Poised at the brink of the twenty-first century, my generation is daunted by the persisting unresolved status of African Americans. Questions of human rights and equal liberties still dominate our lives four hundred (400) years hence. Unlike Lot's wife, we realize retrospective analysis is a necessary tool for survival in a hostile environment. Currently, my generation crosses the threshold of the nexus. Serving as the bridge for humanity, we fuse inner space, outer space, and the Internet, synthesizing the consequences of human actions. If we, as a species, are to survive our ignorance, evolution must be the general consensus. Our sense of urgency is spurred on by the specter of spending the next century fighting the same battles our parents fought. Our total frustration finds clear expression as Project Soldiers. Passing the laser scanner of history over this period, one is awed by the sheer level of brutality, hatred, racism, bigotry, genocide and oppression endured by people of color the world over. My generation sees no prospects in a future, which mirrors our past and requires we remain passive and submissive toward our destruction.

The knowledge gained from this retrospective scan casts slavery as an institution ending with the Emancipation Proclamation, but the psychological state of slavery still persists. Slavery's interactions and effects must be comprehended. Like chromosomes, this relationship has dominated our existence for over four hundred (400) years. Like cytoplasm, slavery organized an aggregation of generalized attitudes, perceptions and behaviors. Through a social cytokinesis, the resulting values, goals, and customs are passed from one generation to the next. This unconscious socialization process encases us in the semi-permeable membrane forming the chrysalis. Like DNA on nucleotides, those socializing influences determine how we cognize beauty, success, justice, community and the universe. A parallel for this paradox is reflected in the forty (40) years the children of Israel wondered in the wilderness before entering the Promise Land. Those years provided the Jews time to develop a liberated mind-set, a period of deprogramming, if you will. Whereas on the other hand, African Americans, emerging like a Phoenix from slavery, were not afforded such a transition. Conversely, demands on us to continue responding with a slave's mentality never ceased. As a matter of fact, this demand brought the full power of society to bear on African Americans, reinforcing a second class status during the intervening years of JIM CROW. Hence, our contention regarding the prevalence of slavery's devastating affects today, as at the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863. On the heels of slavery, African Americans competed for survival on a less than level playing field. Their only asset, self, continued to contribute to the wealth of the nation, but comparatively little wealth accrued to the slaving masses. Unemployment, biased incarceration, redlining and other technologically advanced tools of discrimination makes possible a ready pool of relatively cheap labor. How else does one explain the historic disparity existing between black and white median family incomes and unemployment rates? Using Bureau of Labor Statistics on median family incomes and unemployment rates, the Chasm of Inequality can be graphically depicted. The Three-fifths Compromise is alive and well in America. It is deeply rooted in how African Americans are valued in this society, how we view ourselves and how others view us.

(Note: Statistics provided by the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics graphically illustrate America's Chasm of Inequality. See bibliographical references for research information.)

The Chasm of Inequality reflected in these statistics represents the synergistic interplay exercised during slavery's social intercourse. This evolving cultural phenomenon currently finds expression in what I have termed Linear Secularism (LiSe) and Conditioned Subordinate Psychology (CSP). Oppression and suppression are the magnetic poles, control and inferiority, the focus of this charade. All exchanges are viewed as a zero sum game; one wins at the expense of others. Everything is a product to be developed and processed, or a commodity to be traded. While one side wins, the other is the perpetual loser, the total victim on all accounts. The irony spawning today's chasm is revealed in the basal instinctual cravings motivating both sides.

Analyzing the condition afflicting America, I postulate that the syndrome Linear Secularism (LiSe) is unique to White Americans (European descendants), especially those residing in corporate enclaves. These individuals view African Americans as renewable expendable economic assets. These autocrats maintain the slave master's perception of African Americans. This cognition mentally relegates African Americans to a status less than that of Whites. The genesis of this malignant precursor is propagated by their ancestors' massa status. LiSe is intrinsically bound to and deeply rooted in how White Americans view themselves. Psychologically, it supports their concept of social, economic and political status. This diagnosis is borne out by the historical impact of European colonialism, and slavery. Whether in Africa or the Americas, the results are the same. Europeans plundered, pillaged and raped four (4) continents in pursuit of their Holy Grail: Manifest Destiny.

The synergistic counterpart of Linear Secularism is Conditioned Subordinate Psychology (CSP). This aspect of the dichotomy reflects a victim's mind-set and is unique to the descendants of Africans who survived slavery or colonialism. The symptomatology is characterized by a total willingness to submit to authority and subordinate one's values in order to ingratiate oneself in the eyes of Whites. Mentally, Africans are driven by a desperate desire to oblige the exigent caprice of Whites. Living under colonialism and slavery fostered a psychology where values, principles and relationships are all justifiable sacrifices in order to ensure individual survival. The malignant precursor is again propagated as an outgrowth of slavery. In this instance, the symptom is related to how Africans psychologically draw their sense of self-worth by identifying with the slave master's values, goals and behaviors.

Faced with such a dilemma, I developed T.H.I.N.C., as a system for organizing one's thoughts concerning the questions WHO AM I? And WHY AM I HERE? My considerations here represent an intellectual's awakening in a less than democratic society. I view myself as a work in progress. A Work in Progress (AWIP) mind-set is a necessary adjunct of T.H.I.N.C., due to the freedom required for individual development. Given this freedom, the individual acquires knowledge through life's experiences. Stumbles along the way should never be viewed as errors or failures, but learning opportunities. The individual should never chastise himself or herself nor view a learning experience as a misstep. All knowledge is a part of the human evolutionary process; we grow and evolve through our learning experiences. As long as we process information and experience life, we grow and evolve into the beings we are when the final breath is expired. T.H.I.N.C. is not a panacea, but essentially, if conceives of human beings as conduits through which we can truly evolve into a human family. Pondering questions posed by the Aquarian Dilemma, one can visualize alternatives to our past being mirrored in our future. Clearly, given my perspective, why should our generation look upon the past as a model for the future?

Today's technology has freed man's nature to explore the limits of his possibilities. The challenge of the 21^st century is to elevate humanity above the brutish basal instinctual cravings characterizing Homo sapiens' brief stint upon Planet Earth. The question is will we fall into the same trap as our parents, who like their parents, once in a position to make fundamental changes, committed themselves to supporting the very evils they opposed?

THINC  ||  The DISH || Reparations

THINC  ||  The DISH || Reparations