Even if you in a Benz – you’re still a N*GGER….

A line from one the infamous Kanye West’s older tracks that holds true in the beliefs of many American’s today, which they’ve continued to prove to the World over & over again.That no matter how educated, well-mannered, successful, or well-liked African people may be, they will never, ever be recognized or treated as equals by their counterparts.

Kanye was widely criticized & praised for expressing his true feelings about our then POTUS, George Bush, claiming that Bush did not care about black people due to his handling of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Was he right? Is this not also true of many other powerful, affluent, respected people throughout the country? Is this not an issue, despite if those notions are kept private, that can negatively impact us all?

This is an old USA military recruitment poster during America’s war with Germany (cir.,1917), depicting a German soldier as a gorilla… Then a cover of Vogue magazine & you can clearly see what they’ve done here using LeBron James & model Gisele Bundchen… Times have changed, but mindsets certainly have not! Despite LeBron’s huge career success & maintaining his good guy image, as you see here for yourself, he is still believed to be a lesser, subhuman being to many people.

Like Donald Sterling, for instance. Although he invested a lot money & time into in a business that is made up of a majority of men from African descent, he doesn’t want to be associated with them, nor does he want anyone he associates with to either. He owned the team. Doesn’t that remind you of slavery, somewhat? A white man “employing” black people, tells them where they can live, what they can & cannot do, dress codes, curfews, contracts, etc.. Is that not, at least in part, parallel to owning someone? Almost all NBA teams are owned by white men. The players make lots of money, but the owners still make more & for far longer. Most NBA careers do not last any longer than 5-10yrs, but coaching for decades or owning a team usually lasts for a lifetime, wealth that they can pass on to their families. And the monies generated from merchandising & advertisements? The money the players are making doesn’t really quite compare. Yes, of course, this is how most corporations work, however these involve very touchy ethical issues.

Rich Nevada Rancher, Clive Bundy employs an African man as a bodyguard, who even after hearing remarks Bundy made regarding poor Africans in America, said that he would still take a bullet for him! Bundy fired some people up with his perspective:

“I want to tell you one more thing I know about the Negro,” he said. Mr. Bundy recalled driving past a public-housing project in North Las Vegas, “and in front of that government house the door was usually open and the older people and the kids — and there is always at least a half a dozen people sitting on the porch — they didn’t have nothing to do. They didn’t have nothing for their kids to do. They didn’t have nothing for their young girls to do.

“And because they were basically on government subsidy, so now what do they do?” he asked. “They abort their young children, they put their young men in jail, because they never learned how to pick cotton. And I’ve often wondered, are they better off as slaves, picking cotton and having a family life and doing things, or are they better off under government subsidy? They didn’t get no more freedom. They got less freedom.”

Putting the racial aspect of his comments aside for a moment, this could be true of any persons using gov’t subsidies. On the other hand, although it may be hard to admit, Sterling & Bundy did make some valid points, regarding the lack of unity in African communities in America, the slaying of our unborn (not too long ago, abortion was killing more African people than the top seven leading causes – combined) & the generations of Africans who have become comfortable with living off of subsidies for their entire lifetime. These are very real & very serious issues plaguing our communities that need to be addressed. Africans in America do not have the overall sense of pride they once did back during the Civil Rights era. We desperately need that fire again!! Just because there are millions out there who will never see or respect us as their equals doesn’t mean we can’t treat & see each other as such!!!

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