I didn't want to..but I have to..

I really hate where the country is going in race relations. It seems that all of the sudden people have lost their minds... The Jena 6 situation has helped to excelerate the whole thing. I guess i should first say that what happened in Jena, LA was a whole lot of racist mess gone wild. (Why did it take a YEAR to get this nationally recognized?? Where were the black leaders when this went down??)I supported the movement in the beginning. Now I do have an issue with the entire black community continuing to rally behind this..(I heard something about not shopping on some day in Nov???) Meanwhile the very young people we set out to get freedom for are appearing on BET Hip Hop Awards and youtube videos...someone please get these kids a PR person quick. Are we fighting for the right to look ignorant?? I thought the whole point was to shine light on the justice system and incourage equality..no?

Truthfully I feel like the Black people that seem to represent our community most often have caused this problem. No they did not create racism..but they have made it possible for racist white ppl to feel comfortable. The civil rights movement of the 60's and 70's did just the opposite. White people were nervous... Why else would they see the Black Panther Party as the #1 threat to national security? In the 80's and 90's they were cautious because we were still feeling powerful... affirmative action had them loosing jobs..rap music was always talking about killing police and such so they stayed "politically correct". Oh but how times have changed. The absence of Black leaders is whats killing us... Al and Jesse are not rallying anyone..come on. People are so scared to be seen as militant these days..so scared to get an FBI file on them...so scared to march through the streets... So now white people don't feel like they have to respect us or anyone else.

Did anyone see T.I on BET explaining how artists are only talking about what they USE to do in the streets...but that we should be glad he is rapping about it and not doing it. Um... Then why did ATF kick in your door?

Oh and Bush's ass and the California situation is hillarious to me. He really thinks that by swooping in to save all of those rich white people in Malibu from fire is going to make up for watching black people drown in NOLA??? Somebody please get this man a clue. FEMA is there to do what for these people?? I mean they all have insurance..they all got evacuated..they will all have brand new homes built from the ground in no time meanwhile half of NO is still a war zone.

On a broader scope I think race has become an over sensitive subject. True nooses on trees, statues, and doors is SERIOUS...Hate Crimes against all are serious.. but people are tripping out. I do not believe that Halle Berry was smashing on Jewish people by her comments on Leno... was it maybe not the most appropriate place to make the joke..sure. But wow.. anti-semitic.... Not at all. Stereotypical...yes..but not hateful by any means. Just like not too long ago a blogger I read often was asking people to launch a full scale attack on companies with the phrase "____ is the new black" on t-shirts.. I found this crazy..the term is totally a fashion reference and this woman had up telephone numbers and addresses to the different companies. People are so on edge that they read into anything.

We need to start stepping back and taking an inventory on everything before we get offended and then correctly express ourselves...there are real racist acts taking place and we are wasting our energy on issues that we just didn't take the time to think about.

The reality IS:

Until Black people stand up and say "no more"...until we take back our dignity and show the world that we are not a bunch of ignorant gold teeth wearing sex addicts.. until we work together to reform our image.. these racists will be acting out...

And that goes for every oppressed population..stop playing into negative images and start trying to strengthen the true identity of our communities.

But thats just what I think...

Be Peace