The notion that our ancestors were complacent is a myth
For months, I’ve taken issue with a smaller topic in the community pushing the a false-truth about the history of Black resistance in America. The slogan “I’m not my ancestors, I will lay hands,” and others in the same vain, has become the fighting words of choice for many the millennial generation, who unfortunately have been taught a Black history absent of our fight.
This lack of knowledge unfortunately serves as erasure of an important part of our culture; one that must be taken into account as we move forward with resisting white supremacy without falling into the dangers of our past.
First and foremost, this discussion serves as an “intent vs impact” rather than a “call-out” for those who feel empowered to resist violence with violence as a necessary strategy toward liberation. The intent chosen behind the words of who we aren’t and how we “will lay hands” is used to serve as powerful statement to white supremacy that we will fight back at all costs, which I do believe is necessary.
This statement, however, alludes to a false history that has at times painted us as complacent and docile, waiting on a white savior to pull us from oppression. The impact of these faulty words created an alternative history for Black folks, erasing the very well-documented attempts we made at liberation, taking many white lives along the way while losing our own. With that said, Black folks are not totally to blame for this lack of knowledge, as the oppressor by design set us up for a flawed understanding of our roots.
By design, the American education system has done a number on Black culture, one that many times is irreparable without an extensive unlearning process of white supremacy replaced with a learning of Black heritage. Our existence is taught starting at slavery, which erases the narrative of our people prior to us being bought and sold to various lands in the Americas.
The Black narrative is taught to us as one where we overcome adversity and oppression out of ingenuity, only with help from white abolitionists who served as the “savior.” This white-centered approach erases the guilt that should be owned by whiteness and tells our narrative through a lens of love and compassion leading to liberation, rather than acknowledge the rebellion and violence that existed.
White saviorship was ingrained in us as a way to force assimilation while dismissing a past that included many who fought against it. We are taught that Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, yet never about him saying “If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that.”
Or how Lyndon B. Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act but not out of compassion for the negro as much as securing the Black vote for years to come. Much of this history also painting The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as a peace conduit, and those like Huey Newton and Malcolm X as problematic resistors rather an alternative lane towards freedom. For those in the back who may have never heard this, I am telling you loud and clear: We have ALWAYS been ready and willing to lay hands on the oppressor.
Black Rebellion has existed for close to 300 years in this country, with many only knowing about the rebellion of Nat Turner, which occurred more than 90 years since the first documented and largest rebellion in the 13 colonies known as the Stono Rebellion of 1739. This rebellion would be bloody, with many dying along the way as they marched toward freedom in the town of St. Augustine Florida where slavery was outlawed. This rebellion would be the first of many, some unnamed that would occur for over 100 years until slavery was on paper abolished.
Gabriel’s Conspiracy of 1800 saw slaves rebelling and being captured, with 25 being hanged all together before Gabriel would be executed alone. The German Coast uprising of 1811 saw 25 slaves attack their plantation owner in effort to fight for their freedom. This group grew to around 124 before they would be defeated after a two-day battle with insurgents. After surrender, about 100 of the rebels were all beheaded and placed along the road to New Orleans. Most famous of these would-be Nat Turner’s Rebellion, which killed almost 60 whites. Turner’s fight ended a month or so later when he was captured, and sentenced to be hanged. His body would be dissected, skinned, and turned into grease as punishment for resistance.
Resistance would later come from the over 200,000 Black soldiers who fought in the civil war which would lead to the Emancipation Proclamation which, on paper, ended slavery. Groups like the NAACP, Black Greek Letter Orgs, and the National Urban League would pick up that resistance throughout the 1900s, leading protests that often ended in violence against the state, which during that time was not sworn to protect them.
The Black Panthers would also play a major role in this resistance against white supremacy, armed to the teeth with guns as a display of not being fearful of fighting fire with fire. This history, often missing from the pages of traditional history books is the erasure that we can no longer, inadvertently or not, continue to eternalize.
Erasure has been a part of our history for far too long, and we can no longer play a role in generations after not fully understanding said history. If you are your ancestor, know that laying hands will sometimes be met with death. Know that resistance is a part of your bloodline, not a change from the norm as history would have one to believe.
George M. Johnson is the Managing Editor of BroadwayBlack.com. He has written for Ebony, TheGrio, TeenVogue, NBC News and several other major publications. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram
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