Attempting to answer miki's question

After viewing Angela Davis’ interview and reading Ngugi wa Thiong'o’s Decolonizing the Mind I was left with an abundance of thoughts and reflections. First, the concept of historicity that Davis introduces was entirely new to me. That is to say, I have heard various arguments that serve as various components of this term yet, never before had they come together under the umbrella term historicity. I have previously heard an argument of history that depicts the “histories” recorded and integrated into the collective memory as “the history” as a concept entirely dependent on who won the right to give an account of events or whose voice was given credibility—the opportunity to tell the story.
I was aware of the bias nature of suggesting “the history” but never had I heard that concept applied beyond a conceptual context. Additionally, I believe the concept of historicity begins to pose an answer to Miki’s question (and I’m summarizing) of why race is the most prevailing or seemingly important topic in American society. In our pervious class I suggested that this may be because racism is still relevant due to its prevalence in society today. Davis’ argument takes my idea a few steps further and explains that racism not only continues to prevail today despite living in an age where it is generally understood to be a horrible thing but, it exists because we are living with the sediments of slavery as a result of a flawed abolitionist movement. As the abolitionist movement failed to truly liberate slaves by providing them with the adequate tools to such as a satisfactory and desegregated educational system, legitimate employment opportunities as freemen, and among other things equal voting rights, freed slaves were unable to adequately fulfill the role of citizens of the republic. This situation served to contribute to the plight of illiteracy, segregation, unemployment, poverty, and disenfranchisement endured by free slaves and their descendents for more than 100 years. Ultimately the lack of foresight and the ensuing dilemmas of the freed slave population lead to the creation of racial stereotypes from their white counterparts—who along with the abolitions failed to righteously usher freed slaves into society creating the dilemmas in the first place.
Because race originally played a major role in shaping the stereotypes that perpetuate and fuel fears that attached to the collective psyche of America through a mechanism I do not yet understand it is clear that race still serves as a major variable in creating the fear people hold. This is exemplified when Davis talks about her image as the apotheosis of white fear as she states “people might not be able to explain why an image strikes fear in their hearts but it’s still there.” Moreover, it’s the civil injustice against poor and black people spanning more than a century that has fanned the flames of America’s greatest problems of poverty, healthcare, homelessness, and drugs. As statistic show a large percentage or black or African American people comprise the categories of prison population, poverty, living without healthcare, homelessness, and drug addiction. Moreover, these variables have aid in creating the current stereotypes of black or African American people. Thus, because race initially played a role and I would argue continues to play a role—although perhaps smaller—in shaping the political, social and economic realities of today it is one of the most prevailing topics in discussions today.