactions to her skit. And then it dawned on me. All the detractors could do was admonish others to not use certain words and phrases related to slavery.
In fact that, and displaying the horrible enslavement mechanisms in museums seems to be as far as we've come. It's all we do. We try to educate people who take it lightly as to how horrible it was. But all that ever amounts to is you can't say this and you can't say that, because it might hurt. After almost 150 years of emancipation, that's not good enough.
If we really want to honor and give respect to those who suffered and endured the ravages of slavery, we need to take action, not just be defensive. We need to discover, name, and reclaim the slaves (especially through personal genealogy) as our own ancestors. Make them real, not just focusing on their suffering, but knowing them and honoring the fact that because they had the character and strength to endure and survive. We are.
They stood up to and under far worse than a few select words and phrases. A skit which illuminates and challenges does not make light of slavery, it generates discussion, enables us to go deeper and recover our self-esteem even more. And it shows we can not only face their pain, but especially celebrate their triumphs. They did not survive just so we could be PC police. They were stronger and better than that.
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