If you know me, then you know I am what the world calls a black man. I have lived in America all my life, and for 51 years, I have seen a lot, and not a lot surprises me anymore. However, I still get a little irritated by some things I see in life. I mean, I can stand thieves and liars, and I have an immense dislike for self-proclaimed prophets and teachers of falsehood. Nothing gets to me like someone that knowingly misleads people and then gives them wrong information. The only other thing that rubs me the wrong way is when I see or hear my people saying or doing something against their own to cozy up to the establishment.
My people have been hurting their own kind to score points with the system for a long time. Lately, this issue of breaking our own has become a bit outrageous. We see it everywhere with the family breaking up and tearing down of black men and women by one another. Our children are killing one another in the streets. Even though the numbers aren't as bad as in the late 80s and 90s, it still makes me sick to see this happening to my people. My most significant irritation comes from those in my community with the most resources. Those people who are educated and wealthy should know better than to fall for the system's division tactics.
To some degree, we can't blame those of our people who are unaware of how the system works. They are just caught in the crossfire and can't be honestly held accountable for their lack of understanding. However, those Black people who benefit from being exposed to the way things are should know better than to go against their people. Yet over and over again, these black folk side with their open enemy against their people. A prime example is how simulated black people stumble all over themselves to speak out against Kyrie Irving and Ye (Kanye West). They didn't even wait to see what their brothers were trying to say before rushing to make statements condemning both Ye and Kyrie.
In many ways, that action is the same as brothers killing one another in the streets. People talk a lot about black-on-black crime when it happens in the streets, but not many can recognize it when it occurs in the media. Most won't see my connection about black-on-black crime happening at every level because they see some black people as better than their less fortunate peers. The term sellout comes to mind when I think about black people who have made it and feel the need to shit on their people on behalf of the establishment.
Recently we have seen this done by top celebrities like Steven A Smith, Lebron James Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal, and Shannon Sharp, to name a few. We have repeatedly seen the game of division played by the system, and I wonder why we still fall victim to the bullshit. Can these men not see how the system is using them to victimize one of their own? are these men totally blind to the history of this nation when it comes to black people standing up for what they believe? What good can come from publicly shaming your people? Wouldn't it better serve us to have a sidebar with our people when we disagree, or does it always have to be a bloodletting?
What kind of example are we setting for our people who don't have the benefit of the knowledge and resources we have? What lesson are we teaching young brothers and sisters in the streets? Then we have the nerve to be upset with the youth for how they handle beef when we can't handle a tweet post or a brother saying some words we don't like. I want to think that Steven A and the gang didn't understand how the system played them. However, listening to their words, I could see they had a fire in their hearts and anger for their people. Guess they were feeling like Kyrie was making them look bad in front of white folk.
When will the day come when we can stand by our people no matter what happens? How long will it be before we can feel comfortable speaking up for our people and being unapologetic about it? Every group unapologetically looks out and defends their own, all except us. Why didn't Shaquille and the gang protect and support Kyrie, who did and said nothing wrong? If Shannon and the crew had held their tongs, they wouldn't be backtracking and looking for cover. Now Steven A sees the unfair treatment of Kyrie and feels a kind of way, but does he understand his condimnation of Kyrie paved the way for the unfair treatment he is witnessing?
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