Objective:
|
To sharpen critical thinking skills by having students discuss two opposing points of view.
|
Entry Point A: Teacher should give overview of last nights (or yesterday’s) reading.
Entry Point B: Teacher should inform students that they will be reading essays (see next page) which have opposing viewpoints and that as they read, they should look for weaknesses and strengths of both essays.
Entry Point C: Teacher distributes essays and has students read the aloud. Discussion should follow.
America is my home, for another I shall not want
Recently, there has been a great deal of talk about both enslaved and free Blacks going back to Africa to live. In all my years, I never thought such foolishness would be widely discussed. America is my home, and the home of the American Black, from here I shall not be moved.
Firstly, my father and grandfather both helped to build this great Christian nation to be what it is today a land of the free and a home of the brave. They have toiled and given of their blood, sweat and tears so that I may be able to live freely and succeed. To leave this land would be to betray all that they have worked for, and to betray all that they have hoped for me.
As well, there is no other country that can be found where liberty is of such great importance. This country was founded upon the principles of justice, fairness and equality of all men. If we were to leave, we know not what we face elsewhere.
Unfortunately, there are free Blacks among those who fight so hard to send the Black man and his family to a land of heathens and pagans known as Africa. They act as if they have not had some measure of success in this great country; as if they are themselves in bondage. Why is it that some many of our educated and well-off are leading the call for a return to Africa? Is it that they too have been fooled into believing in the “romantic” Africa of the past? Well, this is not the past, it is the present and Africa is not a place I would choose to be.
I know that there is slavery here. Many of our brethren are currently in bondage amidst those of us who have never known the cruel system of slavery. But if we leave this country, we also leave them behind to face a life perhaps more cruel than ever. We, the free Blacks, have a history of fighting for the end of slavery and without us, how would our shackled, illiterate brethren give voice to the cruelty and immorality of this system? We cannot leave them here to suffer.
We must not, nay we cannot, leave these American shores. One day, slavery will end. It must, because God is good and good will prevail against evil. We must stop this talk of leaving America and think of ourselves of Americans, simply Americans.
Africa is the natural home for the Black Man
We, Africans have been in this God-forsaken place known as America for over two hundred years, and we have yet to receive the justice and equality so often spoken of, but never practiced where we are concerned. Africa, therefore is our natural home, it is where God put us, and where we would be right at this minute if the European had not stolen us from our Mother country.
Any Black man who fights to have Blacks stay in a country where most of us are enslaved, beaten, lynched and denied anything even similar to rights either is foolish, or does not understand history. At times, some of our so-called leaders seem to suffer from both illnesses. My father and grandfather gave their lives to make this country what it is, and this country still turns its back to me, still makes laws to prevent me from succeeding simply because of the color of my skin, still holds my brethren in shackles.
It should be crystal clear to us then that the Whites who run this country do not like us, and do not want us here, except as slaves. I will not be a slave to any man, and neither should any of my people. The God that I know and love treats all men equally, loves all men the same and does not say that you may vote because you are White, and will be a slave because you are Black. What kind of God sanctions such evil behavior?
Some of us, who have been lucky enough to be “free” in this country question why other free Blacks want to go back to Africa. It is simple. No Black man is free until all are free, and all will not be free unless we are in a country where we are a part of the ruling element. Anything less than absolute control over our own destiny is slavery, and we will not reach the glorious heights of our past unless or until we come up from underneath the White man.
To those who say that we know not what we face in Africa I say this. It is better to face the unexpected in Africa, than to face slavery in America, that is the truth. We can stand by no longer while our brethren, whose blood we share, toil away for master and has no future to speak of in a land of plenty. All of us deserve to be truly free, and until we have a land of our own, where we can grow and succeed, we shall be forever stuck in the lowly position of society and never do any better.
We are not Americans, we just happen to live here. The White man, he is an American because he has all the benefits of being an American. We are, at best, second-class citizens whose rights are not worth the paper upon which they are written. We must do for ourselves and leave this country, our very future depends upon it.