In the words of Charles Barkley after hearing the comment made about NFL quarterback Russell Wilson not being black enough, he goes on to set the record straight. Mr. Barkley asserts: "For some reason we are brain washed to think, if you're not a thug or an idiot, you're not black enough. If you go to school, make good grades, speak intelligent, and don't break the law, you're not a good black person. It's a dirty, dark secret in the black community."
This comment made, not being black enough, is a comment that most, if not all blacks can identify with. Not only is it a comment that many blacks can identify with, but it's a comment in which we have failed to come to grips with understanding. Once such a statement is understood, it is imperative to strip this phrase from the conscious of those to follow. For many years, blacks have struggled to identify with their own self identification label. Much of our being in "search of" can be seen in how we dress, how we walk, how we dress up our cars, the type of music that is embraced and the slang we sometimes use towards each other. In other words, many of us have accepted self annihilating experiences and when we witness other blacks outside of those parameters, it prompts us to bring about judgment about who they really are, because we are still in search of who we are.
The comment, "you're not black enough," is not only a shallow comment that arises from the minds of those that struggle with the insecurity of being black, but it pulls back the label on what ignorance stands for, leaving little room for educational, social, and at best, moral growth.
As Mr. Barkley eluded to, we should never adhere to anything that goes against the grain of positive morals and ethics. Without a shadow of doubt, we must understand that it's embedded within the conscious of everyone, that a person's looks, words and behavior becomes the first line of defense as to what type of character one is dealing with from the external side. In other words, I have no desire to look like a thug, act like a thug, or display behavior that is opposite of what I profess to be. These are things that have no color, they're simply traits in which we purposefully pass on from generation to generation only because of an accepted "affinity."
Finally, at some point, the art of educating our youths will have to rise up in the mind of all that have a desire to see growth over those things that sow destruction. Without the continuous education of the aforementioned, blacks will continue to adhere to self ignominy and will forever remain in search of quality character traits, which are already, seemingly available.
In the end, I agree with Mr. Barkley.
www.Christopher-Ty.com
