Skip to main content

Moral Turpitude


The sun rose and the sun set, but the plans for this cursed day were never to be realized. The hopes for this lifetime were eviscerated as a historic land was targeted.

There were primordial screams from the depths of their humanity as they were kidnapped by Europeans or with the assistance of other Africans. The gut-wrenching cries were repeated across the land as families and communities were broken irreparably with each subsequent kidnapping. In the blink of an eye, they were considered as tools exclusively for the economic gain of others. It was inconceivable to imagine the depths of the depravity used to monetize their existence. Death was the only guaranteed escape from this racialized enslavement.

Recognized no longer as humans but solely as chattel, they were forced to cross the threshold of a door of no return and thrown into the bowels of ships. Denied their name, language, faith, and culture, they were shackled and chained. Now, their lives were claimed by someone else as the ship's manifest listed them as cargo to be insured not passengers. They would never again be known by their family or tribe, but by those  claiming ownership. 

The powers that be created a complex system of moral turpitude based on their gravely flawed construct of  race. Each structure was systemically contaminated if by no more than the greed of privilege. By distorting sacred text, mere mortals declared themselves to be favored by God with dignity because of their white bodies and, therefore, entitled to economic gain through theft of labor.  Should the Africans survive the horrific Middle Passage, they would set foot on a distant shore where they would be stigmatized for the color of their skin.

For more than 400 years, the primordial screams of the African continent have been heard and embodied by us, their descendants in the West, as structures have been reinforced to perpetuate the lies of race. The cries compel us as we continue to endure the traumas of racism, while working to deconstruct moral turpitude flourishing as white body supremacy.  

Embracing the truth of our humanity and our God-given dignity, we affirm that neither we nor our skin color are deserving of this racialized stigma. The primordial cries of our ancestors have been transformed into demands of the BlackLivesMatter movement for liberation and justice for they are as sacred as sunrise and sunset.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for reading Leslye's Labyrinth. I welcome your comments.

Popular posts from this blog

American Vias Dolorosa

The liturgical calendar of my Catholic tradition accompanies us through our lives in the ordinary times as well as in periods and on days of significance. During the solemn and holy days of Lent and the Triduum, respectively, we reenact the via dolorosa in the Stations of the Cross. Regardless of its size, the sanctuary of each Catholic parish will include a representation of the fourteen Stations. The prayerful process reflects on the sorrow and suffering of Jesus from his condemnation to death his death by capital punishment and burial in a tomb. His subsequent resurrection is celebrated on Easter Sunday.  While the Church's calendar reflects the highs and lows of ordinary life, our lived experience is not confined to this timeline. Experiences of suffering, death, and resurrection occur for each of us at varying times. The calendar may say that it is ordinary time, but as we accompany a loved one through the challenges of a terminal illness it is a period of sorrow.  With ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Come to the Table

For more than a decade, I have used social media to share experiences and feelings of myself and others on a number of issues including white supremacy and racial justice. Some of you who benefit from white body privilege have taken offense.  The history of Alabama, the USA, and Western Civilization taught in our schools is from the perspective of "the winners." The people who inhabited this land when Europeans arrived were already living in right relationship with the Divine and creation, and were not savages. My ancestors were not happy to be kidnapped, thrown into the bottom of ships as human cargo, sold into slavery, and denied their God-given dignity. The continuing murders of innocent African-Americans, and the health disparities reflected in the impact of Covid-19 speak volumes. At this moment the Navajo Nation has the highest number of cases per capita than anywhere else. During this pandemic, what is happening to the children who are detained at the southern bord...
Post a Comment
Read more

Moving Beyond Weariness

What is this weariness? It is the weight of 400 years of relentless hope while facing the willful ignorance of those who deny the historic and systemic oppression of so many.   Being available for hard conversations is draining yet worth it when someone begins to understand. On the contrary,  there are always those who know more than God. As for me, I have tasted the freedom that was unjustly denied to my kidnapped and enslaved ancestors. This was not exclusively experienced by my extended family. Unknown numbers of Africans from various tribes were kidnapped, chained, shackled, and transported against their will as cargo to live less than humans in enslavement on this land. What traumas does this experience induce for the human psyche, body, and soul? On what behaviors and practices did they learn to depend for survival? Spend time with those questions. Born in the post-chattel slavery era of the twentieth century, I know Jim Crow and apartheid from my lived experience. Th...
Post a Comment
Read more