Self Preservation vs. Loyalty

            If there is one thing I look for in people its loyalty. To have someone be faithful to me when it comes down to their friendship and honestly is essential in my eyes. Its fulfilling to know that there is someone out there who will respect and accept the person that you are. There are people who believe they are loyal. When in reality they are only protecting themselves from any situation that could possibly impair them.

             Loyalty is offering to help a friend through a rough time. Loyalty is being honest. Loyalty is being genuine. Loyalty is trying to understand even when you don't agree. Loyalty is being that helping hand that is quick to give than it is faster to receive. When you give your loyalty out to someone it's because in your heart you want to. Loyalty is someone offering beyond what one asked for. If you are willing to put yourself through a situation because in the end you know it will benefit you that does not necessarily mean that you are loyal. There is a thin line between self preservation and loyalty. Knowing the difference between your own good and the person next to you is not loyalty. Abiding by someone else’s cruel intentions knowing it is wrong, but still accepting it because in the end you are protecting yourself from any danger or are benefiting from the situation, is what I'd call self preservation.
             In Slave and Citizen, by Frank Tannenbaum, Tannenbaum claims that African Americans were loyal to their masters, but where they really “loyal”? I think African Americans were just smart enough to obey their masters not because they were loyal, but because they were scared of any potential harm that could have been done to them. They knew better and were smart enough to adapt themselves and abide by what their masters demanded of them. African Americans saw what happened to other races that refused to conform to the expectations of "the white men." As a result they chose to go by what they were told to do. Just because they were there for their masters and did as told does not mean that they were loyal. They did things for their own good.
              In the end of it all African Americans just wanted to stay alive and if that meant obeying their masters they were willing to do so. As I said before there is a thin line between self preservation and loyalty. Many people believe they are being loyal just because they are doing something for you. In realty if you are thinking about yourself in the process of helping someone else you aren't being loyal, you are just letting those natural instincts humans have to keep themselves out of any harm kick in. So next time you think you are being loyal ask yourself, Am I doing this because I genuinely care for another person’s well being or am I only interested in what I’ll get out of this?