IDENTITY DISPLACEMENT - "Who Are You?"

"Identity Displacement" - A social phenomena shared among Black slave descendants in the Americas who have been forcibly separated from their national ethnic heritage of origin through slavery, systemic oppression, cultural suppression, and the denial of equality or humane treatment while being subjected to abject cruelty, brutality and abuse physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually through racism. It effects Black American slave descendants psychologically, socially, and spiritually by robbing them of accurate knowledge about their ancestry, and forcing them to either accept their captor's culture or create one as a replacement to fill in the historical blanks of their family tree.

Identity Displacement often leads to further sociological and psychological damage in the denying of one's true cultural identity when false historical accounts are accepted as they are taught by the ruling captive establishment, or as created by the captive group of Black American slave descendants to try explaining their current state of existence under oppressive circumstances to inspire hope and uplift their ethnic self-esteem which has undergone severe depression by way of their common experience. It is in effect the continuation of slavery through psychological and socio-economic means. A prison without bars is still prison, but it enslaves the mind far more than it does the body.

HISTORY, HERITAGE, & CULTURE all play vital roles in the ethnic identity of every human being. Without clear & accurate accounting or knowledge of these three an individual or ethnic group can become treated as social vagabonds with no redeeming qualities that put an equal value on their lives in relation to the rest of humanity. Even animals or inanimate objects are considered more important both consciously & subconsciously in the eyes of others than those who with no sense of self or belonging. This has in large part happened to Black People worldwide without exception. History, Heritage, & Culture gives us reference points for where we've come from, what we've accomplished, and who we are while. They also give us a blueprint for where we can go, what we can do, and for who we can be.  

Every culture on Earth except the Black American slave descendant has a connection to the homeland of their ancestry and a place they can call home. You hear people of various lineages proudly declare their ancestry including White Americans of European descent, but not your typical Black American. I rarely use the identification of African-American because rarely do I hear Africans acknowledge kinship to myself or other Black Americans. I don't deny our kinship to Africa, but I proudly acknowledge and proclaim my heritage even over whites as a "non-immigrant" American whose right to do so was paid in my ancestors blood & labor which built the Americas. Not only was the Black American slave taken from their ancestral land, but their descendants were never claimed by the land from which they were taken. This type of isolation and orphaning made it easier to displace the identity of the people by trying to erase their roots. We were essentially severed from the tree and re-potted by someone else as they pleased by force. This was done to economically exploit, socially displace, psychologically manipulate, sexually confuse, and physically subjugate Black People through slavery to create a permanent minority underclass meant to serve the majority for which the effects still remain. 

The hatred of any people based on race must be taught and reinforced through generations, but self-hatred because of one's race is far more cruel. Self-hatred is viciously programmed by years of calculated systematic torture, abuse, neglect, disenfranchisement, discrimination, segregation, and continual oppression. One of the harsh realities of "identity displacement" among most Black Americans is having white ancestry due to constant rape during slavery. Over time the horror of how this ancestry came about is all but lost, but is often used in ignorance as a proud banner for an individual to explain their so called "good hair" mistakenly as American Indian, or their fair complexion along with other features. Being Black has been demonized the world over with everything considered white to be pristine, unblemished, perfect, better, heavenly, clean, and godly. Our minds were manipulated into self-hatred so much so that even today many Black people will not identify themselves as Black but use speaking Spanish as their birth language to classify themselves as Hispanic. It isn't fashionable to be Black even to those who are clearly so without ambiguity. Some will claim several other exotic heritages such as Native American rather than identify as a Black man or woman with African ancestry.   

Most Native Americans whom Black people claim lineage from were actually Blacks held as slaves by tribes like the Cherokee. They took on the ways of their Native American slave masters even down to their appearance just like those held by white slave owners did. The majority of them weren't actual full blooded Native Americans but were given full blood status. Many inter-married, and the children produced from these unions were accepted as full native when they actually weren't. For about a 20-year period in the 1800s prior to the Civil War, Native Americans killed more Blacks than whites did, and the five civilized tribes joined the South in the Civil War of which were the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, and Creek. It wasn't until 1863 that the Cherokee Nation abolished slavery, and it wasn't until after the Civil War that all five tribes allowed their slaves and descendants to become part of their tribes. However, they were given the racial designation of "Freedmen"; meaning slaves freed by their Native American masters. The Freedmen were even segregated against on the reservations as such. They were never accepted as true full bloods, and their status would later be overturned as full tribal citizens in the Cherokee Nation; which is still in dispute as of this writing. 

