Early this morning on the heels of what was an excellent gathering of BLACK MEN, I received this text from someone in consider a very good friend, “Why do you have to emphasize BLACK MEN so much. It appears that there was a white man there too. Hang that up.” At first, I was taken aback by this but had time to ponder this on my long commute to my office.
Here is the answer: The most abused, berated, negatively viewed group in America is BLACK MEN. The young boys we are losing are not getting the opportunity to become BLACK MEN. The most stereotyped group of people portrayed negatively is BLACK MEN. The opportunity for BLACK MEN to make a change and avoid extinction rest squarely on the shoulders of today’s BLACK MEN.
The discomfort white people feel in discussion on race is fear; strong intelligent BLACK MEN have always scared white people! They created psychological, emotional and a systematic methodology to break BLACK MEN!
So bottom line is that in our “diverse” community the very thought of BLACK MEN generates a negative connotation to a lot of our white friends, they cannot wrap their heads around the fact that BLACK MEN can coalesce and take charge of the preservation of our own. The stereotypes that are ingrained, the systematic disenfranchisement and the fear that BLACK MEN will work together makes even our closest white friends uncomfortable.
As for the white man being there, some white people get it and some NEVER will…