Public Enemy #1
The discussion of the week has been “Are you selling out the race if you confine to the majority.” Meaning you adjust yourself to make other people feel comfortable. The exact situation that brought the conversation up was, black men changing their presence so they will not offend anybody. Examples would be smiling when walking down the street or humming a tune from Coltrane instead of G-Unit. My argument has been; no you are not selling out your race. We confine all day long within our own race, we confine on job interviews, we confine when we approach the opposite s*x, especially if the women appears to be a lady of class. I know this has been said over a million times but, it’s hard being a black man in America. It’s especially hard being an educated black man in America. Regardless of how well you dress, how well you speak or how many white people you know, you still are public enemy number 1. And not only to white people but to everybody else, even black women fear us. When I leave a club or I’m out late, if I approach a sister she always has her defensive up. So if being a black man scares the women in my race why wouldn’t people outside of my race be scared of me?
This past weekend I was in Chicago going to the airport, when the cops pulled me over and pulled me out of the car like I had just raped a white woman. They didn’t take into factor it was 7am or the fact that I had on a suit and tie, the only thing they knew was a young black male stole a car and any one fitting the description was a suspect. Tales like this are told all day long, 365 days a year. So after a number of years of this kind of treatment what do you do? A lot of my peers protested they wouldn’t confine for anybody and if the majority could not accept them for who they were, then the hell with it. I’m very proud of my heritage and I love my skin, plus the other people that wear the same color as me. I just know that in the past when we have tried to fight the system we have always lost. Malcolm X, Fred Hampton, The Black Panther Party, and even their boy Martin Lurther King were all taken down. So what’s the solution? We play their game we become successful, we create jobs, we create neighborhoods that only we can live in and only shop at, we create a society where blacks can be black and not have any setbacks for being black.
This past weekend I was in Chicago going to the airport, when the cops pulled me over and pulled me out of the car like I had just raped a white woman. They didn’t take into factor it was 7am or the fact that I had on a suit and tie, the only thing they knew was a young black male stole a car and any one fitting the description was a suspect. Tales like this are told all day long, 365 days a year. So after a number of years of this kind of treatment what do you do? A lot of my peers protested they wouldn’t confine for anybody and if the majority could not accept them for who they were, then the hell with it. I’m very proud of my heritage and I love my skin, plus the other people that wear the same color as me. I just know that in the past when we have tried to fight the system we have always lost. Malcolm X, Fred Hampton, The Black Panther Party, and even their boy Martin Lurther King were all taken down. So what’s the solution? We play their game we become successful, we create jobs, we create neighborhoods that only we can live in and only shop at, we create a society where blacks can be black and not have any setbacks for being black.
I wouldnt say that means that you are selling out your race, you just know how you should present yourself around certain people. If you wit ya boys you dont have to actlike you on your job and be all up tight, but when you on your job you should keep that professionalism in yourself not like you out wit ya boys!