Jessica’s eyes swelled to the size of dollar coins and she wanted to stir the pot more. “You don’t have the right to be angry because you have nothing to be angry about. The president is black. You cleaned up at the victim Olympics. You got your own schools, networks, initiative, and still get to mooch off of taxpayers in entitlements. You talk about not being satisfied and in- satiable; blacks are the epitome of it. When has winning became not good enough for y’all? We moved past race eons ago, so why be stuck in the past? You have to work on your attitude if you’re going to work in today’s environment.” I paced around my corner of the newsroom, laughing at Jessica and what she had just said, She said that crap with so much passion and conviction that if I didn’t know any better, I would have bought her brand. I would have dropped my argument and agreed with her. But sometimes you have to laugh at the bold ignorance of some to keep from crying and to keep from kicking their asses and having a seat at the unemployment office. “So blacks don’t have the right to be angry about anything?” I repeated. “No, you don’t! Do you not know that you are a privileged group now?” “Privileged, huh? We’re privileged? Let me tell you about black privilege. We’re privileged to be hated by all races for no reason, as if it was us who created wars, genocides, and slavery. Is that what you’re getting at here? Or how about being so privileged to be told to forget about history like slavery and how Jim Crow didn’t exist, and how history is quietly repeating itself? What about the honor of being followed around in stores? Do you mean privileged like being fetishized and labeled undesirable at the same time, or do you mean privileged like being gunned down like a deer for just walking down the street? Is that what we’re talking about? If it isn’t those things, are we talking about the joy and pleasure of always working twice as hard to be considered average while Randy and your mediocre ass can move up with no problem?” #Uppity #AvailableNOW
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 19:25:44 +0000