Why Black generational curses lives on
Like abused children that eventually find themselves out on the street fending for themselves, so was the state of the black community during Antebellum and Reconstruction. We didn’t have a smooth transition, mentoring or programs to help prepare us for the challenges of living on our own. Being under the control of a master and pretty much being (forced) reliant on them for our basic needs lasted several generations. Understanding this, many of the plights and struggles we endured through much of the 20th century is arguably justified. But what about today? Why do we still theoretically find ourselves in the back of the bus? There are five main reasons:
Pride – Humility comes before the rise. Factually, this is not a black trait. This is a human trait. And to be clear, pride is not statically a bad thing. However, it is horrible when it comes before intelligence. Pride is synonymous with protecting our beliefs. If we have no intelligence before the pride, we find ourselves protecting harmful beliefs. There’s plenty of personal pride to go around that impedes our growth.
Ignorance – People like to view ignorance as a bad thing. Truthfully, we know much less than we don’t know. This means that ignorance lies in all of us. But take the amount of systematic, economic, behavioral and political ignorance our group possesses and the result is disaster. We make feeding the poor a public argument but don’t take this same argument to parents who don’t ensure their children complete their studies, stay out of jail, and practice abstinence.
Tradition – We love tradition, don’t we? Why not? Traditions can be great. It creates…well, traditions! It gives us an identity and expected behavior. We have holiday traditions, familial traditions (aka heritage) and societal traditions. But what happens when a tradition is gone wrong? It becomes self-oppression. Traditions allow us to state what is considered “Black”, what is considered American, what is “Hispanic” or what is considered “White.” Arm the black community with a bad tradition and we are subliminally pressured to live up to it then stay stuck. This doesn’t make sense.
Fear – C’mon. We all have our own fears. Some people fear flying, while others fear snakes. For many of us, we fear the unknown. If a person was born into poverty but desires to die wealthy, this means they will have to do things that their parents, perhaps, have never done. Parents may view this child’s behavior as risky, unexplainable or erratic then discourage them from chasing a dream that may leave them disappointed. Sometimes it is due to their own failures. We are too comfortable with poor health & poor wealth. We have become too emotionally attached to the tradition of it. We can’t be fearful or teach our children how to be fearful. It’s a trap!
Coddling – Here’s where our emotions come into play. We love our children to dysfunction. We can always give a friend advice on how harsh to be to their kids. We can be very apathetic to children in our communities or students under our tutelage at schools but as soon as we gaze into the eyes of our younger biology, we freeze. We get timid. We become concerned with their feelings. I always say, a parent’s job isn’t to make a child happy, it’s to make them successful. They will be adults much longer than they are children, so if you see behaviors in them now that will lead to problems in their adulthood, don’t wait for it to be handled then; “then” may be too late. Let the truth be told. Many of the successful self-made millionaires and entertainers are the product of disciplined parenting, hence, The Jacksons, Serena and Venus, Tiger Woods, Beyonce, the list goes on.
Our children may be our future, but the parents are the present! The good news is, our children model our behavior. The bad news is, our children model our behavior. Forget what we say. They watch what we do. They can’t discern what’s good and bad. They are not smart enough to decipher it. By the time, they realize their poor behaviors, they may already have children themselves, the cycle continues and you will be the one raising their kids. We can’t be ashamed of our vulnerabilities, strongholds, addictions, ignorance or weaknesses. No matter how we try to hide them, justify them, protect them or evade accountability of them, the truth reveals itself through the state of our community.
I am sick of this Whitney portrayal!
By now we’ve all heard the tragic news that legendary singer Whitney Houston suddenly passed away on Saturday February 11th. It is tragic to us because of how many lives she’s touched and how young she was to have passed. She is one of our fallen sisters, but more importantly she is a fallen mother, daughter, cousin and more. To us, she is a singer.
We’ve all pretty much been impacted by her music while balancing her ability to handle superstardom. It’s not easy. It can be a very critical life that requires thick skin. Some of us stifle our talents and never share them with the world because, sometimes, of the discouragement our friends and family gives us, imagine strangers. Nonetheless, she chose to continue blessing us with her work. She was not only instrumental in selling CDs, concert tickets, and movies, she was also responsible for selling magazines, newspapers, and other media. So it is so disheartening to me to see how she is being handled and going down in history with these same outlets. Can we list her songs and not her wrongs? Her music helped us through difficult times when a loved one died or went through a divorce. She celebrated with us when we had marriages, graduations and birthday parties. She was there, now where are we?
