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.
