Friday, July 10, 2009

Ya'll Get So Riled Up Over Whites & Their Racism But Are Silent When Black Women Are Attacked

So there's this continued brou-haha over the private club in PA that rejected a group of black youth. Several people are howling racism and shaking with rage. I hear one of Rev Inc. may pry themselves away from the camera, um the mic, um Jackson family long enough to lead a march. Nothing says "we mean business" like standing in a sanctioned area designated by the police and screaming.

Obviously I have a slightly different take.

Yes it was racist.

Yes I feel for the kids.

It was a crass way of getting their point across for those adults to do anything in front of children. Was it "merely" racism? There's an underlying class issue at play here. Whites are always so defensive about having their attitudes evaluated for potential racism they have a knee jerk reaction in trying to avoid it. Nothing ever progresses. Had someone decided to come clean and say they were concerned about the behavior of the group it would've opened a serious dialog. They'd still be getting vilified but for a completely different reason. 

The continued excuses by blacks about policing publicly displayed dysfunctional behavior undermines any cry of racism. Perhaps if so many weren't showing each other at our worst (hello BET Awards) some white people wouldn't have such an immediate negative reaction when they see us coming. Like whites' avoidance of being referred to as racist, blacks avoid the painful evaluation of things of an internal nature as well. It's literally killing us.

We can't just focus on the "scourge of racism" when it comes from whites when we don't do anything about the black racists/sexists amongst us. There was one black male DBR complaining on Twitter about a white actress making some derogatory comments about blacks but less than 72-hours ago he was agreeing with the very rotund and unattractive sports writer who trashed Serena Williams. Where was the outrage for THAT?

You can't have it both ways black people. Either you take up the cause for ALL injustices or you leave it alone and roll the dice.

What was the socioeconomic background for the black campers versus the white ones?

I am telling you there is blowback for public displays of misbehavior that go unchecked. When you have so many blacks who want to make excuses for the criminality of others you can expect some unforeseen ramifications. Dare I sound bourgie here because I'm not, but had these children been taught to modify their behavior for a diverse public setting? You know there are times you see people talking loud, shouting at each other in greeting or doing things that imply an intimacy amongst themselves. That would be fine if they were at home but not on the bus or in the mall or at a parking lot. Remember you have to use your "inside voice" at certain times.

I know I've scurried away from those blacks that bring unnecessary attention to themselves. I've also given warning looks to those whose behavior warrants it. This isn't limited to those of lower incomes either. Some seem to reek of "I Am Special" and make a point of trying to present themselves as the next monarch of Britain. They tie up public lines at places like coffeeshops asking for their extra particular specific order and are willing to force you to wait while they deign to complete it. Just so you know who they are. So we have the case of ghetto vs siddity. Either one is not a good look!

There's still this unspoken message that blacks must rally against every slight, every racist incident when it involves a white person. What about black on black crimes? You know the murder rate where black males are killing each other faster than any racist white cop. Satan is not the evil equal of God nor can every ailment within the black community be blamed on others.

I'm getting tired of hearing about how the "white man has held the black man down". I'd dare to say many are using this as part of the perpetual victim argument. Slavery is over. We have black male (and female) billionaires. I can't say those individuals are actually doing anything for the masses but we have examples of people achieving and we can certainly learn from part of their model. There is nothing preventing men from returning to school en masse for example. 

We can't ignore the contempt a lot of those black elites have for the rest of us. We should note though the paper bag test was started by dark skinned and self-hating black men who wanted to immediately separate themselves, mate and procreate themselves out of their blackness. So certainly education and career achievement was stressed. Having a tight-knit family and their own community was also important, but it was for their own individual happiness not for the entire collective. Marginalizing black women was an active part of their agenda. 

That agenda has trickled down across all social strata. When the debasement of black women is addressed and stopped then perhaps I will muster up some outrage.

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6 comments:

bwdb said...

...ITA...It was quite unfortunate that the campers had to experience the cruel hand of racism like that...On the other hand, I often cringe at the public gaffes of the "Acting Black Crew"...Definitely not cute...In days past, Blacks were admonished to wear their Sunday best and mind their manners...Especially while conducting business in town...

Faith at Acts of Faith Blog said...

Felicia: Thanks again for more words of wisdom and your practicality! You really break it down!!

CW: Yes I feel for the kids but here's a big learning lesson that will be avoided at all costs to keep the "evil white racism" banner flying high.

tasha212 said...

You know,

I am inclined to feel bad for the children because what the swim club did was WRONG. However, I am a substitute teacher and I work with young, predominately black children all the time. And I know how some of us can act. I know how we like to talk loud and act boisterous. I think that we need to go back to the old school way of raising children. I was taught to act a certain way in public. I was taught that everytime I went somewhere I represented not only my family but also my race. My peers and I knew what to do and what NOT to do. I say this not to excuse what the swim club directors did. Again, it was definitely wrong and I feel sorry for the children. Also, there's no proof that the children were misbehaving. One little boy was in tears, as he said "I thought those days were over."

I do feel though that black people are inclined to focus only on those outside forces such as white racism in lieu of focusing on our internal issues. I think racism is still very much alive and needs to be combatted. BUT injustice is injustice no matter who commits it. If black people are to really stand for justice, we must fight against the sexism and colorism that has torn our communities to shreds. We must become vigilant in fighting black on black crime. So, I shrug my shoulders these days at the rage that most black people express against racism because I know that it is not real. Because if we really stood for justice, we would not allow many of the things that go on in our neighborhoods and households on a daily basis.

Faith at Acts of Faith Blog said...

Tasha212: I hear you but even that little boy who cried I wonder if he'd grow up to put two and two together about how not to treat other black girls or would he only focus on what bothered him? I mean I just has a very frustrating conversation w/someone like that who's in his 40's howling abt what a white person said that he thought was derogatory. As I stated in my post he was right there calling Serena Williams overweight and ugly in a public online forum with NO SHAME. They're not interested in justice, they're interested in being able to get over - for their OWN ADVANCEMENT NOT OURS. So I'm done. Plus now the Country Club has in fact stated they wanted them gone due to concerns about behavior. So there you have it. All of the usual suspects and the newer orgs have kicked into gear to fight de evil white ppl but every day a black girl is having her soul crushed. So I'm done!

Rocky said...

tasha212

I couldn't agree more.

Lisa Coffman said...

Your comments about "public behavior" are spot on. We were at Taste of Chicago last weekend and I (who was a young black teenager back in the day) was blown away by the behavior of some of the groups of kids. The cussing and in your face examples of rudeness..bumping people without an excuse me or sorry, line jumping, etc. - really blew me away. My parents taught me that you can have fun but be respectful. A previous poster hit it on the head by stating that it's that behavior that causes people to have negative images. Interesting cultural observation I also peeped other groups of teens..all white groups, Latino and some mixed groups and rarely were they acting as bad as some of the black groups.