Black People Must Be Perfect

Part 1

For the most part, most non-Black people know Black people are not treated fairly. Some non-Black people like to deny that as much as possible, but I think, for the most part, everyone knows deep down inside Black people around the world are not treated fairly. So, with that being said, Black people are constantly fighting to be treated like human beings. Unfortunately, with that demand comes a lot of pressure to be perfect.  Hear me out…. The conscience of non-Black people trying to ignore Black people’s suffering and oppression throughout the world sometimes probably becomes too much, so they must find ways to negate what is not their reality. I believe non-Black people do this by waiting for that one occasion to catch Black people slipping. 

In this day and age, there is a lot of civil unrest occurring in Amerika, mainly because of the execution of unarmed Black men and women by the police.  However, Black people continually fighting for basic human rights in Amerika is nothing new.  As a matter of fact, this issue is old as Amerika, if not older.

Instead of non-Black people acknowledging that Black people don’t have the same opportunities to achieve success, the same quality of life, equal asses to quality education, and the same chance to own property and/or land, they rather say it’s because Black people didn’t take advantage of ____ (you fill in the blank).

Now listen…I am not a big fan of the Black Lives Matter movement, but I understand its purpose.  Regardless of how I feel about the Black Lives Matter movement, why is this movement disturbing to many Amerikans?  Do you notice how many Amerikans (I want to say most) are more upset about the looting and rioting occurring during or after BLM-affiliated protest than they are about the legal murders of Black bodies by law enforcement? Take time to digest that.  Amerikans are more upset about the property being destroyed than unarmed Black people repeatedly murdered by the police.  To take it a step further, many of these businesses that are being destroyed or looted have insurance and are million-dollar businesses.  I disagree with people destroying property, but it can be replaced and sometimes better than initially.

Furthermore, we are talking about many businesses that exploit the proletarian class, overcharge you so they can make huge profits, and purposely exclude Black people from their upper management teams. Yet, you are personally more upset about that than Black bodies being taken away from this earth by violence protected by institutionalized racism and a corrupt government body???  Make that make sense?!?!?

Overall Black people demand so much because they have so little; non-Black people must find something wrong with Black people so that they can say, “see… that’s why they don’t have anything.” Non-Black people will do everything to make sure that they identify Black people as victims of their own situations. Makes sense, though….because we are expected to be perfect if we want to be treated like a human.  Everything Black people do has to be better than the average person. Listen to what I am saying, please.  Understand that I’m not saying that Black people are more superior in every area compared to other people.  I am saying that even when a Black person achieves something (besides in the entertainment world), they are just the exception.  Non-Black people will say things like, “oh, it must be affirmative action”….not a Black person is highly intelligent and worked hard to obtain their position. Once that Black person gets hired at a job and earns a position where they’re one of the few Black people, they must prove to everyone they are qualified for that position.  What makes the situation worse is that even if a Black person is qualified, their colleagues and boss will often provide as little guidance as possible, so the Black person will fail.   I personally experienced this several times in my career.  This, in turn, apparently proves they aren’t qualified for that position.  Better yet, sometimes non-Black people purposely give Black people a hard time at work so that they fail. Then management will convince themselves they gave a qualified Black person an opportunity, but the Black person blew it, and they cannot find any more capable Black people for said positions.

When I was attending graduate school, I had a Black professor who said, “if I didn’t do well teaching this course, they would use me as an example of why they can’t hire any more Black professors.” That was one of the realest speeches I ever heard in my life. It’s my truth and the truth!

I am sure many of you who watch professional sports have witnessed this.  Professional sports leagues often hire Black coaches for some of the worse performing teams in the league -especially in the NFL.  When the coaches struggle to obtain a winning record, they are fired and sometimes never hired again.  If they are employed as a coach again, it is usually for another struggling team.   Even when Black NFL coaches reach the playoffs or Superbowl, they still are fired.  Jim Caldwell and Lovie Smith ring a bell?  But hey…the NFL gave them a chance, right?

Black people can’t fail.  We don’t have the chance to make mistakes that will be overlooked, we don’t have the opportunity to learn once we become adults, and we don’t have the opportunity to catch up.  We have to prove we can do what nobody else can and do it better. If we don’t, we prove everyone’s point; it’s not them; it’s us.  As soon as one of us fails, they will say, look at what y’all did with the opportunity you had.

Black people are the only group of people who are held accountable for the actions of a few in almost every area of life.

You don’t believe me? Think about the last time you ran into two or three Black people who proved a negative stereotype you heard about Black people.  Think about it before you continue reading….That teenager walking down the street whose pants were sagging.  That loud Black woman in store cursing someone off….You thought of one or two examples??? More than likely, your brief observation or interaction with them outweighed your positive experiences with fifty other Black people you personally know.

Now follow me….How many ‘Karen’ video clips have we seen so far in the past two years? Have those video clips forced you to reconsider your views and interaction with White women? Over fifty percent of White women voted for Trump in the last two presidential elections. Has your overall opinion of White women changed?  Of course not, that’s their personal choice.  We can justify their decisions and behaviors!

Have all the white male domestic terrorists over the past one hundred years caused you to fear White men? Do you cross the street when you see them? Nah, I didn’t think so.  Society has convinced us that every Black person you meet should be perfect and flattering. As soon as you interact with those few Black people who aren’t in the image YOU prefer or behave in an uncivilized manner, they become the majority suddenly. All other Black people become the rarity.

Black people cannot say out loud we want to be treated like human beings or say give us the same opportunities as everyone else.  Why?  Because we will be forced to hear about how we have all the chances in the world; we just don’t want to do anything with it. I guarantee you if we are given an even playing field, we will succeed, and it will prove one of the biggest lies ever told in modern history was nothing but that…A BIG LIE!!

Can you imagine millions of phenomenally successful Black people in Amerika? I’m not talking about blue-collar or middle-class working 9-5 successful.  I’m talking about owning fortune five hundred companies, owning property all over the most expensive cities in America…Jerry Jones, and Warren Buffet success. I’m talking about ‘If I Ruled the World’ (Nas) and 1,000 more Oprahs successful!! You probably cannot because your brain is already wired to see us as the most inferior group of people globally and collectively.  Non-Black people are taught through White Supremacy that Black people should never have more than anyone else because they  ______ (fill in the blank). Black people are expected to be above average for any and everything.  Until all Black people conform to how society wants us to be, we will never be treated or viewed as human beings.  Black people must be perfect!!  Not up for debate!!