While I attended college, popular African-Americans shunned and ridiculed black foreign-exchange students because of their cultural differences. I observed this on three occasions among different groups, twice with an African student and once with a Jamaican student.
The majority of young blacks don’t seem to identify with positive role models like Barack Obama or well-spoken teachers like the African mentor shown here. Instead, educated blacks are ostracized for being "white."
Mainstream black influences equate intelligence and white-collar success to whites. This is self-inflicted damage. While this may not be a widespread problem, it’s a crippling association and seems to be worsening.
Dangerous Role Models
A new thug culture is here, snatching the coat tails of important facets within the black community, hampering the possibilities of a future colorblind society. Students are encouraged to drop out in return for street-credit. There is nothing cool or special about acting like an uneducated dip shit or using a slurred speech impediment.
Early humans migrated from Africa. Technically, we’re all African-American. Urban youth (white kids included) are influenced by media, especially MTV. Modern-day black heroes are drug dealers, pimps, and rappers who masquerade as gangsters, scammers, players, and gun-toting professional athletes. People need to expose and distance themselves from the thug culture.
White on Black Racism in America
Although blacks living in the inner-cities seem more defensive, most inner-city whites aren’t racists. People are so accustomed to living together, black people don’t really need to worry about hate crimes in the city. Inner-city white kids even try to emulate the black thug culture. The white racists involved in hate crime and discrimination tend to belong to organized hate groups and live in rural areas and it’s no surprise that most rural racists are ignorant and often fundamental religious zealots (in their mind, their god is needed to substantiate their claims of superiority).
You don’t need to worry about racists in the city, you need to worry in hick-town, USA.
Why are Blacks so Defensive in the City?
A group of people who suffer together share an extremely high sense of camaraderie because their shared humanity becomes so apparent during the struggle.
Slavery and segregation gouged open wounds into our society and people are still uneasy. Blacks feel oppressed. Whites feel ashamed. There can be no closure or fair retribution because too much time has passed.
Here is a real life example of the defensive attitude. My fiance’s uncle stopped at a gas station after church to buy fountain drinks for his family. Two young black men stood in line behind him, paid together, and exited after him. He held the door for them and said, "There you go boys." One responded with, "We’re not your boys, cracker-ass motherfucker!" They proceeded to punch him around the parking lot. Her uncle didn’t even fight back.
One of our friends traveled to Georgia for a vacation. She entered a convenience store and was shoved to the floor by a black man who said, "Your place is at the end of the line, white bitch."
Personally, my black friends have treated me better than the other white people I know. However, I’ve been treated to distrustful glares and wary behavior in the city.
Edgy comedians and emerging media technology and communication have dissolved some walls. Unfortunately, the new thug culture is rebuilding those old barriers for our future generations.
Compassion and Hate
True hate seldom exists. We mask what we fear and fear the unknown. Hate is ignorance of the unknown, a reaction of self-preservation. People are afraid of being hurt, therefore, hate is a barrier, not an emotion. Hate is shallow and, introspectively, fails to take all sides, behavioral causes, and perceptions into account.
When people finally regard others as equal, they will know that we each share very personal and very universal elements of life (development from childhood, experience of pain, heartache, hunger, loneliness, excitement, pride, embarrassment, and defeat).
Understanding the universality of our own humanity develops compassion for others while providing a lens to see through the intimidating masks of others.
Referencing differing groups or individuals with a name outside your own it is an attempt to demonize them into something insignificant and subhuman, they are no longer thought of as people. When regard for their humanity has been wiped away and replaced with something negative, it becomes easier to justify their extermination.
Targets of hate crime are pre-associated with a particular nation, group, race, gender, sexual preference, ability level, or generalized hate word. For instance, the biggest gay bashers commit acts of violence against their target. Why? Because they refuse to identify with the gay man. He is never thought of as human. Instead, he is a faggot, queer, etc.
A similar mental process takes place when we swear at people in traffic or flame on the net. People displace or mask the humanity of another before attacking. This is the face of hate.
Solutions
Reject the thug culture. Organize and communicate with other groups. Boycott MTV and their sponsors, protest, or write to elected officials.
Educate people around you about the prejudice and stereotyping on all sides.
Think for yourself. Don’t be a follower. Make a stand when another person engages in racism or group discrimination.
