“The Book”
Posted by The Author on Sunday, December 7, 2008
“Forgive Us… Black America”
“Portrait of a Journey From Racism to Healing
October 17th 2008
“Forgive Us… Black America” – Portrait of a Journey from Racism to Healing was written in 1999, but was not publicly released at that time. After much contemplation, and with all that is happening during this 2008 election cycle in relation to our cultural climate, I have decided to release it, with some revisions.
After much struggle, I revisited the manuscript and answered the questions that I had posed in the chapters on racial healing. I re-discovered that, as the book states, “racism is a subtle foe”.
America is not only struggling in the global economy, we are no longer viewed as the “global leader” in foreign affairs, socio-economic development, human rights, etc. This book suggests that one of the main reasons for this shift is that, behind closed doors, “who we are” as a country, a culture, or as a beacon for human rights, equality and progressive human development is not the portrait we have painted for the world view.
In the 1999 manuscript, the events surrounding the Oklahoma City bombing were used to examine extremist forms of “hate”. The book also suggested that “untreated hate” in our own country could lead to other countries’ religious wars playing out on American soil… they did, on September 11, 2001. I believe these considerations are as important today as they were in 1999.
We can no longer afford to think, posture, or buy our way out of America’s problems. Something deeper in our culture must change.I am not a known or accomplished author, nor do I profess that Forgive Us… Black America is a “brilliantly written book”. What I do know from my experience in writing the book and from others who have read it, is this:
I believe it will change some viewpoints for the better about racism in America… and perhaps about other things as well. After all, have we not heard precisely what America’s domestic and global problems are all about?
