Curtis Mayfield “SUPERFLY” Soundtrack

Beverage: Green Tea

            I wanted to wait until the dust settled before I commented on the murder of Sean Taylor, the Washington Redskin’s All-Pro Safety. Unlike everyone else, who seemed to find joy in speculating on what may have occurred, I figured I’d wait until they put the young Brother in the ground, or at least wait until they caught the young Brothers who killed him. After all, most of us knew the speculators would be at least partially correct. I mean, was there ever any doubt in anyone’s mind that Sean Taylor was the victim of Black on Black crime (that’s not a question either). I’m not going to get into whether or not Sean Taylor was a good guy, because that’s irrelevant at this point. At this point, to most of the country, Sean Taylor and his killers are nothing more than the latest statistics. No disrespect to Sean Taylor, but as I type this, more than likely, somewhere in this country, a Black Mother is being woken from her sound sleep and is being asked to come down and identify her son, and I’d be willing to bet she could care less who Sean Taylor is, because now her son is the newest statistic. And the statistics I’m referring to are jaw-dropping:

According to the latest Census, Blacks make up 13 percent of the U.S. population.

In 2006 there were 14,990 murder victims in the U.S. and 6,294 (over 40 percent) were Black Men.

9 out of every 10 Black Men who are murdered, are murdered by their fellow Black Brothers.

Black Men under the age 25 are 15 times more likely to die of murder than White Men under 25.

Black Men over the age of 25 are 7 times more likely to die of murder than White Men over 25.

33 percent of Black children live in poverty, and Black Men make up 37 percent of the U.S. prison population.

           Most of those statistics are courtesy of the U.S. Dept. of Justice, and were recently used in a CNN Special entitled “Black Men in Crisis.” Those statistics only tell us what is seen and measured, they don’t tell us the invisible genocide that is currently taking place in the Black community. There’s no doubt that most of this genocide is self-inflicted, and it’s time we start asking the following question: “Are Black Men modern day dinosaurs marching towards extinction?”

            It’s true, there is indeed a thriving Black Middle Class in America, but the Black Middle Class is currently shrinking because the American Middle Class is currently shrinking. Back when I was a young United States Marine in the early 1980’s I was taught how life really works. You see, in the military everything is based on rank/seniority. We called it the “Shit Rolls Down Hill” theory, and if you were at the bottom of the seniority totem pole, you caught a lot of the “Shit.” And guess what, from day one, Black Folks have been at the bottom of America’s totem pole. Right now, America is catching a lot of shit economically, and you know where shit runs, it runs down hill.

Is that an excuse for Black Men to kill each other? Hell No!

              Republicans can talk that bullshit about how great the economy is, but they base that shit on the stock market, and if you watch closely you’ll notice that everybody always loses money on the stock market but them. That’s America folks; America has always been about double-standards. Whether it be racial double-standards or economic double-standards, Black Folks are at the bottom of both of those totem poles. Those of you who’ve read my book White Men Can’t Hump (As Good As Black Men) know that I pull NO punches. I don’t blame White Folks for all of the problems in the Black community, and I don’t play that Reverend Jesse and Reverend Al victimization bullshit. The double-standards that I point out are legit and can’t be denied, and I lay them out with facts, and let you the reader decide if the motivation is racist or economic. When times get tough, these double-standards are magnified, and right now times are tough. The biggest double-standard in America is this bullshit “War on Drugs.” The U.S. makes up 4 percent of the world’s population, but consumes 2/3’s of the world’s illegal drugs. Now I know Black Folks like to get high, but I refuse to believe that Black Folks are consuming 2/3’s of the illegal drugs on this planet. And I have the statistics to back me up:

14 percent of this nations illegal drug users are Black.

35 percent of those arrested for possession are Black.

55 percent of those convicted are Black.

75 percent of those sent to prison are Black.

             In 1984 there were less than 300,000 Blacks in prison, and today, there’s just under one million. The different sentencing guidelines for Crack Cocaine (the drug of choice for Blacks) vs. Powder Cocaine (the drug of choice for Whites) has a lot to do with this genocidal double-standard. Crack gets you mandatory time in prison and Powder gets you rehab and treatment. I recently brought this fact up in a radio interview, and the host accused me of being soft on crime. He thought that I wanted to reduce the sentences for those who dealt or possessed Crack. When I replied, “Why don’t we just raise the sentences for those caught with Powder?,” he promptly changed the subject. Hey, people like to get high, and when times are tough, people REALLY like to get high. Everyone has a vice/drug of choice they lean on during tough times. Some people’s drug of choice is legal (i.e., coffee, cigarettes, porn, alcohol or prescription drugs, a la Rush Limbaugh), and some people’s drug of choice is illegal (and as usual, it’s the people at the bottom of the totem pole that get the shittiest deal).

Is that an excuse for Black Men to kill each other? Hell No!

