The beauty of America is best seen on paper within her beautiful documents, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, but still America is so racially divided that all Americans to various degrees are racist. It may be the subtle white racism that is realized when we truly discuss “white privilege,” or it may be the super nice African-Americans who smile in the face of their white counterparts yet despise them because the dominant culture, religion and economics in America—as it is now—disfavors African-Americans.
Allah says in the Holy Qur’an that to “…kill a person – unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land – it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.” I’m sure this is referring to more than the physical taking of human life. Sometimes the mental, spiritual and moral killing of a human being can be as detrimental as or worse than physical death.
We have before us the arduous task of seeing past color when it comes to the appreciating and evaluating individual human beings and appreciating our human race. Hopefully then we can begin to say “Human Lives Matter” an overwhelmingly inclusive slogan that recognizes “Black lives” and “white lives” and “Latino lives” in fact recognizes ALL lives.
Let’s ponder some of the obstacles that deny us our G_d-given right to see all people as humans who have human value and worth. Why is it that African-American males so often become the human targets for police officers’ off the range shooting practice? Is it only the color of the Black man’s skin that mentally triggers the cop to squeeze his cold-blooded trigger finger? Or is it that our American society is prevalent with social and cultural messages that devalue Black lives?
Is having President Obama in the White House for two more years going to elevate “Black” lives to having membership in the “Human Lives Matter” club? No! Not as long as African-American parents sit idle while our public schools disproportionally expel young African-American boys and girls—the first step for prepping them for the pipeline to prison. When will African-American parents ask, “why do we continue to let schools treat our children as if they are cheap fodder for prisons. Maybe we too don’t really believe that “Black lives Matter?” As mentioned earlier, directly or indirectly we ALL are negatively affected by racism.
We need more African-American educators who are motivated by what is best for the whole human family to step forward. Yes, people who bring with them the richness from our African-American past while applying that richness for the promotion of humanity without forsaking their own people. George Washington Carver is a prime example of how one transfers forward the good of their past in service to the whole human race.
Our American society is long overdue for an in-depth conversation on racism in religion and the ramifications racial depictions have on everyday racism. In most places, worldwide almost, every religion has adopted components or aspects that look down on the descendants of Africa, even though our major religions began on that continent. The racial depictions of the divine as caucasian hinder everyone from respecting all people. Many years ago Imam W. Deen Mohammed asked, “What would happen if people would sit in churches throughout the world for centuries with the image of an African-American man as savior of the world before them? What would this do to the mind of the world’s children? What would happen to the world’s children put under a figure of a particular race presented, pitiable, and in pain ‘the Savior of all men’?” As people of faith we have to ask these serious minded questions in order to get our society to understand and effectuate “Human Lives Matter” and not just skin color matters.
Dr. Martin Luther King declared, “I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land!” The Holy Qur’an describes the mountaintop as an inclusive peak that represents the unity of our human family. Chapter 35: verses 27-28 reads: 27. “Seest thou not that Allah sends down rain from the sky? With it we then bring out produce of various colors. And in the mountains are tracts white and red, of various shades of color, and black intense in hue. 28. And so amongst men and crawling creatures and cattle, are they of various colors. Those truly fear Allah, among His Servants, who have knowledge: for Allah is Exalted in Might, Oft-Forgiving.”
The huge mountain is emblematic of well-established government life, and each color is symbolic of all the races of humanity represented and respected in the government order in ways that show that each person matters.
Racism is slowly declining, thus less of a problem in the lives of most Americans of all races but there remains a lot of work to do before we can sincerely claim victory over this disease. As a nation and as individuals we still need healing of the 400-year-old institution of racism. We are on our way when we have more healthy face-to-face and heart-to-heart conversations that truly address the root causes of racism. Then we can eliminate the many mental, even spiritual crevices where this evil of racism resides. This will allow us to better realize and build upon the universal call that “Human Lives Matter!” Yes, ALL human lives matter!
Al-Islam in America welcomes your questions and comments. Please forward them to: Al-Islam in America, c/o Imam Mikal Saahir, Nur-Allah Islamic Center, 2040 E. 46th St., Indianapolis, Ind. 46205. Or e-mail: nurallah@att.net.
