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Black Excellence or Suffering?
Erin
Created on November 17, 2024
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Transcript
By Erin Clark
Memphis, TN
A Representation of Black Excellence or Black Suffering?
Does it showcase our power or our misery? The best way to answer this question is to first define Black Excellence and then take a look into Black Memphis' history to see if it aligns with this definition.
In a city in which Black people are the majority of its population and equate for nearly 30% of its poverty (a statistic taken from a 2022 study), it does make me question how Memphis as a city represents Black people.
64.4%
of Memphis, TN is Black
A journalist that goes by the name Lindiwe defines Black Excellence as "representing the triumph of talent, perseverance, and determination" of Black individuals. It is the power of Black people to carry on and power through regardless of racial injustices and in circumstances in which there are inequal oppurtunities.
What is Black Excellence?
Bob Church, son of the first Black millionaire Robert Church, was well known and well admired for his great influence on Black voters in Memphis. Church was a Republican who worked alongside White Democrat Edward Hull “Boss” Crump and his political machine. Together, they controlled Memphis' politics.
Bob Church: The Ashes of A Legacy
Crump and his machine destroyed everything Church and his family worked for; they "seized his property, broke the family fortune, and dismantled his Republican organization" (As qouted from Preston Lauterbach's "Memphis Burning." On Febuary 26th 1953, they would finish off this destruction by burning Church's home - his father's home - to the ground. The City of Memphis were well aware of this event. They, in fact, were the ones hosting it as a way to demonstrate a new and improved fire nozzle.
"You have a bunch of niggers teaching social equality, stirring up racial hatred. I am not going to stand for it. I’ve dealt with niggers all my life, and I know how to treat them. … This is Memphis."
Edward Hull “Boss” Crump
“[It was] almost a lynching of the Negroes of Memphis...It wasn’t just the house, it was what the house represented.”
The house represented the possibility of the Black American, how far they can reach. And the burning represented the limit they would be allowed to reach before it was too much for White America. Does Memphis represent Black suffering?
Memphis resident lester lynom
The Sanitation workers' strike was a strike by 1,300 Black employees of Memphis Department of Public Works for better work conditions and a higher wage. A march, organized by Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Leadership, took place on March 28 with around 22,000 people in attendance. The labor workers and those marching with them would continue to march for 64 days, even after Martin Luther King's assassination on April 3rd. The department would finally give in to their demands on April 16th, recognizing the union and setting better wages.
“We’ve got to give ourselves to this struggle until the end. Nothing would be more tragic than to stop at this point in Memphis. We’ve got to see it through”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
In conclusion...
Memphis, as a city, is a representation of Black Excellence. Memphis' history is abundunt of examples of Black people doing what we do best: keep moving forward. We grow and we prosper through the concrete the world dumps on us. And, if we fail, we keep fighting until we win. That is Black Excellence.
Delavega, Elena, and Gregory M. Blumenthal. “2022 Memphis Poverty Fact Sheet.” 2022 Memphis Poverty Fact Sheet, The University of Memphis, 2022, www.memphis.edu/socialwork/research/2022_poverty_fact_sheet_web.pdf. Lauterbach, Preston. “Memphis Burning.” Writing Memphis – University of Memphis, Katherine Fredlund, Available from: Yuzu Reader, (3rd Edition). Macmillan Higher Education, 2022. Accessed 18 Oct. 2024. Lindiwe. “Breaking down Stereotypes: The Reality of Black Excellence • Dope Black.” Dope Black, 3 Aug. 2023, dopeblack.org/breaking-down-stereotypes-the-reality-of-black-excellence/. Accessed 1 Nov. 2024. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute “Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike.” Standford University, kinginstitute.stanford.edu/memphis-sanitation-workers-strike. Accessed 25 Oct. 2024. U.S. Census Bureau, "Race and Hispanic Origin," American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates Subject Tables, <U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Memphis city, Tennessee> Accessed 1 Nov. 2024.