iDENTiTY

Some people go through a stage in life when their poor choices or circumstances determine their station in life.
Sometimes people become drug addicts, alcoholics, impoverished or worse.
For some, this station becomes more than a passing phase - for some, this station becomes a choice, a way of life - this station becomes their identity.

Some people are from the ghetto - others are just ghetto.
Even when one acquires the resources to remove themselves from their situation - their mentality dictates that they live the lifestyle of the ghetto (With all it's limitations).

I've never been a slave.
I've never picked a ball of cotton, been whipped by a master nor prevented from making the most of my innate talents.
To me, Slavery was just a very small portion of my identity as an Black man in America.
For me, Slavery was just a passing phase from which I could learn.
For me, the few hundred years of slavery pales in comparison to the thousands of earlier years of freedom and innovation.
For me, Slavery was just the foundation from which later success could be built.

IMOHO - Too many people still choose to only identify with the worst of their past.
Too many hold on to the mentality of settling for the scraps, the subjugation by others and the position of inferiority.
I think too many people still see themselves as slaves and act accordingly.
Too many cannot see Slavery as being similar to a horrible childhood of poverty and oppression but an adult life of freedom, wealth and opportunity.
Too many people act like slaves because they still see themselves as being slaves.