I’m not sure if my statements make me some kind of Uncle Tom or race traitor, but I can’t really say I care. The defining line here is that it’s one thing to bring up black-on-black crime as a reason to excuse white-on-black crime and another to say that we must deal with both. I say we deal with both of these atrocities with an equally firm iron fist: Any rapper/record label/media company that gets rich promoting the killing of black men and women is an enemy to the African American community. Point blank. Period. Perhaps artists can get amnesty for past music they’ve produced in the cloud of youthful ignorance. But from this point forward, it is important that we understand that no one is going to value black life if black people themselves don’t value black life. It actually makes us look silly when we seek to draw compassion and empathy for our plight when we don’t even have empathy for one another. Our fundamental question is this: Are we seeking to blame whites for the deaths of all of our children, or are we seeking to protect all of our children from any and everyone seeking to do them harm? We know what racism does, and there are a whole lot of white individuals and institutions that must be held accountable. But what about black people who conspire with these institutions to tighten the grip and impact of racial oppression? If our goal is to protect our children from all enemies that might do them harm, then this means that we must realize at least one simple fact: Not every black person cares about black people. There are some black people who will sell you up the river for five dollars. There are black people who will gladly see your son get his head blown off on the way to school. There are also black people who’ve become full partners with those who’ve spent centuries putting us into caskets and prison cells. A black man bragging about how many “n*ggaz” he’s buried is no better than a black police officer who murders black suspects in cold blood. Fighting against the promotion of black lyrical genocide doesn’t mean that you ignore police brutality. It means that you have to focus on BOTH. We can fight the cops and also fight the enemies from within and win both battles to protect our children. The conversation must be one of balance, and this is no time for selective, asymmetric outrage. by Dr Boyce Watkins
Posted on: Tue, 26 Aug 2014 10:34:51 +0000
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