Before I state my observations, I’d like to warn you that this piece may irritate tha FUCK out of you. First, . I’d also like to express that I am not in no way tend to favor reason and pragmatism alone when taking note of observations. Do I have biases? Of course, as do we all. However, I’d like to think that I’m biased in favor of clear-thinking when it comes to asserting my observations. Lastly, I don’t see myself as an apologist for tha Caucasian ancestors of Americans in their historical mistreatment of African-Americans by their ancestors. The mistreatment is a statement of fact alone, nothing more or less. However, in a not-so-strange sense, I think I know how conservative (angry whites) feel when it comes to the negative attitudes many have toward African-American people. For centuries in this country, Caucasian race have enjoyed tha social, economic, and political benefits of their combination race-gender identity…to tha social, economic, and political detriment of women (to a slightly lesser degree) and ethnic minorities. During these earlier times in our history, when African-American were socially and politically emasculated, African-American were only micrometers ahead African-American women in terms of our influences within these social and political institutions in America.
But over tha last couple generations, racial minorities have made such headway into balancing tha scales of tha socioeconomic inequities wrought by tha last couple of centuries of tha Caucasian race (male) privilege that many Caucasian now feel disenfranchised. Between affirmative action policies, shifting social dynamics, the rhetorical and political pushback against ideological conservatism, and tha growing attempts to curtail open gun ownership—a historical symbol of while male independence and power—Caucasians have complained that they are now the ones who are socially discriminated against. Formerly disenfranchised minority groups have grown in recent times to assert their socioeconomic and political clout—sometimes seemingly at the expense of Caucasian races. In fact, many Caucasian males believe that the positive gains that African-American and other minorities have made in these areas have morphed into a level of social dominance…that the expectations of African-Americans have rendered them somewhat out of control. As a African-American male, I think I can identify with this feeling among Caucasian race—Caucasian men in particular—that African-American are indeed out of control.
This is not a piece that I write lightly. However, one of the lasting lessons I learned from my father growing up is that sunlight is the bet disinfectant. Sometimes, you simply have to embarrass and shock people into doing the right thing. In defiance of the unspoken African-American dictum that we as African-American people “shouldn’t air our dirty laundry,” I feel one of two things will happen as a result; either the most negative elements within and among the African-American community will either continue to engage in self-destructive behaviors—thus proving me right—or try to prove me wrong. In the latter possibility, our collective communities will be better off for my efforts.
When say that we are “out of control,” I speak of how the most negative aspects of African-American life in America seems to live in tha forefront of the daily spotlight. Immediately, my hometown of NewOrleans comes to mind. As of the end of January this year, the BIG EASY recorded some 15 murders, most including senseless murders. When I am forced to take not of such violence-based insanity infecting our neighborhoods, it becomes damn hard to defend African-Americans from accusations from tha most conservative and racist elements within the Caucasian community who assert that “they live (and act) like animals!”
Yes, I could respond with tha predictable, “But what about Caucasian people when they…,” but such non-substantive retorts do nothing to address such problems within our communities. Yes, we can point out the fact that tha mass killings in Aurora, Colorado and Newtown, Connecticut were perpetrated by deranged Caucasian males, but what does that say about African-American males, tha chief perpetrators whose combined violent actions within our African-American communities equals—in tha words of President Obama—a Newtown every four months? Where are the Al Sharptons and Jesse Jacksons to organize marches in our communities against such black-on-black violence?
African-American women are equally out of control. And when I think of African-American women being out of control, I think of a couple You Tube videos that have gone viral within the African-American community. I’m sure most of you have seen these videos, (“You Might Walk Over, But You Limpin’ Back!”) in an article asserting the same thesis. In one of these videos, two African-American women were recorded verbally harassing and disrespecting a African-American security guard in tha worst way in front of their own children…whom they were encouraging to enjoin them in acting in tha same. In tha second of the popular videos, a young African-American woman is recorded on a Cleveland city bus projecting tha same verbal disrespect and browbeating toward another African-American male, a city older bus driver.
