Is that a Negro at my car?
Technorati Tags: crime, racism, 50 cent, 20/20
I am far from racist, but I bet that title is eye-catching! I was watching 20/20 last night and they had an interesting story on the black/white issue. They set up an old car in the park near the white part of town. They then had 3 white teenagers pretend to vandalize the car and spray paint it in broad daylight. People were walking by with their kids, walking their dogs, and jogging to shed those Christmas pounds. 20/20 was monitoring 911 calls, and had hidden cameras set up. While the white kids were doing their thing, there was only one 911 call and a couple of people talked to them and said they shouldn’t be doing that. At the same time, a guy called 911 because there was a family of black folks sleeping in their car. In fact, he called twice saying they looked shady like they were going to rob someone. The overall result was not many people bothered to stop and just went about their business.Then came the black teenagers. They did the same thing as the white boys, but far more people stopped to say they should stop what they were doing. Not only that, but the 911 calls rolled in. What surprised me was that people weren’t afraid to approach the black boys, and were more inclined to lecture them. If I had been in the situation as a passer-by, I would have kept walking but called 911 on both the white and black teenagers.
My question is, why were people more responsive to the black teenagers than the white? It breaks down to culture, stereotypes, and perception. They said in the investigation, that both white and black people think black people commit more crime. When you look at black culture in the country today, that perception isn’t hard to miss. Most of the kids dress like thugs, with the chains, hats, and sagging pants. The bad and the good dress similar, so it is hard to differentiate between the two. When all you see on the local news are drug dealers and murderers dressed like this, it is easy to assume that a young black teenager who has a 4.0 gpa is the same. Which would you be more afraid of, a young black man in thug gear or a young black man in khaki’s and a tucked in polo shirt?
This leads me to the role models in our society… they are terrible. Who are children, teenagers, and the rest of the country looking up to?
50 Cent: Get Rich Or Die Tryin’? And we wonder why everyone gets scared when they see a black guy with tattoos and gold chains. Don’t get me wrong, I have all of 50 cents CD’s and like the music. The music is about killing people and letting their brains leak out on the sidewalk, but the lyrics are catchy and the beats are good. I don’t think I have to say much more about this, the point is pretty clear.
So what is going to change these stereotypes and perceptions? The answer is time and instilling the right morals and behavior in our children, in order to breed out the racism. What we teach our offspring leads to how they will act in life, and what they will pass onto their children. This isn’t going to change overnight. Think about how long ago it was when blacks were segregated and made to sit in the back of the bus (now kids fight for the back of the bus). Look at where we are today and how long it took to get here. It may seem like a long time to some, but in the big picture it is not a long time at all. How do you think black and white people will interact 100 years from now? Time heals everything, and we will have other problems to worry about in the coming years. Remember, it could be your white next-door neighbor who goes to your church that ends up stabbing you in your sleep.
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4 Responses to “Is that a Negro at my car?”
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That was a truly incredible blog if I have ever read one. It’s like everything you said made complete sense. I wish the world could read that blog because it would really change the ignorant views of alot of ignorant people. You deserve a standing ovation and two thumbs up, much kudos and everything that comes with it.
P.S. The title is what drew me to it. First sight of it made me think it was something negative but it’s not at all its positive and I’m glad I was curious enough to read it.
Peace
Cash
I am not a racist by far, my family is derived of different mixes of people. But, I have to say that I have encountered more racism here in Florida than anywhere else I have lived.
I use to work at Wal-mart a long time ago and there was a young black man that I worked with, he always had something to say about “the man” holding him down and keeping him there. I had enough one day and when he came in the breakroom and spewed his words of oppression I stopped him and said ” What makes you thik that you are no longer a slave?” He paused and looked at me. I said ” Please tell me when you stopped being a slave? Do you punch a time clock? Do you have to stay here and do as you are told for the hours that you are here?”. He said yes. I said then we are all slaves to the same thing, and that is to make ends meat, to get the things we need to survive. And the same people that owned you then own all of the middle and lower class now. I said my family worked right beside yours in the fields except we did not pick cotton we picked tobacco. I said and the chinese came and built our railroads. He looked at me and he hugged me and said I have never thought of it that way.
I do not have problems with people of different skin colors. I have a problem with lazy people that take from everyone else by using the welfare system. As long as people procreate they will not end racism, its the one thing that the human kind fall back on to prove a point and that goes for all colors and types of people (stereotypes included).
So there’s this ICP song, and while I’m not an die hard fan these particular lyrics have stuck with me since I heard it… “Fuck skin color, everybody’s blue, then what would all these biggots do? Instead of your tone, they’d hate your size. That’s why I must poke out all their eyes…..”
As lovely as your idea of “Breeding out the racism” is, I personally tend to have a more cynical view on humanity. Not that I don’t wish there was no such thing as ugly as racism. Quite the opposite. The problem is, I think it’s human nature to band together. For example: My biggest pet peeve is racist ignorant scumf**ks. I had a roommate once who decided he wanted to join the klan. I gave his ass 30 days notice to find a new place and in the meantime he could hang out with his buddies elsewhere and of course absolutely no mindless nazi paraphernalia into the house. I didn’t want ANYONE to EVER associate me with that nonsense. We parted ways as well as could be expected but if I see him or any of his friends I turn in the other direction. Now I’m not saying what I did was wrong considering this particular situation. But when you strip it down and look at it as simply as possible the fact of the matter is I shunned him and anyone I’ve ever known to associate with him. I became somewhat guilty (I say somewhat cause as I said before I feel my reasons were good.) of what I was angry at him for in the first place, how ironic is it, me despising a certain group for what they stand for and believe in. (Once again, I DO NOT NOT NOT mean to come off as sympathetic to those types of people. Just pointing out the irony of it.)
Back when I was younger I came up with a thought that I believed was foolproof. Everyone should screw everyone. HAHA. Let’s breed all skin tone out of the human race, make everyone the same color. Nowadays I’m far too cynical to think it’s as flawless as I once had. If it wasn’t black/white it would be tall/short or thin/fat.
“Which would you be more afraid of, a young black man in thug gear or a young black man in khaki’s and a tucked in polo shirt”
the guy in the polo, he’s clearly up to something… hahahaha
for real, I know what it means to be judged by the way you look and dress. I don’t get judged by the colour of my skin; but because I’m interracial and people don’t realise I get the pseudo-correct racist comments that white folks are supposed to agree on.
The problem is, with my cousins, my friends etc. I can see how hard it can be for them when even though they are all respectable, employed, educated people, they still are judged on the basis of their skin colour.
I’ve had full-blood indian friends tell me they feel dirty with their black skin in a white culture. This from a guy whose cultural background in Australia it basically without controversy, in a country where all the immigration comes from 220 years ago at most. Now imagine what that does for Aboriginal kids? Imagine what the current subliminal racism in America and the residual effects of the overt racism of only 60 years ago do to inner-city ghetto kids.
Personally, I look up to 50 Cent more than I look up to these other people. He has worked hard, is talented and entrepreneurial; the essence of American capitalism (including the violence). I’m surprised the Republican party hasn’t embraced him. The problem is where his music and other gangsta rap etc. reinforces the attitude of violence in marginalised black communities.
However, music on a populist level tends to reflect reality. It is only music for the ruling classes that has the propagandistic beauty we find in so much classical. The war chants of the armies of Sparta would not have been arias; the Picts of the British Isles had lyrics that were rude and brutal. Without the violent reality; the imagery loses its impact. So the only way is to find a way to offer hope to these kids in these marginalised and down-trodden situations.