"A Peculiar form of polygyny was practiced among Western peoples in early Mesopotamia, and among the Greeks and Romans, in the form of concubines and prostitution, but it was dehumanizing to women...[it] was carried over into early America with enslaved African American women and continues in contemporary times in various forms"
Dr. Patricia Dixon-founding Pres. of National African American Relationships Institute (NAARI)
The story of Steve Mcnair is unfortunate and sad. However, in the words of Slick Rick, "these types of things happen everyday." The only exigent factor in Mcnair's circumstance is that it cost him his life. Whats more interesting is Mcnair's reputation amongst his community. It seems like his actions didn't fit his character. In fact, even considering his erroneous actions, from what I saw, people close to him only had good things to say about the type of person he was.
Well, with no pun intended, if he was Solomon, this would have never happened. I've had talks with my friends about polygyny, and I usually get rash feed back. But when Mcnair hit the ethers, perhaps it brings more relevance to the notion. The fact is, Mcnair was missing something in his life and his search stopped when he met Sahel Kazemi (even though some press sources say he had another mistress which instigated the incident). And yes, I know that true happiness comes from within, but he was only human (born to make mistakes) and at the time, he saw something that brought him a certain level of contentment that he obviously didn't have.
And yeah, I know it may not seem appropriate to pull the race card out on this issue, but here it comes anyway. Polygyny, at one point, was the norm in societies all over the globe. I know the ladies don't want to fathom their ancestors practicing it-but wake up, smell some Sanka, read a book, and catch up to speed. As you can expect, our humanatarians from the Causcas mountains put an end to polygyny by deeming it unacceptable (got to love how they put the smack down). The iron hand came when fathers of the Christian church backed them up 100%.
"It was not until after the 15th century, with European world conquest and domination, that the idea of polygyny as an inferior marriage practice and monogamy as the superior marriage practice came to dominate the world."
Dr. Patricia Dixon- Associate Professor of African American Studies @ Georgia State University
So if you really want to go back to your roots, brothers and sisters, then you'd realize your lineage lines you up with families that had numerous wives and one male. Moreover, at this time in history, we were in control of our destiny, without the yoke of European culture dragging us down! If Steve Mcnair could do it all over again, I'd bet he'd take the option.
According to Dr. Patricia Dixon in her book, "We Want for Our Sisters What We Want for Our Selves (African American Women Who Practice Polygny by Consent), polygyny is still practiced in western societies. She proports that now polygyny is practiced under the myth of monogamy. Think it's a joke but names like Jesse Jackson, Bill Clinton, John Edwards, Elliot Spitzer, Thomas Jefferson, Mark Sanford, Eric Benet, Sen. John Ensign, and Dr. Martin Luther King (to name a few) proves her estimation to be precise at best.
On the contrary, when Africans practiced polygyny, it was open, whereas no deception was involved. It was used as a form of nation building (i.e. Abraham), and it had numerous advantages over monogomy. Even Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, so long as Allah comes first and all our loved equally, up to four women per male is permissible. Our brother in the pic has three wives with children and they all look happy.
Maybe, just maybe, when Billy got busted, Caucasians began to regret they eradicated polygyny from being an acceptable practice in marriage. I guess the governor of Carolina would affirm that notion. Meanwhile, in America, the practice is so remote to the founders of polygyny, (people of dark hue) it seems as if we didn't introduce the practice to society. I guess we'd rather just get women behind our lady's back, in deception, rather than deal with the fact that polygyny is part of our great ancestreal heritage. According to Dr. Dixion, that's the European way!
And to show you how the cards turn, Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormons, took the practice and ran with it! Makes sense to me, after all, his revelation of Jesus in America came from Egyptian tablets (yeah right)! Once the Causcasian comes through waving the flag, watch out-you might forget who you are!
In conclusion, Steve Mcnair's death is tragic, but at one point, his actions would have never led to the consequences he received in 2009. When you lose sense of your history, you lose a sense of who you are, and when you lose that you you've lost knowledge of self. If only we could turn back to the east and recognize our stolen legacy. Yes, Steve Mcnair was searching for something, but as Africans in America, aren't we all?
*Picture courtesty of MandikaPeople.com*
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