All of a sudden, the loyalty is thrown to the wolves and the sales become the primary objective, even in her death. As I read the stories, commentaries and columns I get so angered by seeing how her iconic work is being eclipsed by her troubles. I don’t care that she abused drugs, so did Elvis. So what if she abused alcohol, so did President Bush. Yet, they are still revered. I don’t mean “so what” as in the abuse of drugs and alcohol isn’t a bad thing. They are. But that is a personal struggle that shouldn’t be taunted by anyone. It should be treated, not mistreated! Amy Winehouse didn’t get this level of smearing by the media and her career cannot be compared to Whitney’s. C’mon folks…
The black community should be outraged to action in this situation. The poor projection of blacks happens and we momentarily get angry, but what do we ever do with it? We go back to our lives until the next moment. We MUST have an active national competitive media that aggressively covers the black community in a way that does not continue to damage us. Whitney’s work stretches way beyond a few public snafus. And to be quite honest we are mostly depicted negatively because it increases their sales. We should see this as a crime when one of our fallen is smeared even in their death.
Do we sit by idly? We should not go on the attack and protest anyone. We should instead build or invest in our own. If it takes buying out the shares Comcast owns at TV One, using a collective collection of regular black folks, then that’s what we should do.
Listen, I am not going to go on pontificating. It is time we rebuild and be rewarded. This is “The Real Black Discussion!” But after we discuss, let’s not let our inaction become our disgrace…
I like Roland’s views and guts to speak his mind. On Super Bowl Sunday, he made some remarks that came across as anti-day and offensive. Though he explained that the remarks against socccer play David Bekham were about his sport and not sexuality, he still found himself getting suspended by CNN. I don’t think what he said warrants him being suspended, but then again, I am not gay so the comments he made doesn’t hit close to home with me. I guess saying a homosexual shouldn’t be so sensitive is like a non-black person saying I shouldn’t be so sensitive if I am called the “n-word”. Well, let’s see how this one plays out with Roland. Anyways, I always speak about the importance of the black community having our own infrastructure. This is another example. He also works for black-owned TV network TVOne. If he is not suspended or fired from there, I will be back to say, “I told you so!”
Read the full story here… http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/cutline/cnn-suspends-roland-martin-over-offensive-super-bowl-195422269.html
Arizona Lawmaker proposes White Appreciation Day
Well, at first glance it would seem like Mr. Ash was being satirical but after defending his remarks, it would make any one wonder. I am not sure how to take his proposition. It seems very disrespectful, unapologetic and apathetic but does everyone else see that way? Do you think comment warrants a response from the black community?
Are all Republicans really racist and Black Republicans sell-outs?
My fellow Americans…eh-hm, my fellow Black Americans “All Republicans are racist!” Is this a statement you really agree with? This is as silly as saying all Democrats are not. Where did we get the notion that party affiliation was an indicator of racial preference? I hear this all the time. If you are black and a Democrat, you are normal, but if you are black and a Republican, you are known as a Black Republican; synonymous to a black eye, the black sheep, black cat, blacklisted, stool pigeon, or Sambo. But let’s go a little deeper to assess if our assumptions have basis.
Joe Lieberman is a Democrat senator who made a promise to Time magazine on March 5, 2007 to not switch parties, after losing his Democratic re-election bid, who later ran as an Independent eventually registering as an Independent Democrat who endorsed Republican candidate John McCain in 2008 for president. (Source: http://mediamatters.org/research/200702240001) Whew! Writing this alone is exhausting. After President Obama won his bid for president, Joe Lieberman reconvened caucusing with the Democrats.
Now, my fellow Black Americans. Is this the behavior of a racist? I don’t think he is, but I can’t say because I don’t know him personally. What I can say is if we are saying the party you are registered to makes you either racist or not, then our thinking is as shallow as dating for money. Can someone (if our assumptions on party affiliation is true) one day be a racist, the next not and then the next day simply be hanging out with racists but not be racist themselves? The Democratic party claims to be the party of freedom and liberalism who supports the openness of homosexuals coming out of the closet but on the other hand refuses to let Blacks of the Republican party come out of theirs without name calling. The minute you resort to name calling is the minute after your last substantive argument has been made. This makes no sense, is not intelligent and makes us look hypocritical. We can’t be confused. We must gain a better understanding of what the real issues in politics are and stay free from wading in the “shallow” end of the pool.
