What this Black Man Thinks…Part 1

I haven’t had a chance to watch the documentary What Black Men Think; however, just a few of the stats that were talked about in the trailer got me thinking. Why is there a serious disconnect between White America, the media, & African American men?

Is it not possible that Rev. Wright was preachings are valid concerns of African Americans? If you listen to the talking heads on every political news show than the comments made by Pastor Wright are completely mis-founded. But how is that when America has a history of hyper-violence & institutionalized racism against African American men & women. And we don’t have to go back 100s of years to pinpoint this behavior in Americas history. We only have to talk about J. Edgar Hoover and the creation the COINTELPRO (wiki link) program to subvert & discredit Black Nationalist “Hate” groups.

Or we can talk about the Jena 6 incident that, regardless of the immature actions of those students, were instigated by a noose being hung under a tree that only white students were allowed to sit under. A ‘white tree’ in the new millennium?!

So why now when a person speaks out about injustice, real or perceived, (which is what this country was founded on) are we not attempting to bridge the gap and reach a middle ground where both parties feel respected & validated through constructive dialog. Like I always tell my wife, we don’t have to agree or necessarily understand each other at this exact time; however, we do have to respect each other. Because the truth is is that there is a history of events like the Rodney King beating, the Amadou Diallo murder, and the Tuskegee Syphillis Experiment.

On the flip side to be fair African Americans, to an extent, have been their own greatest nemesis at times. Harriet Tubman once said “I freed a thousand slaves I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves.” That quotes goes directly to the heart of Blacks accepting their role as victims, thugs, rapists, and sexually promiscuous tools and never using the ladder right in front of them to climb out of the grave dug for them by their former capturers.

I guess my point is this…Instead of labeling Rev Wright as bombastic and racist or the Black Panther Party and the Nation of Islam as hate groups, take a moment to reflect on the conditions that have help to bring forth those comments that you find so anti-American and hateful. Because if you did you might that their comments are purely American…American born and American bred. And as many of you heard Barack Obama talk about in his speech on race…maybe now is the time to begin the move towards the center so that all parties voices and grievances are heard.

Peace,

RgularJoe