Are we fighting the wrong battles?

I love my people. I swear I do. This message may get me called a few undesirable names but what the hell… wouldn’t be the first time. I just want to know why Black people insist on fighting EVERY twinge of racism that knocks at our door. If you are from Cali… and you (for some reason) end up in Mississippi on a crisp Saturday afternoon. You walk into a grocery store and you’re on isle 3 looking at peas… You hear two guys through the isle over on 2 talking about “nigger” this and “nigger” that… You promptly walk over and confront them. They talk back, you get angry… a fight ensues and all of you go to jail. Ok, it may have felt good to remove the teeth of yet another racist bigot but what did it help? Are you expecting Al Sharpton to pop up and fight for your cause? And why should he? After all, when you look at it… you started it. The most it did was probably cemented their thinking of us being nothing but animals and subhuman. So why do we do it?

There isn’t a person alive today that was brought here in the slave trade… but when we hear the word “nigger” something in us clicks. It’s like the ultimate panic button. More like the point of no return button. But most times, when we are battling… we lose sight of the goal and just go in for pain. Try to turn our attacker into the attacked. Try to make them feel as badly as we feel… But why do we feel this way? Personally, I don’t know. I feel more confusion when I hear “another” drop the “N” bomb. Like… am I supposed to be stompin’ this kat into the dirt right now? Why am I not? My conscious mind stops me. Starts makin’ sense out of everything.

You use that word all the time. Why is it an issue now?

They can spend their money on Hip Hop, dress Hip Hop, think Hip Hop… totally submerge themselves in Hip Hop… but they better not say that one word or it\’s on.

This isn’t a “Death To The ‘N’ Word” post. I’m just in the frame of mind that unless you are calling ME or another black person a nigger in a derogatory sense… I don’t have a problem. But that’s just me. I can understand the anger. But I was never a slave so I can’t really be fighting for the cause. Because in my mind the only way to fight racism is with education. And if you notice, more times than not, it’s people that haven’t been fully educated on racism that get the most upset. And they do it because that\’s what they\’ve been taught. That\’s what we\’re SUPPOSED to do. That\’s why it\’s called the \”N\” bomb. Not the \”N\” pillow. Nothing but pain and devestation are left in its wake.

The main reason I wrote this is just what the title says. My inspiration was the whole Rush Limbaugh trying to buy the Rams situation. The Civil Rights leaders were up in arms before the ink dried on his application. People have been co-signing and I think I even saw the rebirth of the black fist hair pick for a few days. But come on now. I know I\’m probably dancing on the edge of the Uncle \”T\” line right now and risking being stripped of some of my “black-ness” for this but I can’t see a legitimate reason why he shouldn’t be allowed to bid. I mean, you can’t bid on stuff if you’re an asshole now? Since when has being an asshole prevented you from buying something you can afford? I don’t like it… but I don’t like the fact that someone of his mindset and stature is actually paid to promote racism either. But does that mean I can stop him from doing something he wants to do. How would many of you feel if you wanted to buy a ticket to go on your dream vacation… Albeit, you may be going to the Caribbean, over to England, to Egypt to see the pyramids… whatever… Let’s say it’s been a life long dream of yours to go somewhere… you finally save up to make it happen, you call to make your reservations and the customer service rep says, “Oh no sir, I can’t book your flight… It shows right here that you’re an asshole and assholes aren’t allowed to follow their dreams no matter how much money they have.”

Sounds ridiculous…

But that’s how this whole thing sounds to me.

None of us would want to be stopped from doing the things we want simply because someone else doesn\’t like us. And yes I have listened to the reasons why they don’t want him in. But all of that has nothing to do with the actual game. I think the funniest one I heard that was this was Limbaugh’s chance to finally “own” a bunch of Black men. I got 4 good chuckles in off that one. But people are saying that it would take attention away from the team… ok.. um… the team sucks… A 3rd grader jumpin’ rope in front of the stadium takes attention away from the Rams. They say that it’s not good to have someone of his “radical thinking” as an owner of the team. This I agree with, BUT it should not stop you from buying something that you have money for. If Elijah Muhammad wanted to buy the Pacers, and Rush Limbaugh said some of the things that our leaders are saying… We would call him a racist and Mr. Muhammad should be able to do whatever he wants. Black folks have to get out of this double standard of thinking. Believe it or not, it cripples us.

I know when I make this comparison my “Black-O-Meter” is gonna drop… but I\’m gonna do it anyway… but it’s similar to how we were treated back in the day. We were entertainers, sports stars, inventors, engineers, professors… most of us didn’t have money but some of us did… and yet were still made to enter through the kitchen to get to our dressing rooms… had to go around back to buy our food from a “nice” restaurant… were refused service simply because our skin tone wasn’t the same as the shop owner’s. So why are we fighting to do the same thing to someone else. I don’t like Rush. I think he’s an idiot for using his talent to distort the views of the weak and promote his own agenda… but I don’t think that justifies taking away his rights. It’s a battle that I don’t think we should fight. Let the man buy the team. Those that want to play will play and those that can move out, will…

And just as a side note… all the black players that said “If he gets the team, I just won’t play…” Get the fuck outta here… whatever… as long as they cuttin’ the check you will play… at least until you can leave. If you let this man keep you from feeding your family that makes you a new fool. Do you know how many evil people you support on a daily basis just going to the grocery stores and shopping malls and buying gas and stuff like that? But that’s ok though right? Because they aren’t saying it to your face. I’m sure a LOT of those other owners whose teams we love to death might have a few scandals under lock and key as well. It doesn’t mean we have to like it, but that doesn’t stop you from cheering for your favorite teams. Did you hear it? Cheering for the team! How many of us go to the games or watch them on tv and scream out “Way to go Arthur Blank!!!”, “Gooooooo Dan Roonie!!!!”, “Man, that Jerry Jones sure knows how to own the hell out of a team don’t he??!!”

Now I’m not saying that they don’t have influence… I think Arthur Blank proved that fact with the whole Mike Vick fiasco. But it’s not like Rush will be able to blatantly impose racist rules at the expense of his non-white players. I just don’t see the big deal. It’s similar to the whole flag controversy that happened here in Georgia years ago. Everybody was taking sides… There were those that wanted the flag changed… and those that wanted the flag to stay the same. The “Flag Changers” called the “Flag Sustainers” racist… They rebutted that it was a historical symbol and not something that needed to be changed… No one ever really addressed the real issues. Having a confederate battle flag does not make you a racist… no more than owning slave shackles makes you a slave. It’s ridiculous to think either. Of course there are people that have their flags and chant the ole post-civil war doctrine… “The South Will Rise Again”… but they are gonna believe that whether it be a confederate flag or a pink flag with bunny rabbits on it… Those people have been consumed with and exposed to hate all their lives and changing a flag will not change their thought process… So why even fight the fight?

I guess I just need someone to explain the point to me. Black people will fight and die over every semi-meaningful battle but when it comes to culture enhancing stuff… we seem to fall short. Why aren\’t we just as outraged at the low graduation rate of our kids over their counterparts of other races? Why aren\’t we up in arms about the teen pregnancy rate like this? We hear \”Nigga\” and we come runnin\’, pistol in hand. But why don\’t we have a Jena 6 size crowd in attendance when it\’s time to fight for us instead of over us. And yes, there is a difference. We have been taken advantage of for so long that we can’t let the smallest thing go. Sooner or later we are going to have to see that concentrating on those small battles is really what’s causing us to lose the war.

Bless!!