While I do appreciate the sentiment and intent behind this thread with all due respect the key word in the quote used in the OP is the word "until".
"until the colour of a man's skin is of no more significance than the colour of his eyes."
I love peace and harmony. I try to avoid conflict when I feel nothing will be learned or gained, including the exercise of learning to make better arguments. However, my love for peace does not mean there isn't a time for conflict. Conflict doesn't have to be physical or even destructive.
In Samurai mythology there are legendary swords and two of the more famous ones are Muramasa and Masamune. You can look up the stories of these for yourself but one was designed to be destructive and was said to be bloodthirsty and the other was so sharp that it was said to be healing. They are both swords...weapons... the difference is in their purpose.
You said "If we want peace."
I say "peace at what cost?"
I didn't make up the word black. In fact, when I was young and slightly foolish I thought to myself, "I'm literally brown. So why don't I call myself brown instead of black?" I did mention my foolishness but it was more so ignorance. The only way I could say that at the time was because I had not yet gained an understanding and appreciation for what it really meant to be black.
There are intersecting circles of humanity. Two people can share the same race, religion, gender, sexuality, lifestyle, income bracket, career field, level of education, nationality, ethnicity, blood type, favorite movie, music, fandom, and the list goes on and on. We can share multiple intersecting circles. I can be related to a person who is white more than to person in Africa who is black. I have a friend who is white who lives in Indonesia. Never would he even think to ask me to deny my blackness and it's funny how it never gets in the way of our friendship. In fact, we sometimes talk about race and he respects the insights that I, being black, can provide on the subject.
I'm saying this not as an attack but for your edification.
Does my being black stop us from being friends? While it's easier to relate to someone who shares one or more of the 'circles' I mentioned above, being black or white does not negate real relationships. Individual people decide to have these relationships because race doesn't matter. And skin color could just as easily have been divided by hair color and eye color. Ask the Nazis. They weren't simply against Jews. They promoted blond hair and blue eyes. Are suggesting these hair colors aren't real? Of course, they are.
The notion of race doesn't fundamentally exist in the literal sense. However, it does exist as a mental construct. The fact that you are talking about it and wanting people to deny it is a testament to this fact. And what I'm saying is that if it wasn't skin color they would have found something else as a substitute because it's not and never was about skin color but about being "different".
The problem is not being different so there is no need to tell people that differences don't exist. Of course, they do. There is nature and there is nurture which means that part of us is more than DNA. Part of us is our experiences. Black people and White people, mostly, have some shared but also some different experiences. Black people immediately know what "DWB" means. It means "Driving while black". Black people worry about their kids and siblings because they might fit the description of a suspect and might end up getting shot by the police. There is a reason that "Black Liberation" exists. It exists because of White Supremacy.
Again, I say "peace at what cost?"
I'm not going to pretend to be some new race (I'm already a member of the human race) and deny my blackness when I know that White Supremacy is very much alive and sees me as black as black can be. Me not seeing myself is not going to make racists forget what I look like.
And again... what I look like isn't the problem. I don't have a look problem. White people who also happen to be racists have a perception problem because they see a problem in how I look; how DIFFERENT I look. I would have to NOT BE DIFFERENT in order to have the "peace" you're talking about. But it's not really peace if I am the only one being peaceful. If a conflict is happening all around you and you don't take part, how are you helping? So many white people sit on the sidelines hiding behind the belief that they are not racists. And so they do nothing while people who don't look like them are discriminated against. They would love to simply pretend it doesn't exist. Let me tell you what absolutely positively does exist and isn't a mental construct. And that is the wealth stolen from black people. Between the wealth stolen, unpaid debt, and unfair banking and other business practices, the treatment of black and other minorities of color absolutely exists. And until that ceases to be I will ALWAYS be BLACK.
This isn't always enjoyed by white people because although they have unlimited access to every opportunity and have never known the restrictions black people endure without even seeing, being black? when they see the invisible bond, when they enjoy aspects of our culture, feel excluded. But let me tell you something. Whites need not be excluded from the struggle for Black Liberation. You can be included but you have to opt-in and include yourself. I am black. I am black and in the struggle by default. I was born into the struggle. For whites, it's a choice. I welcome them to make whatever choice according to their own consciousness and utilize the freedoms their ancestors gave them even if stolen from others. Don't waste it. Use it. Get into a position of power that isn't available to us. And use your power to benefit the human race, not excluding us from it.
There are stories in the Civil Rights Movement; stories about black people and stories about how white people helped black people. We are going to be part of each other's stories anyway. So why not be a good part? Why not fight for what's right? Not just for me, but for you and me, knowing that if you are fair to me then you are teaching me fairness. It is only when you are unfair to me that you teach me that I have to be unfair like you in order to win and feed my family.
My wife and I went on a tour in Jamaica. The tour guide told us lots of stories. Most people on the bus were white. The minority was black. Why? Because the majority of black people in America rarely think they can afford to be on that bus. But anyway... these stories were great. One of the stories was about a white man who fought against the suppression of wages for poor workers. He not only defied his government but he risked his life to do it. He could have said "let's all just have peace" but the cost was too great. Why? Because he cared about those people. He cared enough to fight with them and for them and fight when they couldn't fight at all. And so he is a hero in Jamaica. A white man.
My wife was bothered by another story. This one was about a white woman who moved to Jamaica. She had money. She saw these children on the street and she took them in. My wife thought it was kidnapping, not used to such stories, not used to the idea of white people being heroes for our benefit. That woman took them in and those kids grew up and had good opportunities in life. And they are thankful. Not because she was white but because she was and demonstrated her loyalty to the human race.
If you want to tell black people to stop using these words after white people invented them, wouldn't it be logical to first go to the groups of whites who most notably use these words against black people? Black Liberation wouldn't exist if it wasn't needed. It exists as a reaction to White Supremacy. Black people have negative reactions to white people, not as individuals, but as a collective group, because the individuals never seem to be enough to prevent the collective group from the multitude of ways they oppress black people.
So I think this thread is out of order; meaning out of sequence. Instead of telling black people what we should or should not do, go to the whites who are racists and tell them what they should or should not do. Convince them that they are not white and therefore need no white pride. Convince them that they are simply humans. And after you convince them you won't even have to convince us. You want to cure racism? You have to go to the source. And last time I checked... it wasn't black people.
"until the colour of a man's skin is of no more significance than the colour of his eyes."
This isn't telling black people not to be black. It's telling everyone else to stop treating black people like that's a significant and bad thing.
Selah
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