It's amazing how many people continue to entertain the notion that we Black Americans are all alike.
Instead of believing what their eyes see, and what their total life experience clearly has taught them, many believe that we all think and behave the same.
Whether this is a reflection of erroneous teaching passed down through generations, ignorance - or both - the phenomenon intrigues me.
So listen up...
No, all of us don't respond well to the accented greeting "What's happenin' brutha?" at the corner store - especially when we just heard you say "Hello, how are you today?" to the previous three non-Black customers.
And no, we all don't like chitlins.
At least I don't.
I was a chitlin' hater before I ever saw one.
Check this out...
I was 3, growing up in the projects of Portsmouth, Ohio.
I walked over to my Grandma's building (kids could walk around the neighborhood back then...
) and, when I stopped at her door, I smelled something funky.
Yeah, I thought I had boo-booed in my pants, so I checked.
When Grandma came to the door, I immediately said "Grandma I didn't boo-boo!", so I wouldn't get a whuppin'.
Instead, she looked at me kindly and said "Naw baby, it's ok.
That's supper cooking.
" And that was that.
Chitlins and me could NEVER be friends.
We Black folks are as different, within our race, as any other folk.
We have our own individual opinions on every subject.
We have different ways of doing things.
We like different kinds of music.
We don't view politics the same.
Me and politics? Thanks for asking!I am all messed up, and I hate it.
I am neither Democratic nor Republican.
On the one hand, I can't be a straight-up Democrat.
I believe abortion is the murder of an innocent child, and I cannot condone it, under most circumstances.
I believe this nation will be severely judged by God for the millions of lives we have slaughtered in the name of convenience and choice.
So the donkey platform is shaky.
That's my opinion.
On the other hand, I certainly can't be a card-carrying Republican, either.
Take away affirmative action and that'll level the playing field...
please.
Until the hearts of all men are pure, and true justice reigns (not happenin' today!) we must maintain federal and state programs just to stay on the field.
And there are, of course, many other cons and pros.
What I'm trying to say is this:I am a man first, just me.
I am a Black man second.
Yes, we Black men and women have some collective concerns, a certain amount of shared pathos , arising from our shared painful past which we are daily changing to a triumphant future - but we are each something more fundamental than a cog in a Great Black Cause.
I am, like you - just me.
Let me just speak for myself.
(Insert deep breath sound here:) When it really comes down to it, I am just a dude trying to get as close to God as I can, work an honest day and live an honest life, prepare my children to be smarter and better and stronger and richer and more godly than I am, be a general blessing to my fellow man, stay out of jail and not go to hell when I finally die -hopefully with some honor, a long time from now.
(exhale here) Yeah, you probably think this way, too.
Whom ever you are...
In this way, I guess we Blacks aren't the only ones who are just alike.
We are ALL pretty much alike when it comes right down to it, aren't we? Just remember one thing: You may - and it's cool - but I ain't eating no chitlins...
BKB
Instead of believing what their eyes see, and what their total life experience clearly has taught them, many believe that we all think and behave the same.
Whether this is a reflection of erroneous teaching passed down through generations, ignorance - or both - the phenomenon intrigues me.
So listen up...
No, all of us don't respond well to the accented greeting "What's happenin' brutha?" at the corner store - especially when we just heard you say "Hello, how are you today?" to the previous three non-Black customers.
And no, we all don't like chitlins.
At least I don't.
I was a chitlin' hater before I ever saw one.
Check this out...
I was 3, growing up in the projects of Portsmouth, Ohio.
I walked over to my Grandma's building (kids could walk around the neighborhood back then...
) and, when I stopped at her door, I smelled something funky.
Yeah, I thought I had boo-booed in my pants, so I checked.
When Grandma came to the door, I immediately said "Grandma I didn't boo-boo!", so I wouldn't get a whuppin'.
Instead, she looked at me kindly and said "Naw baby, it's ok.
That's supper cooking.
" And that was that.
Chitlins and me could NEVER be friends.
We Black folks are as different, within our race, as any other folk.
We have our own individual opinions on every subject.
We have different ways of doing things.
We like different kinds of music.
We don't view politics the same.
Me and politics? Thanks for asking!I am all messed up, and I hate it.
I am neither Democratic nor Republican.
On the one hand, I can't be a straight-up Democrat.
I believe abortion is the murder of an innocent child, and I cannot condone it, under most circumstances.
I believe this nation will be severely judged by God for the millions of lives we have slaughtered in the name of convenience and choice.
So the donkey platform is shaky.
That's my opinion.
On the other hand, I certainly can't be a card-carrying Republican, either.
Take away affirmative action and that'll level the playing field...
please.
Until the hearts of all men are pure, and true justice reigns (not happenin' today!) we must maintain federal and state programs just to stay on the field.
And there are, of course, many other cons and pros.
What I'm trying to say is this:I am a man first, just me.
I am a Black man second.
Yes, we Black men and women have some collective concerns, a certain amount of shared pathos , arising from our shared painful past which we are daily changing to a triumphant future - but we are each something more fundamental than a cog in a Great Black Cause.
I am, like you - just me.
Let me just speak for myself.
(Insert deep breath sound here:) When it really comes down to it, I am just a dude trying to get as close to God as I can, work an honest day and live an honest life, prepare my children to be smarter and better and stronger and richer and more godly than I am, be a general blessing to my fellow man, stay out of jail and not go to hell when I finally die -hopefully with some honor, a long time from now.
(exhale here) Yeah, you probably think this way, too.
Whom ever you are...
In this way, I guess we Blacks aren't the only ones who are just alike.
We are ALL pretty much alike when it comes right down to it, aren't we? Just remember one thing: You may - and it's cool - but I ain't eating no chitlins...
BKB