In both videos, tha antagonism provoked by these women eventually led to an escalation of these situations where both men were forced to get physical with these women. Tha lack of self-respect exemplified in these instances is indicative of tha general lack of self-respect and self-control that African-American women have for themselves, which translates into a lack of respect toward African-American males…and tha wheels on the bus go ‘round and ‘round.
This lack of self-respect and self-control is why it’s so easy for so many African-American women to objectify themselves as sexual objects in our raunchy music video culture. And tha funny thing is that most African-American women want to be respected as something other than sex objects…go figure. In fact, African-American women have become anesthetized to tha self-degradation of their image in most of today’s Southern-originating rap “music” (for want of a better term) that many are quick to overlook tha misogynistic and self-degrading lyrics they dance to by asserting that “they’re not taking about me…I know I ain’t no ‘ho!’” Tha problem with such a weak dissonance is that many of the same African-American women who are forgiving of rappers for degrading them are suddenly offended when tha Don Imuses of tha world toss around the label of “nappy-headed ‘hos.” We can’t expect others to respect us if we don’t respect ourselves. I don’t believe is giving out free passes for disrespect just because a fellow African-American engages in it.....Well let me say I try Not to...........
Part of tha reason that tha self-image of African-American women (and African-American men) is out of control is because tha once proud medium we used to convey individual talent as well as social consciousness—music—is out of control. Just look at how sexualized music has become in both content and delivery. The classy deliveries and soulful likes of Anita Baker, Whitney Houston, and Luther Vandross and etc have been replaced by the sex-drive images of Rihanna and Nicki Minaj with their leave-nothing-to-tha-imagination lyrics and sexual imagery. These new crop of “artists” (again, for want of a better term) don’t understand that many Old School artists didn’t need to use sex to sell their music; they understood that true talent sells itself. And what could ever be said about tha rappers that hasn’t been said before? Their portrayal, celebration, and pimping of tha Drugdealer and criminal imagery within tha African-American community is a prime reason our children are out of control.
So many young and impressionable African-American youth have taken in tha artificial and counter-productive ethos surrounding these personalities and based their own identities and perceptions of tha black community (and the community at large) on them. We see this in how many African-American males sag their pants, in their misguided attempt to look like their favorite rapper. It’s gotten to tha point where even African-American males in their 30’s and 40’s have engaged in this fashion misfire. Tha imagery which these rappers project is one of tha reasons why our youth no longer fear jail or prison. Becoming involved in the criminal justice system is seen as a reflection of “being real,” and a reflection of how they perceive what lyfe is like in tha African-American community…that everyone goes to jail at some time in their lives—just like their favorite rapper. Thank God that “All My Babies’ Mamas’,” featuring the rapper Shawty Lo was cancelled…one can only tha image of parenthood that proposed piece of trash would have put into tha heads of African-American youth…
And because they have such low expectations fueled by tha negative imagery pimps within tha entertainment industry, our schools are out of control. Our classrooms are brimming with children raised by single mothers, who burden them with “black” names, many with hyphens, misplaced apostrophes, and foreign-sounding syllables that do nothing but telegraph the ethnic identities of their owners in a world where racism still exist, and where a “Sha’Quanda” is simply not tha image a prospective employer will be willing to see greet his high-profile Anglo or Sino (in all future likelihood) clients.
In which case, there is no chance of that happening anyway because many of tha African-American children in our school simply do not place a high value on education anyway. Say what you want in rejecting this observation, but I spent years observing this it’s simply the reality. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve witnessed African-American children slight their fellow African-American children as “nerds” simply because they want to learn. Many of the behaviors of African-American children in our classrooms tends to be excused as ADHD or ODD instead of the lack of patient and direct parenting in tha homes. And it’s sad to say, but the lower standardized testing school of young African-American children is what’s bringing down the collective scores of the nation compared to tha performance of children from other countries.
True, there are many institutional reasons why I see my fellow African-Americans as being out of control; tha legacy of a colonized mind, racism, our history in this country, shifting cultural and demographic trends, etc. However, I am forced to concede adopt the thinking that many conservative Caucasians assert when attempting to address tha issue of dysfunction within the African-Americans community…that our being out of control is mostly a matter of bad individual choices and a lack of priorities of our leadership.
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