Monday, September 26, 2011

Traitor to the Race, That's Me.

Yes, the title is correct—I think. You read that right, I am (proudly) a traitor to what people, specifically most Black people, think that our race has become. I don’t care if y’all try to take away my “black” card, wouldn’t be the first time. You can call me a “white girl”... shit, that happened last week; didn’t move me then and won’t move me now. Not that I think your imaginations are that great, but whatever you can come up with will NOT hurt my feelings, because I have not drank the kool-aid; I don’t believe the hype.
What caused this rant? This past weekend, I travelled to the far south side of the city and saw my old house; the old neighborhood. To say that I was sadly disappointed is an understatement. Not only did I see the old house—or what was left of it, I saw the kids on the corner, and, inside, I went BALLISTIC. Seeing shit that pissed me off when I lived in the hood made me ask myself some questions: Why do young Black men find it an acceptable to stand on the corner—even in inclement weather? Why do young people think that it is ok to trash their own neighborhood? Why do the people around them ALLOW for their surroundings to be decimated? And, for the love of all that is holy, why does everyone seem to think that this is acceptable behavior? Oh, and before I get tons of emails saying: “That happens in every neighborhood; it isn’t just Black people; you’re racist, blah, blah, blah.” Save it. I’m not concerned with other neighborhoods. I didn’t used to live around other races. I lived around Black people- and I am writing about my experiences. If you don’t like it, write your own blog entry.
Now that I have dealt with the crybabies, let’s get down to why I am a traitor. Oh, I have NO love for where the general direction that Black people are headed in, or where it is right now. And I plan on calling all you mofos out on the dumb shit that you do. I do not, will not, ever give you a Black pass. Fuck that. As little as 45 years ago, Black people were dying in the middle of the streets that you dumb asses stand on and sell drugs. You ought to be ashamed. You claim to be hustling. Punk, get a fucking job. That should be your hustle. Selling drugs to your “people” should make your stomach turn. You ought to have more pride in yourself and the struggle that others had to go through so you could be the neighborhood baby daddy who dropped out of school to sell drugs. Oh, and spare me the “a Black man can’t get a fair shake” speech. Know what? Neither can a Black woman. My dad used to tell me all the time—“you have to work three times as hard as everyone else because you already have 2 strikes against you in society—you are black and a woman.” And he was right. So fuck what excuses you got. Excuses are like assholes- everyone has one and they all stink. I don’t care to hear it.
With the invention of social media has come the acceptance of some ass backward behavior. You see people acting an ass and think that shit is cute, so you put it on your wall, share it with your friends. I can’t even tell you how many people I have de-friended because the “n” word is a staple in their vocabulary. Do you know what people had to go through so that we WEREN’T called that? And now y’all think that shit is cute? It is almost every rap song, on people’s YouTube channels and on facebook and Twitter. What brain dead lame came up with that? Or sagging your pants so much that you can’t walk? Or trying to emulate every hip hop star? Let me let you in on a secret... YOU AREN’T A BALLER. You can’t make it rain in the club. It is not cute to have 3, 4, 5 baby mommas. It is NOT your fucking job to populate the ghetto. You have no job, you don’t take care of your kids, you have no education and I AM SICK OF IT.
All these other people like to coddle. That is not my deal. I am not coddling anyone. There seems to be an expectation that you can do whatever the fuck you want and because we are both Black, I have to say, “ok Ray Ray (or Shaquana), I know you have it rough, so go on, do you.” Um, hell no. We all have it rough. Do you think that I want to get up and go to work every day? Making money for someone else? Do you think that I like the fact that I have SEVERAL degrees- including graduate degrees and I don’t get paid NEARLY enough? You think I like struggling after I have done everything I was supposed to do? NO, but that is life. The one thing I will always do is take care of business. If that means I have to sacrifice a couple of years and work my ass off for someone else, that is what I am going to do. That also means that if I am not MARRIED, I am not having any children. (Oh, be mad bitches—I don’t care.)That means that I don’t commit felonies; I don’t kill people over turf, I don’t sell drugs and I DO NOT pass on bad behaviors to the children around me. What the fuck happened to being a positive example? Y’all make me sick. The ones doing the bad shit and the people that let them get away with it—all y’all.
When will we learn that until WE expect more out of ourselves, no one else is going to expect more from us/help us/love us?? When will we learn that WE have to hold one another accountable?? Guess what? When we don’t hold each other accountable, we become the JOKES that everyone thinks we are. We become the stereotype. We become the 21st century jig-a-boos. Shame. A fucking shame.

4 comments:

Quiana said...

Are you writing about my neighborhood??? "Why do young Black men find it an acceptable to stand on the corner—even in inclement weather? Why do young people think that it is ok to trash their own neighborhood? Why do the people around them ALLOW for their surroundings to be decimated?" I think you should write for Clutch! I was just telling my husband the same point you made about where black folks were around 50 years ago. Pride has been lost and it's unfortunate.

Miss Mox said...

It is unfortunate!! I look around and all I see is the decline of Black people. Collectively we are all so concerned with appearances and keeping up with the ghetto mentality that life is slipping through the fingers of the community.
I grew up around Black doctors, lawyers, politicians... people who did something with life- and now I look around and I am disappointed daily. :(

I wonder if Clutch needs another writer! ;) Thanks for the compliment!!
Give your adorable daughter some hugs from Chicago!!

Miss Mox

Unknown said...

Well. I think you covered it all. No objections at all - zero. I've been a suburbanite since the age of 12, but not the 'nice' suburbs. Matter of fact, where I stay, for all practical purposes, is an extension of the west side of Chicago. And I remember when we moved here, I thought the same thing. And yes, it's gotten worse. Where I get my haircut is so rough, I'm strongly considering going elsewhere - and my barber and I are very close. The shop owner did his best for a few years, to keep people from in front of the business, but slowly they've been inching their way to the front of his business. Support from the police would only come if we have another run of trouble in front of the place. Shame. I don't know, I never felt confined to my 'hood.' I guess I've always figured as long as I can go here and there, as far as the car, plane or train will take me, that's my hood. And 'we' are the only ones who like to let our neighborhood fall apart. Okay, enough for now; I could go on and on, but again, you covered it.

Miss Mox said...

Thank you Eddie! :)

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...