The Black Male Two Step?

1. I think that we, as black people, have continually blamed whites, slavery and society for oppressing us so long we refused to see the truth. The truth is that we have greater opportunities than our forefathers and yet continue to make poor decisions like havign babies out of wedlock and then giving it a cute name like Baby Momma. We continue to send shout outs to our black men in prison as if they are just away on vacation, rather than a plague on society. We continue to let our drug dealing, violent sons and daughters lie in our homes and neighborhoods without standing up and taking back the street by turning them in to the police. We continue to rely on public assistance rather than work any job, no matter how menial so we can stand up on our own two feet. And yeah, I know someone is going to belly ache about racism. However, racism today is more subtle. Unless, you or your children, we lynch, chased by dogs or banned by stores, racism should not be your excuse for getting ahead. Poverty cna also not be an excuse b/c our ancestors scrubbed toliet, took care of white people, were sharcroppers and did every job they could to provide for their families without a hand out. It is time for us to stand on the shoulders of those before us rather than leasning on their stuggle and using it to weight the race down.

MC at 12:30PM on Mar 17th 2008

2. I do hear you but, there are just as many young white males committing crimes as well. Have we looked at those and put those issue before the press?

Just wondering? at 1:46PM on Mar 17th 2008

3. Certainly, I agree that media does not provide fair and balance coverae of black people or its role in society. However, that would seem to be more reason to raise our game. As my grandmother used to tell me, "as black people we are always going to have to better, smarter and work harder than rights rather than only living up to the limited expectations they have of us." Have we stopped passing this message on to our children?

MC at 2:07PM on Mar 17th 2008

4. I hear ya MC and I too was taught the same things. But why do WE always have to be better and try harder. I just wonder if one day the playing field will ever change?? The standards as so different. And why would we write an article such as this one. This type of article is highlighting what they do so well themselves. Articles such as this is a slap in out own face.

Just wondering? at 2:38PM on Mar 17th 2008

5. Articles like this one hold blacks accountable for their actions. I believe, for too long, we've thought that it's best not to air our dirty laundry and call our people to the mat. However, look how far that's gotten us? Not very far so it's time to try a different approach. Perhaps shame, humility and tough love will do what apathy, blame and burying our head in the sand have not. As far as a level playing field, I think it is possible and certainly these two brothers are trying to make stride so that we achieve that. But consider how little time we have been free to be productive this society and think of hard this means we stil have to go.

MC at 3:12PM on Mar 17th 2008

6. I for one disagree with you mc, as a white male in the south I know for a fact racism is ever present and prevalent as it was for your ancestors. Sure my people aren't openly spitting on you lynching you or chasing you down with dogs or hoses but trust me I'm sad to say this but my a majority of my people's sole goal down here revolves around keeping your race down as a people a community and anything else by any means necessary and I think your lack of compassion toward your race, is exactly what helps racist people continue to keep your people down no matter what has happened and what they have done family is family, and your loved ones are your loved ones black people like you are a sad sight I'm not saying uphold what is wrong but I am also not saying persecute any and every wrong doing member of a community that is ridiculous and non-helpful turning in your son and daughter because they deal drugs? really? you think that's helpful you push them into an eternal struggle and then they have no one, if not you as a parent and furthermore so what if they sold drugs no one is forcing another person to buy said drug or abuse it, all I'm saying is black self-loathing will not help them succeed in racist america speaking as a male just a man not as a white man just a man.. if my own family wasn't supportive it would motivate me to do more egregious and heinous acts

