The recognition of black personhood has been agonisingly slow. From savages to property, second-class citizens to token hires, we’ve consistently been seen as a little less capable, a little less civilised. Something a little less than human.
Which is why watching progressive attempts to “understand” us, is so…frustrating.
Things like the Governor of Oregon removing the requirement for high school graduates to be proficient in reading, writing, and maths, in order to “help students of colour.” Or the councillors at this youth advocacy program trying to force a black teenager to “wrestle out” racial trauma that he didn’t feel.