By: Curtis King
The statement below is a response that I sent a gentleman in retort to his comment . . . “get rid of the word black!” The comment came as a result of our institution’s name, The Black Academy of Arts and Letters, and our promo of Black Music and the Civil Rights Movement concert program. We periodically receive statements from people regarding removing the word “black” from our name. Since it came via our various communication platforms, I felt the need to share an important perspective.
RESPONSE TO MR. DAVIS
Hello Mr. Davis,
I generally don’t respond to social media comments. However, as the founder and president of The Black Academy of Arts and Letters (TBAAL), I felt the need to respond to your comment, “get rid of the word black!” When I read your comment, I asked myself the question, “why would this gentlemen suggest that we “get rid of the word black?” To suggest that we do so is like asking a group of people to trash their history, commit their own suicide, and move aimlessly in America or in the world, for that matter, as if we never existed. Would you ask the Jewish people, the Russians, the Chinese to get rid of their name? Every nation and ethnic group with a very homogeneous population and history have gone through some form of assimilation, but have also maintained their own identity and uniqueness because of their historical experiences in the world. Let’s look at Japan and Korea. These two countries have been able to create a single modern race due to their smaller sizes and/or populations, and they have maintained their diverse, idiosyncratic, genetic makeup because of their place in their own history and culture. We, as Black People, have been asked and begged to disassemble and disassociate ourselves from who we are as human beings in America. Many have accommodated the request simply because we wanted to be inclusive, and it has yielded us little-to-nothing in return! Being Black connects us to the core of who we are and who we are proud to be. I assume that the word “black” offends you, makes you feel alienated from a group of people, questions your own human guilt, reminds you of an ugly past-history between American Blacks and Whites, or you simply don’t understand, or are unwilling to accept that “Black” people have carved out a unique place and presence in America and around the world, in spite of our human atrocities. We use it not to batter or insult other races, but to rightfully demand respect for the work and contribution we’ve made to culturally identify our distinctive existence in America, which has emerged out of our history as “Black” people. So, I beg to differ with you that we should “get rid of the word black!” At this point, it’s a bit too late, for we are the hue of God’s creation!
Curtis King is the founder and director of the Black Academy of Arts and Letters and for the past 40 years he has shaped the Performing Arts la