sorry for the wall of text just wanting to make it less one-sided

cy at 6:49PM on Mar 17th 2008

7. I agree our parents all try to give us a better life then what they had.It is up to us to make a choice to do right or do wrong.It's responsibilties. NOt passing the buck. I have Polish family members who came to this country not knowing English-learned it.not knowing how to read & write & no job- did it. He made something of his life so his family would be better off. They left the war with German's burning homes and killing them. NOT once did he feel sorry for himself or hate anyone.It was that strength that gets passed on.I am sick & tired of blacks being a victim, black communities need help,I feel people are holding their own back.Something is owed? what -you owe yourself.I feel black people are strong & moving up and away from negative talk,but yet, some want to keep on preaching the past as they want to enslave you to anger, instead of lifting you up & helping. Perhaps they'd be out of a job.It bothers me, Al Sharpton even when I asked him to help stop gangs help parents he ignored that and went after white cops. More TV and money in that. So all blacks should denounce hate & those who blame white people.
know with in your heart that life is good and life is what we all make it.It is up to our roads we choice to take. they may be bumpy but we still ive in the best country in the world. So we should stick together because their are others out there who would love to kill us all.& we all must stand United & realize. We all have pain have cried,have struggled with money & bleed.Our Mirrors reflect us.& our furture for the next child can be brighter by our struggles today.Peace all God Bless

little lady at 7:19PM on Mar 17th 2008

8. MC you are a leader

little lady at 7:22PM on Mar 17th 2008

9. & respect black women calling them names is disrespectfull & must stop.

little lady at 7:24PM on Mar 17th 2008

10. White who come to america and assimilate really believe that there is nothing hindering blacks. What a naive bunch of foregners

deen at 8:12PM on Mar 17th 2008

11. CY, I believe we should be a society of morals and values, which shouldn't be compromised becasue the person doing wrong is your child or one of your race. Absolutely no one forces anyone to use drugs, but if we taught or children to value life and not do unto others simply because you can that wouldn't be an issue either. We all cry when our children die be it from drugs, gun violence or poverty. WE should then put an end to the cycle rather than perpetuating it and passing it off on just someone's bad choice. It takes two for drug abuse--- the seller and the user. Just as there should be no users, there should be no sellers. Just as there should be no murderers either by hand or gun, we should not condone our kids carrying or beloning to a gang b/c it attracts gun violence.

What's sad Cy is that you use the same faulty logic as those doing wrong. If you don't support me evenw when I am posing a danger and causing harm to others than I will do worse. It's sad because too many people feel this way. Whatever happened to changing your behavior to earn love and respect? To give yourself and your parents something to be proud of? What about learning from your mistakes and poor behavior to become a better human being rather than asking others to lower their standards to meet yours?

Also, I am not naive. I am well aware that racism exists however, it is not as blatant as the past. WE also have more opportunities and freedoms There will always be whites who want blacks to fail and vice verse so that's not an issue.

No one is advocating black self loathing. I am proud black women succeeding in this society without the empathy or hand out from whites. I am equaly to and in many case better than my counterparts. Not due to my race but due to my intellect, hard work and vlaue system; that is what I am advocating for my people.

If those doing wrong end up loathing themselves then perhaps they will take a long look in the mirror and make a positive change so they no longer have to be ashamed of their lives. They should know that they will not be supported until they get on the right track. A parent's/family's love is unconditional. They can be loved without being enabled to do wrong under your nose.

MC at 8:55PM on Mar 17th 2008

12. What exactly is the purpose of this article? By the use of the words "our" and "we" it seems that the writer is of African descent, and therefore feels that he/she can speak for the race, and that notion is the most glaring problem with this entire article; that the actions or words of one person can speak for all Black people collectively. The Black experience is as varied as all other cultural experiences and it is no longer progressive for African Americans to allow the delinquent actions of a few individuals to determine our identity. In the spirit of the author's use of the word "we", "we" can no longer take ownership of criminal and unsatisfactory actions when they are not ours, but instead aberration from what is normal. When Jewish, Italian, Irish and Scottish Americans commit crimes, you do not see articles "questioning the reasons for their continued downward spiral despite advancement". To them it's crime, period, not white problem. What is healthy for all proud cultures is to illuminate the positives of the culture, and shun the perpetuation of the stereotype, not question whether or not the stereotype has actually become a force too powerful to overcome, which is what this article does. It would help if there were not African American journalist who were so afflicted by W.E.B. DuBois's descriptive, double consciousness, that they can't report the news without sounding like they care so much about how "us negra's look to the good white peoples" by making bold exaggerations that assert that two delinquent criminals who have performed ungodly acts of murder and theft have "overshadowed" the long suffering achievements of a man who is potentially the next President of the United States and the first African American Governor of the state of New York. It seems the writer needs a fresh taste of a new perspective so that these events can be remeasured. With this type of weighted scale against "us", it will be impossible to get a fair price for "our" cotton.