            Black Men in prison contribute to this genocide, because they usually leave a few children fatherless, who are then doomed to repeat the cycle. Black Men are far more likely to be charged as felons, which certainly contributes to this genocide, because once you’re a felon, you’re practically eliminated from the American dream, and you’re also doomed to repeat your past mistakes (i.e., get locked up again or get killed). Black Men who are released from prison also have a genocidal effect on Black Women because that’s the primary reason HIV/AIDS is reaching epidemic proportions among Black Women. I know stating that fact is going to piss some people off, but to deny that fact, is to imply that Black Women suddenly decided to become IV drug users and needle sharers. We know that particular implication is bullshit, so let’s be real. The bottom line is when you’re in prison, you’ve only got three options:

# 1 Masturbation

# 2 Fuck another man, or

# 3 Get fucked by another man

            If you’re a 19 year old male of any race, and you just got a 10 year prison sentence, those three options don’t look too good, do they? Keep in mind, as a male, at that age you’re also at your sexual peak. That’s why these guys get out of jail and try to act so damn hard. That’s also why these guys refuse to wear condoms; they’re trying to get that old feeling back, i.e., trying to wash that bad taste out of their mouths (no pun intended). These guys can say whatever they want, but I’m a former prison guard and I’m telling you, there’s a lot of sex going on in prisons, and I’m not talking about conjugal visits either. That said, unfortunately prison has become big business in America, and prisons provide a lot of jobs for small towns all across America, that’s a fact.

Is any of this an excuse for Black Men to continue killing each other? Hell No!

          Of course, it would be cheaper to build schools than prisons, and building schools would be a better long-term investment, but the current generation of young Black Males has made it easier for the powers-that-be to sell the public on short-term investments, i.e., build more prisons. I’m not talking about the current generation of young Black Males committing physical crimes, I’m talking about young Black Males committing mental crimes. Nothing is hurting the Black community more than this current attitude that “Reading and Writing is acting White.” This attitude is far more damaging than babies born out of wed-lock, the spread of HIV/AIDS, rampant unemployment, and the proliferation of hand guns in the inner-city. This “Reading and Writing is acting White” attitude is more damaging than all of the above combined, because a decent education is the one thing that could drastically reduce all of the above. The extinction of Black Men is not going to come about because of 6,000 murders a year, the extinction of Black Men is going to come because of the 50 percent high school drop out rate that contributes to nearly every problem I just listed.

             How do we stop this genocide? First of all, someone has to care. Right now not enough people care. I’m not talking about these silly marches either. These silly “Stop the Violence” marches never reach the people they’re intended to reach, because the people out there doing the shooting, don’t watch the news, don’t read the papers, and sleep all day because they hang out on the corner all night. There has to be a consistent, genuine concern, and not just sporadic outrage when an innocent bystander is struck down. The truth is, more Americans care about Black Folks in Darfur than Black Folks displaced because of Hurricane Katrina. I’m often reminded of that classic line from the movie “The Godfather”: “They (Blacks) are animals anyway, so let them lose their souls”

NOTE: I’ve always found it amusing that the people who privately believe that Black Folks evolved from monkeys, are usually the same people who don’t believe in evolution and don’t want evolution taught in schools. You know what kind of people I’m talking about. That said, I don’t think you can have it both ways can you (that’s not a question).  

            That “Blacks are animals anyway” line is just a nice way of saying “nobody cares about your Black ass,” which is cool with me. But you’d think the fact that nobody cares about you would be a great reason to help each other, not kill each other. I’m a firm believer that you can only help those who want to be helped. I’m also a firm believer that we’re all in this together, so therefore this is an American problem. If you don’t think we’re all in this together, then just remember, every time a young Black Male is locked up for a bullshit drug offense, that’s one less prison bed for a White Male pedophile. Just think about it. Think about all of the high-profile pedophile cases in just the last couple years. Kids kidnapped and murdered, kids held captive for years, and usually the perpetrator is always a repeat offender, and everyone is always appalled by the fact that he was out of jail early. These guys were usually released early because there’s no room, because the jails are full of young Black Males with bullshit drug charges. Think about that the next time you watch NBC’s “To Catch a Predator,” which features a revolving door of White Male pedophiles who are usually repeat offenders. Like I said, we’re all in this together.  

          So how do we stop this genocide? Somehow we need to reach the masses and tell them there’s a better way. Somehow we need to reach the masses before the extinction train starts moving too fast. But how can we possibly reach the masses when the masses have been brainwashed into believing it’s all about “Get Rich or Die Trying?” How can we possibly reach the masses when they see “the Queen of Daytime Talk” giving away free cars to an affluent audience that doesn’t need shit, and certainly isn’t at the bottom of any totem pole? How can we stop Black Men from becoming extinct?

I’ll close with an excerpt from White Men Can’t Hump that was my plea to the human race, but it’s actually quite fitting since we’re all in this together:  

            “So what do you want your Legacy to be? We’ve seen throughout History that individuals can make a difference. We’ve also seen throughout History that individuals can make a negative difference. 99% of everything we’ll ever say, see or do, we’ll never even remember. This means that all of recorded History is based on the 1 % of what we do remember, yet look at the 1 % we often choose to be remembered for. It’s pretty sad when you think about it. In today’s culture of Greed, Hate and Intolerance, we find ourselves short of individuals who are willing to step up and make a positive difference. In the Grand Scheme of Things this doesn’t bode well for the future of the human species.

Ask yourself:

“Will human beings be here One Hundred Years from now?”

“Will human beings be here One Thousand Years from now?”

“Will human beings be here One Million Years from now?”

“Will human beings Sleep with the Dinosaurs?”

As individuals, we can’t answer the above questions until we first answer this question:

                                           What do I want my Legacy to be?”

Always remember my Humpers and Humpettes: “Life is too short to Hate.”