Look at the behavior of radio host Thaddeus Matthews.
He breaks into a tirade pretty much demeaning this female republican on his show. It is an EMBARASSING display if you ask me, and anyone should be ashamed to be affiliated with him politically, socially or biologically! Can we be proud of his behavior? Would he have been able to get away with the same demagogue against someone for being homosexual? There are racist blacks and since the Democratic party is largely black, can we conclude that Democrats are racist too?
Politics is not a fight on race. The more we let runaway scatter-brained civil rights leaders shed light on it, the further away we drift from competitiveness. This is a fight on economic beliefs and competition. No different than you competing with the next candidate for a job. Is the Tea Party against Blacks? Are they against economic compassion? Are they against the poor? Per capita, Blacks are the poorest in the nation, so any attack against the poor or economic assistance, we tend to take personally because it would seem like a direct attach against us! But we shouldn’t! We should attack the assault where it is targeted. We all love the country we live in but based on our experience and expertise, we have different expectations of our government. For example, President Barack Obama views higher education as too expensive, especially at the private institutions. Well, someone who owns stocks or invests in a private college will disagree with his view. They will defend the costs of tuition hoping that the return on their investment continues to grow. So in the political world, politicians would vote differently. In this case, Republicans tend to be the business owners that favor capitalism. While Democrats view a sustainable economy as one that puts people before profits. It depends on what situation you are in or the dynamics of your life is how you will vote on certain issues.
To be called racist because of a party affiliation? Not smart. It only invalidates us as insightful people and points at our lack of political understanding.
Are we the bigots? Are we the hypocrites? What I need to know is, is suppressing the voice of Blacks no matter what their party affiliation is damaging to the black community or is working to keep them silenced moves us in a progressing direction?
Op-Ed written by: Devin Robinson
Learn more about him at www.devinrobinson.com
Radio host assaults female political candidate
Should chivalry exist in politics or is any treatment fair game towards women?
I wonder, where is her husband, where is her brother? I know most females wouldn’t have accepted this treatment. She remained calm and even attempted to shake his hand after the assault. Do you think he went overboard? Was he out of line? I would love to know how the females feel about this. Is this acceptable treatment by a man even though it’s only due to political differences?
Bishop Eddie Long crowned king?????
What happens when our leaders are not trustworthy?
Let's get the deal done!
I’ve been told on numerous occasions that I could be rough around the edges. I can firmly say, this roughness comes in the form of honesty. If I can’t do something, I don’t say I can and I expect the same from other people. I won’t tell people that a product or service is good, meanwhile it goes against your best interest. That’s where people tend to view me as “rough”. It is because many of the Blacks with knowledge, power and money often use it for their own personal gain. They tell those who believe and respect them, what to do, even when it goes against the true depth of the “black benefit”. On the surface it seems good because it feels good, but over the long-term it doesn’t move us any closer to self-sustainability. We’ve lost ownership of television programs, magazines, restaurants, you know, the “influentials”. We’ve even lost the ownership of beauty supply stores but remain 96% of the customers. Tell me where in this world a black-owned business can get an Asian to endorse them entering the marketplace and still retain 96% of the Asian customers. Can’t even say it’s their fault.
I listen to prominent Blacks endorse companies that compete or damage the community or other black businesses, because of the instant pay-off for them, then their followers support these companies. I heard it this morning. But I truly think non-blacks have figured it out. All it takes is to find the Negro who will sell the black community short; who would sell their loyalty for a dollar. There are plenty of us trampling around. It is synonymous to the house Negro telling the master of the escape plot or the suck-up guarding the other slaves picking cotton. Is it really our destiny to be destitute (Powerless, Poor, and Pessimists)? At this rate, we will never recover as a group. Actually, at this rate we may have been better off as slaves. At least then we had an excuse. I know how the criticism goes. I will be called a radical because I am not sitting on a syndicated network speaking to millions daily and what I teach (and preach) is uncomfortable and outside of the flow of “black traffic”. Yeah, I know you will probably say, “C’mon Professor, aren’t we passed that? Does everything have to be racial?” My response is, “No it doesn’t, I am not the one making it a race-based case…”
The Professor: Author
“Rebuilding the Black Infrastructure: Making America a Colorless Nation”
Eddie Long wasn’t gone too long!
Bishop Eddie Long is back after a “short” leave from the pulpit. Your thoughts?