Nothing is more maddening about this article than the author's attempt to take the polar opposite lives of Obama and Patterson and the lives of the criminals described above and put them into one Black body analogy using the example of Bobby Cutts, Jr. Again, the fundamental problem of non-progressive black journalism.. The author of the article explains how Cutts was on his way up in society but gave in to his "primal instincts". I can only take this statement to mean that Cutts progression was some how not instinctive, that he was fighting what was inherent to him by being a productive man in the society with a job, woman and child and somehow what was normal for him kicked in/snapped/turned on and he became a murderer. "Primal instincts"? Those two words might be found in the most racist treatises against blacks in white supremacist history, ranking near the top of the racist ideologies of the "curse of ham" and the very stereotypes you want "us" to overcome.

Wouldn't it be more effective for the Black Spin to take the opportunity to look more closely at the humanity of all five of these Black men without using the lens of stereotype? Are Black people not human enough to simply commit crimes of passion, in Cutts case, without that crime being attributed to his hue? And why does the Black Spin not take on the stance used by the larger media in the cases of Columbine and other school shootings with inquiry and depth finding questioning into the psyche of the young men who commit the crime. It seems that the media, including the writer of "The Black Male Two Step", believes that their is no rhyme or reason, to be examined behind their ill actions, and THAT stereotypical racist journalism is the greatest crime committed against "us". No wonder these native sons committed such unthinkable crimes, when no one cares about their talented minds.

Chadwick Boseman at 9:19PM on Mar 17th 2008

13. Chadwick,

You perhaps have some good points but there is one glaring problem. This is not an article rather it is a blog; one persons view of the news of the week.

Additionally, it does not condemn or dehumanize. Instead, it asks the question and ask you, the reader to determine if stereotypes overshadow the accomplishments of black people.

Third,in terms of Booby Cutts I think you are reaching to assume giving in to primal instincts means that his basic nature was not to be productive. I took it to mean that with all mammals there is a basic instinct to kill. What distinguished humans is their ability to think, reason and make good choices and that is not what Booby Cutts Jr. did. There is no mention that his race led him to committ the crimes nor does it seem to say the other men became criminals simply because they were back. The piece simply points out their race was a central issue when their crimes were discussed in the media.

There is no discussion at all as to the humanity of these men. The article makes it clear that all of these men are in fact humans who had limited possibilities; all of them simply chose different paths in life.

I absolutely agree that the psyche of people who committ deviant behavior should be discussed however traditional journalist can not speak to this with interviews with these culprits or a psychological background/profile which they do not possess.

MC at 10:58PM on Mar 17th 2008

14. The truth is this: NOT ALL BLACK PEOPLE ARE THE SAME... we didn't all come from the same tribe, the same slave ship, the same plantation... in fact some of us never saw slavery or a plantation...

WE CAN'T BLAME THAT... ITS ABOUT CHARACTER, MORALS, ETHICS, SPIRIT....

Its time our culture did some growing up. Time to stop this dysfunctional mess. That's why Barack Obama and a few other appeal to people across color lines... THEY ARE NOT DYSFUNCTIONAL Sharpton, Jackson and those civil rights hanger ons have not moved forward with the society. The size of their income depends on most of African America's obsession with racism.

If African Americans accept that there will always be those who hate us for our skin color - ACCEPT IT AND NOT TRY TO CHANGE IT... THEN WE CAN FOCUS ON THOSE WHO SEE OUR SKIN COLOR BUT JUDGE US BY OUR DEEDS! Barack Obama isn't the only black person of this high moral fiber - WE ARE EVERYWHERE AND WAY TOO SILENT!

Jowanda at 8:06AM on Mar 18th 2008

15. I would love to see the day when people are called out on for the things they do,whether it be good or bad,simply for the thing they did. NOT for the color of their skin.We as human beings have choices to make and we are responsible for our own actions.I hope people who plan to vote for Barack do so because of where he stands on the issues not just because of his skin color.

karen zvorsky at 8:16AM on Mar 18th 2008