The Reality of Hate

With all the disrespect and hatred that has been spewed towards President Obama lately, I find myself hating all the racists of this country for having done whatever it is that they have done. I caught myself getting angry and turning to a hatemonger like them. One particular case that angered me was the picture depicting a disrespectful Jan Brewer with her finger in the president's face. Another Russain lady who's a naturalized American citizen, who can hardly speaks english, also had the nerve to question the president's origin by filing a suit in court for Obama to prove his nationality. A white woman from another world has the right to question an American born leader, really? I say this to say that this country has been built on the backs of those people hated the most in American society, Black people.

Going all the way back to history we don't have to dig deep to uncover hatred on the part of white people towards other groups for no reason at all. There isn't a group of people that white people don't hate on this planet. They've also created derogatory names for each group. While watching Bruce Lee's story, I couldn't help but notice the racism he had to overcome when he first came to this country. The Hispanics or specifically Mexican folks, have become the butt of everybody's racist jokes. Indians from India feel the wrath as well, but none of them feel it as much as Black people. We must have the toughest skin because the hate that we experience seems to come from every race or group on this planet. Too many Indians, whites, Asians, Hispanics and so on, are either afraid of us, or they completely hate us based on the great job that white people have managed to do to sell our race as inferior and violent to the rest of the world. Even some of our black folks suffer from an  inferiority complex because of what  we have allowed white people to do to us.

Now, let's really look at the roots of all this hatred. Why are black people hated and feared by so many people around the world? Since I've done a considerable amount of travelling around the world, I have a little inclination of the world's view of us. As a matter of fact, I've been victimized by it, though I've never taken it quietly. Anyway, let's answer the question posed at the beginning of the paragraph. I would like to believe that we're not hated just because of the color of our skin, but because of the threat we posed and have become to a white man's theory that we are inferior. In the beginning, we couldn't go to college and achieve or learn the same way white people do, that theory was proven wrong by many of the brothers and sisters who have matriculated at Harvard and successfully graduated, though most of them were first generation college students. They wouldn't accept our black athletes on college campuses because the games were too complicated for us and we didn't have the physical ability to compete, but after so many of our pioneer athletes have demonstrated our superior athletic abilities and the courage on the basketball courts, football fields and baseball fields of every college campus across America, the bar was raised to a level white people never thought existed. The same thing would happen in medicine, business, technology  and agriculture. So ask yourself this question, what's the reason behind the hate?

Black people not only helped build this country, we've also helped to keep it competitive around the world. The thousands of gold medals our black athletes have brought to the United States is comparable to no other country; the multi-billion dollar industries that Black people have helped create in sports and music is comparable to none; the strong spirit of entrepeurship that black people have brought to this country is comparable to none; the resiliency and tenacity that we have taught the world cannot be compared to none; the beautiful spirit and talent that we have brought the world is uniquely us; the creativity and innovations we have brought to the world in science, arts, music are done despite the fact that we were in bondage for 400 years. Just imagined if the playing fields had always been leveled, Black people would've been the leaders in every corner of this world.

The reality of hate kept this country from advancing far ahead in the world. Black people have only earned the right to vote in the last 50 years. Hatred kept us from reaching our potential back then and hatred is keeping this country from reaching its potential now. President Obama is so hated because of his race, he can't even implement policies for the betterment of the country. Republicans have issues with the man even in areas where the country has shown progress under his leadership. The world would be a better place only if all this hatred was not a reality.

In Honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King.

It's been a while since I've posted a blog about anything. However, I've chosen this special day to write a blog because of a man who is more important to this country than any president that we have ever had in the history of this country, to me. Not even the founding fathers of this country had the foresight, compassion, selfless attitude and character of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

One of the reasons why I'm writing this blog today is to ask, how far have we come as a society? Politics aside, can we really evaluate the progress that we have made, or have been allowed to make by white society? It's only fair to put aside the fact that we have an African-American president in the White House because I feel his election has been part of the cleansing of white folks' conscience, but not their true compassion towards our ability to lead. Mr. Obama has had to fight an uphill battle even with his own party since he moved into the White House.

As far as the eyes can see, we can all agree that great progress has been made by black people in American society, right? However, how near or far-sighted are we? First we must look at the industries that we dominate simply because of our genetic abilities and talents. Genetically, black people are athletically gifted, so it shouldn't be any surprise that we have more black players in the NFL and the NBA. These two sports are highly pushed in our community because of the greater benefits to those who can exploit our talented athletes.  There were more African-American baseball players in MLB 30 years ago than there are today, why? Because there was a shift in exploitation to the Dominican Republic, Panama and other Latin countries. White folks no longer wanted to invest in baseball in our community because the money Latin players demand is significantly less than what they should be paid. Sports is a business and too many people don't understand the profit sharing aspect of it, so they always blame the players for their demands. However, very few of these players are functioning physically well enough after retirement. We may have a lot more players playing basketball and football, but there's only one majority black owner in the NBA, none in the NFL and Major League Baseball. Though we have seen changes in the increased hiring of minority coaches in the NFL and the NBA, the numbers remain dismal in Major League Baseball, the richest sport in America. 

Black people for no apparent reason have always had to fight for their position in American society. We have always had to prove that we're capable and worthy in the eyes of white people. Has anything changed since the Civil Rights Movement? I really don't think so. The phenomenon that Tebow has become in the NFL lately has only confirmed white people's willingness to give a subpar quarterback many chances to prove himself in the once thought position that African Americans couldn't play. It takes a special lens to be able to look at the bigger picture to understand the roots of certain prejudices and hatred in our society. Our president has been disrespected way too many times by nincompoops who shouldn't even have a voice in the media. The dumbest president in the history of our country, George Bush the second, was never humiliated by the media even though his deficiencies were always at the forefront.

We can also look at entertainment and see the state that our music is in. Have we made any progress? Hell no. The regression of our arts is due to the capitalist push to denigrate our race and our subconscience to believe that what they dictate we are is what we will become in order to "make it." How many times must our women be referred to as bitches and hoes before a music exec decides enough is enough? Why should they? They no longer have to call us names because we're doing it for them. The most endearing term in black music, literature and our community has become the N word to way too many people, and it rolls off our tongues without a second thought. Referring to women as bitches and hoes is not limited to music either, just pick up any of the hottest books written by some of your favorite authors and you will find those books are laced with these words as well. Is that progress?

We can look at education. Black women have surpassed black men in high school and college. The dropout rate for black men in high school is higher than it's ever been. Where are we going to find our next leaders if we can't even convince them that an education is part of the process? Fewer black men are attending college, forcing black women to take on the burden of leadership, head of household, single motherhood, and caretaker. Are black women going to be the next leaders of our community? Is that fair? Is it progress? Who's going to help raise our boys to men?

We can also talk about community and the regression is far worse. Drug use and prostitution are more rampant than before in our community. One of the primary reasons for the high rate of drug use is unemployment. The unemployment rate for Black men is almost double the national rate. Is it because the system is making it harder for black men to get jobs? Do black men lack the training and education to get hired in the job market? Even during the Civil Rights Movement black men held more jobs than they do today. We have not come a long way yet! Young black girls are forced to sell themselves into prostitution because of the enigma called materialism and drug use. The absentee fathers in the home also contribute greatly to the lack of self-esteem of these young girls. Now ask yourself, have we come a long way because we have a black president?