A slick way to keep a slave a slave is to give them false freedom. Freeing the slaves was beneficial to saving the Union, and it aided in the expansion of the nation by eliminating what could have eventually become a hostile labor force in mass revolt that may have been far more costly than the Civil War. The South didn't really lose the war; the North did a hostile corporate takeover to install a new business model and executive board as businesses often do. They even gave back to Southern whites the things they rightfully lost along with government assistance to recover while stripping Blacks of any gains they made to reduce them to second class citizenship beneath whites by various Jim Crow laws & practices. The residual psychological aspect of slavery is the most diabolical of all and manifest itself in those who often still fear whites while looking for White approval. They attack their own community in misguided, ignorant and uninformed self righteous arguments such as "Black on Black crime", and saying the past or our history is irrelevant and bares no impact on our present among other things. What those who regularly engage in this behavior don't realize is that it is as socially damning as the things they are ranting against but won't help correct. 

This behavior is Black on Black character assassination by way of incessant criticism to tear down one's own people instead of finding ways to build them up and be balanced as it relates to correction. More than one well known Black religious figure has errantly said Black people's current condition was a divine punishment because of their sin. I find this incredibly "SAMBONIOUS" (I made that word up). These kinds of statements are typical of what would be considered Super Sambos or "House Negroes" who are sellouts & traitors against their own people to influence others for their masters to get a few privileged crumbs because subconsciously they worship white people as their god. This mindset was implanted generations ago and the sinister seeds of it have blossomed far better than expected. It has taken the whip from the slave masters and put it into the hands of the slaves' descendants to destroy themselves with in order to remain economic, social, mental, and sexual slaves to the offspring of the former masters. This is not true freedom but the illusion of freedom due to some of us having received more space and a place on the "plantation". 

Another development of identity displacement is the creation of false racially biased theology to assert the divinity or superiority of Black People in the world. Some examples of this are the "Nation of Islam" and the "Hebrew Israelites". The NOI teach that black people in the Americas are the mythical "lost tribe of Shabazz", and the Hebrew Israelites teach that black people are the lost and dispersed tribes of Israel. The NOI's account is completely fabricated and their particular brand of Islam is not recognized by orthodox Islam as legitimate, but is seen as a cult. The Hebrew Israelites are unable to trace their ethnic identity back to the twelve tribes of Israel but associate the history and prophecies of Israel in the Holy Bible with that of Blacks in the Americas. While it may seem to run a close parallel it has no historical, archaeological, scientific, or theological proof to substantiate such a claim. There are other groups, such as the "Moors", who also fall into this category of false identity based religious beliefs built on erroneous embellished history to instill ethnic pride and unity within the Black Community. 

Most Black folks in the Americas, and in particular North America, can't trace their heritage any further than "great-grandpa Jasper Lee and Big Momma Johnni Mae" somewhere down in the South or in a Northern ghetto. Because of "Identity Displacement" they have latched on to other cultures to try explaining Black people in the Americas current predicament. It's possible some Hebrews came over in the slave trade but they would have amounted to perhaps 1% or less of all the slaves brought over. It is as likely that African Christians untainted by European Christianity made it over with other Africans slaves of whom the majority were Muslims and Native Tribal Ancestor worshippers. The influences of the latter three are seen in the way Blacks still hold church services today with such practices known as "shouting" as well as many of our superstitions. "Shouting" actually stems from thousands of years of tribal spiritual dance expression passed down and further embedded in the American Negro psyche due to the extreme emotional oppression of slavery and racism. This is how slaves responded while worshipping in their secret church services as an emotional outlet.

It is good to invest in discovering our individual heritage. I've been doing that and have already found some very interesting things out about my family history previously unknown. Research like this helps restore some sense of belonging to a degree. Others of us feel we have found our identity through our various religious beliefs in God, but there is no harm in knowing your earthly ancestry. In searching out our family history and trying to explain our current condition we must be very careful not to create a history that is an untrue replacement for the one we don't have. Doing so gives us a false sense of identity, and attempts to restore our national ethnic self esteem by wrongly trying to make us the superior being over others as if it is our divine right. Lying to yourself is just as bad if not worst than accepting the misleading lies told against you. Truth is colorblind and must be allowed to color itself in without bias, and you must be able to accept it without trying to change it. Modifying the truth makes it a lie, and even if it is a "half truth" it is still a whole lie. YOU OWE IT TO YOURSELF TO KNOW YOURSELF.  ~ I.J. West