On the 100th anniversary of Emancipation, James Baldwin warned his nephew, “You can only be destroyed by believing that you really are what the white world calls a nigger. . . . It was intended that you should perish in the ghetto, perish by never being allowed to go behind the white man’s definitions . . .”

When I reflect on the rich and bittersweet history of my people, I can’t help but be puzzled by what we have become. In some instances I could say we are the white man’s dream, a legion of niggers.

Don’t misunderstand me, we have come a mighty long way. But is being able to sit at the lunch counter with white folks or having the choice to cast a ballot in an election enough? Should we as a people be satisfied? We’ve become so lackadaisical that we have now begun disrespecting our history and ourselves. Aaron McGruder depicted it best in the “Boondocks” television episode “Return of the King,” where after waking up from a coma Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. says in a speech: “As I look out across the crowd now at all these black people who sacrificed nothing for the cause of freedom, I see nothing but a bunch of lazy, shiftless, triflin’ niggas!”

We traded in the Revolution for BET’s “Uncut” and Paul Wall’s “Grillz.” We have reduced our women to “Ms. Fat Booty,” and because 10.4 percent of the black male population between the ages of 25 and 29 are in prison, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, our men have been reduced to inmates.

If we truly want to make sure that the struggles of Ida B. Wells, King, Malcolm X, Ella Baker, A. Philip Randolph and numerous others were not in vain, we have a lot of work to do. Being blessed with the opportunity to become more than our great grandfathers should be enough of a driving force to make us get out of bed and go to class.

Being blessed with the opportunity to become more than our great-grandfathers should be enough to sway us to uplift our people, whether it be through supporting black-owned business or volunteering in the community. It’s time for us to take a page from history and take a stand. It does not necessarily require carrying a picket sign, it’s more using education and unity as a weapon for advancement.

What do you think?

Nneka Meka is a student at Prairie View A&M and editor in chief of The Panther.

• Nneka Meka