Over the Christmas holiday, someone on Facebook posted a video of a news report about a wild melee that took place at some mall over the new Michael Jordan sneakers. Practically every embarrassing stereotype you could imagine about Black folks was on full display. Watch it if you want.
The comments on Facebook ranged from calling these folks “ignorant” to just plain ol’ tisk tisking over how dare they embarrass US over this in front of the country. And of course there were the comments that blamed the media for only jumping on stories that make Black folks look bad. Of course I had to respond.
“This “mess” is on full display every day of the year on Black America’s most popular website “mediatakeout.com”. Only when it hits national media do many of us suddenly get embarrassed , outraged and want to immediately accuse White media of exploiting Black folks. Give me a freakin’ break.
Yes, these folks are acting out what it took Black folks years to fight against. But unless we stop with this knee-jerking only when it hits the national media, the very ones that are tisk-tisking our fellow Black folks are just as guilty for covering up for this raw foolishness. Don’t worry. Mr. Charlie sees it all (lol). The question is what are doing to turn this consumption-only midset of our people?”
Over the holidays, I had a great conversation with a close relative of mine who works in the public school system. They began to tell me about a story of a student who came to their district due to a court order to leave their home town or get thrown in jail. This boy was tall, wore dreads, and was very intimidating to most teachers. Yes he was in a gang. But he also witnessed a friend of his die in his arms after being shot. This was his one last chance to turn things around in his own life. But initially, it was not going to well. My relative (who works in the school) began to talk to him and encourage him anytime he came by the office just to talk or to let off some steam. There were times he would blame some of the White teachers for not understanding him. While some of that was valid, my relative was there to get him to refocus on his side of the equation and to stop expecting the world to do everything for him. Eventually, he got the message and his grades began to turn around.
As Christmas break approached, my relative told him that it would be a good idea if he bought one of his teachers some flowers as a “thank you” for helping him to turn his grades around. They also told him that when you show your appreciation for people, that encourages them to work harder for you. What may be the natural thing for most of us to do was an unknown life lesson to this young man. He was so used to charity coming his way that he initially rejected the notion to do anything for his counselor. So my relative pulled money of their pocket and paid for the flowers. But made him go to the flower shop to pick out the arrangement he wanted. After he picked out the arrangement, he told my relative “You know what? That actually felt good. I’m glad I did that.” Who knows where this boy would be now it it wasn’t for this one person who took the time with this young man.
The relative I am referring to is none other than my own mother. Both she and my dad have a long history of doing things like this. They never bought into what the headlines said about our kids and took the time to invest in them. I am so honored and fortunate to have parents that did not live by this “us versus them” code when it came down to our own people. Underneath every person we would call “ignorant”, or a complete embarrassment to the Black race is the potential to be someone great.
Yes. This is a hot mess, and yes this is embarrassing. But all of these video reports of Black kids going out of control should not be a rallying call to defend them against critics. Instead, we should use the opportunity to dive into the lives of these kids and help them make better choices. If we don’t do it, the prison system will.
Yes, These are OUR Children
by Duane on December 27th, 2011 at 7:59 amOver the Christmas holiday, someone on Facebook posted a video of a news report about a wild melee that took place at some mall over the new Michael Jordan sneakers. Practically every embarrassing stereotype you could imagine about Black folks was on full display. Watch it if you want.
The comments on Facebook ranged from calling these folks “ignorant” to just plain ol’ tisk tisking over how dare they embarrass US over this in front of the country. And of course there were the comments that blamed the media for only jumping on stories that make Black folks look bad. Of course I had to respond.
“This “mess” is on full display every day of the year on Black America’s most popular website “mediatakeout.com”. Only when it hits national media do many of us suddenly get embarrassed , outraged and want to immediately accuse White media of exploiting Black folks. Give me a freakin’ break.
Yes, these folks are acting out what it took Black folks years to fight against. But unless we stop with this knee-jerking only when it hits the national media, the very ones that are tisk-tisking our fellow Black folks are just as guilty for covering up for this raw foolishness. Don’t worry. Mr. Charlie sees it all (lol). The question is what are doing to turn this consumption-only midset of our people?”
Over the holidays, I had a great conversation with a close relative of mine who works in the public school system. They began to tell me about a story of a student who came to their district due to a court order to leave their home town or get thrown in jail. This boy was tall, wore dreads, and was very intimidating to most teachers. Yes he was in a gang. But he also witnessed a friend of his die in his arms after being shot. This was his one last chance to turn things around in his own life. But initially, it was not going to well. My relative (who works in the school) began to talk to him and encourage him anytime he came by the office just to talk or to let off some steam. There were times he would blame some of the White teachers for not understanding him. While some of that was valid, my relative was there to get him to refocus on his side of the equation and to stop expecting the world to do everything for him. Eventually, he got the message and his grades began to turn around.
As Christmas break approached, my relative told him that it would be a good idea if he bought one of his teachers some flowers as a “thank you” for helping him to turn his grades around. They also told him that when you show your appreciation for people, that encourages them to work harder for you. What may be the natural thing for most of us to do was an unknown life lesson to this young man. He was so used to charity coming his way that he initially rejected the notion to do anything for his counselor. So my relative pulled money of their pocket and paid for the flowers. But made him go to the flower shop to pick out the arrangement he wanted. After he picked out the arrangement, he told my relative “You know what? That actually felt good. I’m glad I did that.” Who knows where this boy would be now it it wasn’t for this one person who took the time with this young man.
The relative I am referring to is none other than my own mother. Both she and my dad have a long history of doing things like this. They never bought into what the headlines said about our kids and took the time to invest in them. I am so honored and fortunate to have parents that did not live by this “us versus them” code when it came down to our own people. Underneath every person we would call “ignorant”, or a complete embarrassment to the Black race is the potential to be someone great.
Meanwhile, there is yet another report of a huge melee that broke out at the Mall of America. Based on the report, it started over the rumors that Drake and lil’ Wayne were somewhere in the mall.
Yes. This is a hot mess, and yes this is embarrassing. But all of these video reports of Black kids going out of control should not be a rallying call to defend them against critics. Instead, we should use the opportunity to dive into the lives of these kids and help them make better choices. If we don’t do it, the prison system will.