Providing some commentary on race relations between (mainly) Black and White people.
I recently read and article on Black sexuality, seen in the link below (WARNING: FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY):
(Click here)
After reading it and looking at some of the comments, it made me think about the effects that slavery has had on the conscious of African-Americans (such as myself) and the basic teaching that 'White is good, Black is bad'. I also think about how the race card is frequently used in situations of plight involving Blacks. With that in mind, I would like to talk about why Black and White cultures clash all the time. I would also like to issue a warning on the following post: if it doesn't apply, let it fly. Period.
1) Anything that is unattractive on a Black woman is beautiful on a White woman.
Just to be frank, this is not always the case. But, in general, this type of thinking comes from slavery days, when the White woman was looked at as the essence of beauty, whereas the Black woman was looked at as being beastly and lower than human. The irony was, both the White slave master and his wife were sleeping with the slaves. Especially the White masters, who would frequently rape the Black woman until she got pregnant. The wives would get back at them by sleeping with the slave men while they were away. When the children were born, they would put the light-skinned children to work in the house, while leaving the Black ones to work outside. This is why almost no African-American is completely Black, and why almost no White American is completely White. Why do you think there are a lot of Whites with naturally Black hair?
Anyways, Black women have always had the reputation of being curvaceous. Because White women were jealous of the figure of a Black woman, but didn't want to seem jealous, they would frequently influence Black women into thinking that they were 'ugly', while subliminally doing things to make them look like Black women. This includes intentional tanning (laying out in the sun at high noon; tanning beds), plastic surgery (breast/butt implants; lip injections), workout routines (Brazilian Butt Lift; FlirtyGirl Fitness, etc.) and hairstyles and products (such as curlers, which makes their hair, well curvy). If not that, they always talked about women who had/have these features.
For example, Blacks were made fun of because of their big lips:
But guess who also has big lips:
This is why you don't see people talk about Meagan Good, Jenifer Hudson, or Wahida Fowler:
as much as Angelina Jolie or Kim Kardashian.
2) Things that are assumed to be originally invented by Whites were actually invented by Blacks.
...Cause you can have all the chips, be poor or rich,
Still don't nobody want a nigga havin' shit...
Nas, "If I Ruled the World (ft. Lauryn Hill)"
...Elvis Presley ain't got no soul,
Bo Diddley is Rock and Roll,
You may dig on the rolling stones,
But they ain't the first place the credit belongs...
Mos Def , "Rock N' Roll"
Check out these quotes from the movie Bring it On (2000):
Isis: Every time we get some, here y'all come trying to steal it, putting some blonde hair on it and calling it something different. We've had the best squad around for years, but no one's been able to see what we can do. But you better believe, all that's gonna change this year. I'm captain, and I guarantee you we'll make it to Nationals. So just hand over the tape you made tonight, we'll call it even for now.
Torrance Shipman: We don't have any tape.
Missy: Really. We just came to see the show.
Jenelope: What? Come on, Isis! Let me do this!
Isis: You know what? Let's go.
Jenelope: Wait a minute. So that's it? We're just gonna let them go?
Isis: Yeah. Because unlike them, we have class.
Torrance Shipman: I swear I had no idea.
Isis: Well, now you do.
Jenelope: Huh! You been touched by an angel, girl!
If you were to ask the average American who they think invented the traffic light, refrigeration for shipping trucks, or surgical tools, they'd probably think it was someone who is white. After all, with innovators such as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, it must be true, right?
Not exactly the case. Just like how I talked about how people mistakenly believe that Whites invented Rock n' Roll, there's a whole lot of myths surrounding Black achievements.
3) The spirit of slavery days still persists today.
..."You're telling me that when I'm a slave, I can be in your house, but now that I'm free, 'I don't want you in this neighborhood.' So you're saying if slavery came back tomorrow, you'll just say, 'Welcome home'?"...
-Paul Mooney
Check out this comment left on an article about Black relationships:And it doesn't even stop there. Slavery has never really ended. Why? Three words: prison, peonage, & profits. Which brings up another point of mine...
4) White Supremacy has been masked as 'Patriotism'.
I know what you're thinking. "Oh, here's another guy bashing our great country." Nope. That's not what I'm doing. Rather, I am shedding some light as to why people feel that way. It is a known fact that in American culture, violence by a White person is okay, whereas violence by a Black person is criminal behavior, which is why no one got even the slightest bit upset about this scene in Terminator 2: Judgement Day, but plenty of people got upset about N.W.A.'s music. And it doesn't stop there. The Black Panthers were looked at as being evil, whereas the NRA totes guns and it's deemed perfectly acceptable. People rant and rage about the negativity of Rap (Gangsta Rap, that is), but they say nothing about movies dealing with Depression-era bank robbers and gangsters. And it goes on and on and on and on....
