The individual who can do something that the world wants done will, in the end, make his way regardless of his race.
-- Booker T. Washington

It matters not the color of one’s skin if a person can unify people and have them view the world, its issues, and their lives from the same lens.

It matters not where one’s people come from, who their mama is or where their daddy was born if the person can help people find and keep stable, high-paying jobs that allow them to pay for their basic needs, take care of their families, and believe again – or for the first time – in the legendary American dream.

It does not matter whether a person’s facial features show traces of Africa if they can sensitively and astutely talk about the crises in Africa, the abhorrent international rule-breaking in China, the centuries-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the domestic unrest in the United States, all over dinner and diplomatic dialogue.

Does it weigh more that a person’s Blackness is tolerable and not “loud and oppressive,” who is “articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy” or that the person can bring home alive our sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, mothers and fathers from Iraq immediately and strategically?

If a person can provide sincere humanitarian efforts to repair the damage committed upon a country’s people and ask questions and offer alternatives before “smok’n ‘em out,” does it make a difference whether one’s family is or is not a descendent of slavery?

If a person has a written blueprint that can help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosures; expand the Family and Medical Leave Act to accommodate the sandwich generation – boomers who are caring for their parents – and parents who want to participate in their children’s academic activities; support teachers and school systems instead of punishing them; lower prescription drug costs and allow Americans to buy their medicines from other developed countries if those drugs are safe and more affordable; and speak honestly and out loud about our country’s arrogant nature, who will temper such haughtiness with tact and an extended hand, isn’t color trumped?

Sadiqqa © 2008