Pages

Monday, July 15, 2013

SO...WHAT NOW DO WE TELL OUR BLACK YOUNG MEN...?

So.....

What now do we tell young black men?

That you can't be seen in a multi racial neighborhood after twilight, even if you are unarmed and only carrying Skittles and Arizona Iced Tea?

You can't wear a hoodie, because people will see you as a thug.....?

Possessing marijuana is seen to make you look more aggressive and sinister, even though most weed is used by whites in America and everyone with an IQ over 13 knows that weed makes you sleepy, hungry and horny?

That you need to speak to police in an extra humble way, because of all the cases of INNOCENT black men murdered for "appearing" to have a weapon, or beaten for "looking menacing"?

What do we tell black boys?

That there are rules carved out, just for you, that limit your expression, that modulate YOUR behavior, that society says implicitly, silently, that we must follow, but no one else has to follow...?


Do I want to raise a black boy in a world that views him as a threat no matter what he does, says, walks, wears,or behaves? That every moment of his public existence he must watch how firmly he speaks, because "creepy ass crackers" will see him and may shoot him for standing up for HIMSELF, AND STANDING HIS OWN GROUND?

What do we tell our young black men....?


This is not a facetious question, or one of sarcasm......

If a boy cannot walk back to his father without being gunned down...cannot walk down the street without being "stopped and frisked",cannot wear this, cannot wear that, cannot wear this, cannot do that cannot speak too firmly to a white or other person,

Cannot...

Cannot....

Cannot...


Cannot...

Cannot...

Cannot....
Cannot....

Then tell me what year we function in? What country we live in? Because the only time that a group of people are singled out and told they "cannot" do so many things, was in Jim Crow Segregation and slavery....

Even when they obey your laws, you still kill them in cold blood and walk away free...

Even when they ascend to the Presidency of the United States, you demonize him as a terrorist, a Hitler-figure, and all manner of vicious, sophomoric names...

So tell me America.....

What do you want me to tell my young male cousins or teenage nephew?

Because if I can't tell him to do his best, get good grades, walk the streets without a weapon, stand up for himself in the face of injustice,and live his life in the same way people who are classified as white do...without still being slaughtered for no reason...

Then you are telling me to prepare him to be a slave.

To prepare him to walk as an inferior, talk as an inferior, modulate every movement, watch every step, look six ways before crossing, do not resist police brutality, do not question anything....no matter what...

You are asking me to raise black boys to "stay in their place"...like good "niggers" do...

Then how much have you changed?

What do I tell a black boy when he sees white boys concoct all manner of drugs, including meth(Tina),mushrooms, illicit drugs, prescription drugs,illegal drugs, drugs that haven't even been classified yet.... and stands a far better chance of being able to do it without being targeted or punished....?

I am going to tell black boys that this country sees him as the enemy....and everyone responsible for maintaining "order" has a bullseye on his chest...

You know, right where Trayvon was shot. In the heart.

Excuse me if I don't salute this flag, steeped in the blood of my ancestors....

Excuse me if I don't spout patriotic jargon and rhetoric about how "great" this nation is.

I can't tell a black young man to love this country....I can only tell him to be careful and watch out for it.

No comments:

Post a Comment

 

Sample text

Sample Text

Sample Text