Apparently, you aren't considered American if you do the following things:
-Talk about socialism (even though Democracy is a socialistic concept)
-Denounce Christopher Columbus (even though he was one of the world's biggest douchebags)
-Denounce George Washington (even though he owned slaves)
-Denounce Abraham Lincoln (even though he didn't like Black people)
Those are just some of the 'patriotism' that's been spoon fed to us since birth. Even Oscar Wilde said, "Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious." Which why even some Whites who truly try to break away from this oppressive, White supremacist order, even the slightest bit, are perpetually criticized. This is also what motivated the FBI to assassinate both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.
America doesn't seem like such a great country now, does it?
5) At the end of the day, Black culture is rooted in authenticity, whereas White culture is not.
At this point, the only real conclusion that one can come to is the fact that the Euro-centric model (that this world is basically operating on) is extremely flawed and deceptive. Am I saying that ALL White people are backbiting, two-faced brutes? No. Some of the people who've had the greatest impact on my life were white. Are ALL Black people harmless, misunderstood individuals? No. (Seriously, wtf is up with the genital mutilation, ugh!?) However, that does not mean that, culturally speaking, that isn't the case most of the time. If we are taught to celebrate somebody such as the Kardashians way more than someone such as, say, Norman Borlaug or Dr. Vivien T. Thomas, you should seriously question your education.
In a nutshell, it's the Tony Mandarich vs. Reggie White incident. If you still can't grasp the concept, put it this way. It's the culture of the hunter vs. the culture of the dog vs. the culture of the wolf. Figuratively speaking, African Americans have been treated like dogs. Which is why we always hear terms such as:
-"It's a dog eat dog world."
-"Nothing but the dog in me."
-"All dogs go to heaven."
-When two ghetto black dudes greet each other, one of the slang greetings is "What up dawg (dog)?"
-When you harass someone, you 'dog them out'.
-Snoop Dogg (and the Doggystyle album concept).
-DMX (and his 'dog' persona)
-Dogs are 'man's best friend'.
-'Stray' and 'loose' dogs.
-The word 'bitch' (the definition of it is a female dog).
This is why you here politicians and political networks fight over how to appeal to African-Americans. This was especially true with the Radical Republicans during the Reconstruction years of America (1865-1877). Although they opposed slavery, they didn't want equal rights for Blacks. In fact, they only took this position in order to get their votes. Can the same not be said for the modern Liberals? Sure, it may seem like they care, but whenever they have a political discussion, they always have a representative (probably a member of the NAACP) speak on behalf of African-Americans, rather than trying to bring on a random Black person off of the street.
Anyway, back to the point. Blacks have been treated like dogs for so long in this country. Which is why there were segregation laws instituted or even why we still follow religion. Think about it. If you owned a dog for a long time, and then laws were passed saying that you couldn't own it anymore, would you want a loose dog in your neigborhood? Or even think about this: why is there even a such thing as a stray or loose dog? I mean, all dogs really are just domesticated wolves.
And that's where the problems come in. You see, Euro-centricity has basically convinced White people to believe that we MUST constantly hunt in order to survive. Which is why you see all these articles throwing up red flags on how we're destroying the environment. You see, when you're a hunter or if you have an extreme imbalance of a hunter's mentality, you don't know when to stop hunting. You hunt to eat. You hunt to have clothes. You hunt for business. You also hunt simply for the pleasure of hunting. A natural predator on the other hand (such as a wolf) knows when to stop hunting, because they only hunt for what they need.
Because of this conflict, the hunter tries to justify their position by killing off the wolf. If the hunter kills the wolf, then they feel like they won't have any 'competition' when comes to hunting. The problem is, however, is that the hunter is only as strong as the weapon that they possess. This is the subconscious thought behind a lot of the 'patriotism' that I previously mentioned.
So, if this is the case, can you really complain about some Africans venting their sorrow and frustration?
Conclusion:
At the end of the day, if we really want to understand each other, we HAVE to not only study our history, but apply the positive aspects that we'll learn from our history. It also would help to change some of the questionable modern traditions that we hold dearly. That, in essence, will help us unite more easily as a human race.
Now, who's up for some Foreign Exchange and Blackroots Science?
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