I don't think assimilation is good or bad -- just dangerous.
It goes against what our Ancestors have been trying to give us in this country -- the ability to be who we are and loved and wanted for who we are while belonging to something bigger.
I don't think Black Americans don't recognize themselves as Americans -- I know I don't. While I roll my eyes at the apple pie rhetoric, I know it because I am an American. All I want is to be Black and love being Black and not have it counted against me.
Other ethnic groups (because I am SO not talking race here) have managed to assimilate to _some_ degree while keeping it real. However, we have't because we came to this country under hostile circumstances -- circumstances that never fully stopped.
How we help this sad country of our's is by helping her to lose her fear for people who are different, do things different, think different, worship different, etc.
To assimilate means denying the dreams my Ancestors fought for -- and I can't do that. They have been denied so much....
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"When the revolution comes, "faggots" won't be so funny." - The Last Poets
** Most people mis-read this line. I don't think he is being homophobic. I think he's making sure you folks know, within our communities, those of you who laugh at