Kids would be happy to be in schools that were better maintained, and with smaller class sizes, more teachers, more equipment, and better books.

The workplace, at every level, would represent the diversity that exists in the larger society, and not in a token way. The level of pay that you receive would actually represent the level of work that you perform.

Affirmative action would not be necessary, or even desired.

Families would stay together, supported by educational, economic and spiritual institutions.

When you would go shopping in the mall or elsewhere, you would not have to be followed because you are suspected of having stolen or wanting to steal. The fear of “driving while Black” will no longer exist, and you will actually be able to consider police officers as public servants who work to meet your safety needs.

Fewer Black people will be in jails than in schools or workplaces.

Black people will be more represented in the media.

Our elected officials would be more representative of our numbers. There would be 12 to 14 Black U.S. Senators instead of one. There would be 75 Black representatives in Congress. There would be a Black president or, at least, the possibility of one.

When you needed a doctor, he or she would likely be Black. In a courtroom, you would be likely to encounter Black judges, district attorneys, defense attorneys, or jurors—and not just one or two, but a representative number.

You would have a choice of Black businesses within which to shop. Better still, you would have a chance to own your own business if you wanted to, and through your business, be able to provide employment opportunities for your people.

Parity will give us power, prosperity, and privilege. But most importantly, it will give us independence. Independence means that we can be ourselves, think for ourselves, love, respect, and do for ourselves. Finally, we would no longer have to apologize to anyone for being Black in America.

That is why parity is so important. It means the difference between poverty and prosperity, health and sickness, comfort and pain, sadness and happiness, independence and dependency, even love and self-loathing. That only scratches the surface of our capabilities.

Now, while we are more than able to achieve this “state of parity,” this is something we will have to do for ourselves. We are not going to wake up one morning and have it be so for us by just wishing and hoping for it. As much as we would like to believe it, prayer alone will not achieve it. The only thingthat will make it so is action. The action will involve courage, unity and respect for one another, organized effort, and determination. We will need to work with each other with open minds, open hearts, and open arms. We will have to put aside divisions and compete against superiority thinking. We have common goals; we want the same things, even if we disagree on the best methods for getting them.

We must challenge oppression, and confront injustice, and we cannot wait for traditional leadership in order to act. Each one of us must consider ourselves a leader. It won’t take a huge number of people in order to begin—just one or two people willing to lead and/or be led. Our communities are waiting for us to become strong, active, and to show them that what we want is worth having. Remember the legacy of killings, shootings, castrations, lynchings, rapes, beatings, and other unspeakable injustices that is the history of kidnapped and enslaved people here in this country. Our forefathers and our heroes lived and died so that we would have the best opportunities. We cannot betray their efforts. We must follow our hearts and love our brothers. For those of us who are Christians, remember these passages:

“No weapon formed against me shall prosper,” “we are more than conquerors,” and “we have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and a sound mind.”


Frank Wiley is a contributing writer living near Albany, New York.