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Thursday, November 11, 2010

I'm Black Enough...

I read a blog post about Jesse Jackson telling Soledad O'Brien that she wasn't "Black enough" on O Hell Nawl (awesome blog, check them out) this afternoon and it really got me to thinking about the topic. I'd briefly touched on this subject last month, but I felt I needed to post here what I commented there. Enjoy my rant! lol :p


November 11, 2010 at 2:52 pm
 A few things:

1. Jesse Jackson AND Al Sharpton (well-deserved honorable mention) are jackasses and have become more of a hindrance to the progressive Black movement than help.

2. Soledad O’Brien is Black? Really? Color me ignorant because I thought she was Latino and White. I know we come in different shades and whatnot, but the name through me off.

3. Our people can be more judgmental and excluding than most hardcore bigots out there. You have to have an extra thick skin if you’re mixed and/or light-complexioned. (For the record: not all of us light-skinned girls are stuck up or think we’re better than our darker-toned sisters. I think all shades of Black are beautiful. If you have a complex about your color, I empathize, but please don’t project it onto me, deal with it. Hey, at least no one questions your “Blackness”.)

4. Jesse Jackson is a jackass.

I grew up hearing I wasn’t Black enough. I got called a traitor to my people because I married outside my race. F*ck outta here with that foolishness. I still hear I’m not Black enough…and it still irks me. I always ask what the hell that’s supposed to mean. So I’m an “oreo” because I use proper English? Because I’m educated? Because rap, r&b, and go-go aren’t the end-all be-all of music for me? Because I love Rock Band and Guitar Hero? Because I read Stephen King instead of Zane? Because I refuse to act a fool in public or be ghetto to the nth degree? Why can’t we as a people be multi-faceted…must we all like the same things and be so damn cookie-cutter? I should hope not.

I don’t get it and never will. My mom is Slaus’ complexion and she has heard she was siditty (sp?) and wasn’t Black enough all her life because she worked hard to live better and hatin-ass negus will always be hatin-ass negus. People actually tried to shade her for getting a Masters degree…WTF?!?! I used to care and it used to bother me, but she always told me that all those folks who throw shade and are so busy “keeping it real” are being left in the dust in life because they spend all their time worrying about the Joneses instead of trying to keep up with them (not in the elitist sense, but striving to do better in order to live better).

Dammit, why can’t we all get along?

*drops mic*