My Fellow Blacks

I am an African American. And I am proud to be one, really, I am. But man, other black people really really piss me off.

WARNING: I'm about to get into the stuff that you probably REALLY don't want to hear. But I still feel that it needs to be said. Remember when I said you'd wanna throw things at me after this reading this one? Well... here's the stuff I was talking about. With that said... read on at your own risk. Or just skip to the end.

We live in a world where racial stereotypes are prevalent. Unfortunately, these stereotypes are widely derogatory and negative. Sucks, yeah, I know. At ACEN (Anime Central, and anime convention) a couple years ago, I went to a panel on Sunday afternoon titled, and I kid you not, "How to Pick up an Asian Girl (or Guy)". Now, I was immediately offended, and I'm not even Asian. I probably wouldn't have even attended the panel, but I had nothing else to do at the time, it was like the last panel of the day, and it was right after and in the same room as the Kaiju (Japanese movie monsters) panel that I had just been in. So I figured I'd attend out of morbid curiousity. And I'm glad I did. First off, the panelists didn't even show up. So there were six Asians in the audience who gladly volunteered to be the panelists, one of whom had led a panel the day before. It was a very intriguing experience. But that's a story for another time... ask me about it, I'd love to tell the story. But the point is, and the point that we made on Sunday was, that we are all just human! Like Bill Clinton once said, "The biggest problem confronting humanity is the illusion that our differences matter more than our common humanity." And that is the TRUTH. There's no real secret to getting with anyone, but if you think there is, let's talk for a while, and I'll be happy to share the thoughts that we all shared on Sunday. But I digest... err, digress.

Racial stereotypes aren't helped by the fact that society, and the races that those stereotypes describe, have already accepted them to be true. Black people, the stereotypical hip hop culture, noted for lousy grammar, being loud, blah blah blah, you know how it goes. Well, I look around and see so many acting the stereotypes out, and then people wonder why our race is looked down on. I feel like I have to work just that much harder to prove to people that I am NOT that stereotypical black man. Because believe it or not, people WILL have preconceived notions about us. And we can't prove them right. Cultural identity is great, and I am proud of my race. But not to the extent of making myself look like a fool JUST to say "Hey, I'm of a different race than you". It is important maintain cultural identity, but we should do so while still being part of the whole.

Now that was not meant to be an attack on African American culture, because like I said, I am proud of who I am, and proud of my roots. But seriously... the rights that our forefathers fought for... if those forefathers were alive today (and some of them are still), do you think they would be proud of the racial stereotype that we give off to the public? If you've never seen The Boondocks episode "Return of the King", you should really check it out. Sure, it's a very gross exaggeration of what I'm talking about, but it's still relevant. And by the way, I was originally going to make this a comment on all racial stereotypes and how we can't let ourselves live up to all of the negative perceptions, but I don't think it would be right for me to be talking to other races about their races. Remember when I said earlier that I'm an equal opportunity attacker? Yeah, I didn't forget about the other races. I did get some very nice insight on Asian stereotypes and how they feel about the stereotypes they get from people when we had that discussion on Sunday, but I still don't think it's my place to share any of that. But basically, we just have to watch what we say and what we do these days.

Well, so... I guess that's about all of the material that I can cover tonight. Believe me, I could probably go on for hours. But, well... I think by now, you've had about enough of what I'm saying, right? If you wanna talk about or debate any of this stuff with me, feel free to. I'm always open to hearing other people's opinions. I'm (generally) very easy to reach and talk to, so just hit me up. And, well... let the (hopefully) blunt objects fly!