Education Still Does Not Cure Us of the "Crabs in a Barrel Theory"

I hope that this entry is not beating an already dead horse, but in order for me to ensure my “sniper” status (one shot, one kill) on the bar, I have to get this off my chest. First of all, with the whole Jesse Jackson situation, I believe Cedric the Entertainer said it best in one of the Barbershop movies; “Fuck Jesse Jackson!” With the excitement that Senator Obama has caused in regards to the 2008 Presidential Election, I really do not see how Jesse can realistically hate on the man for doing something that he wasn’t able to do 20 years ago, become the first black man to make a serious run for the Presidency of the United States.

It is bad enough that Obama has to deal with the possibility of being elected merely because he is black as if that doesn’t scare the masses enough, to encounter the “haters” that hip-hop culture has immortalized. The New Yorker recently published one of its issues where Obama is categorized as a Taliban in the oval office with a picture of Osama Bin Laden on the wall and his wife, Michelle, looking like a renegade Black Panther.

Now I know the New Yorker will no doubt defend this as an exercise of their First Amendment Right and probably label it as satire or a parody, however it is blatant racism, in my humble opinion. I also know that this does not have the Constitutional muster to rise to a defamation claim, its kinda funny when you really see how people view you. I actually praise the honesty, in hopes that more people would let their true colors show instead of opting for the fraudulent skin of being politically correct. But when its obvious that the masses still regard us in such a manner, why should we criticize ourselves even further. Seems like Jesse is just mad because someone cut off his balls a long time ago.

Like Cornel West said, “Most present-day black political leaders appear too hungry for status to be angry, too eager for acceptance to be bold, too self-invested in advancement to be defiant. And when they drop their masks and try to get mad, their bold rhetoric is more performance than personal, more play-acting than heartfelt.” Okay Jesse, so you want to cut the man’s balls off, but honestly since the 60’s what have you done that would actually stand to rival Barack Obama? You marched with Dr. King, you were there when he was assassinated, you started P.U.S.H. and have worked with the Rainbow Coalition, however, since those days, you and your cohort Al Sharpton seem more interested in asking “where the cash (and or television cameras) at?” I believe Lil Wayne expresses a similar sentiment on behalf of Al Sharpton on the Carter III’s Misunderstood. Yall feel more inclined to parade around ignorant negroes like the Jena 6 rather than focus on real issues. For the record, I believe that the sentence that the city of Jena attempted to impose on the 6 young black men was a bit over the edge, but in the end, they were still criminals, who did not deserve to be paraded around like our black heroes on the BET awards and through various other media broadcasts for directly opposing the same non-violent attitude that Dr. King was famous for. I don’t know what I would have done if placed in a similar situation, but I wonder how Jesse would feel if Barack took his statement under a guise of provocation, and slapped the shit out of him? Maybe then he might get some respect.

Furthermore, Senator Obama has brought passion back into the Democracy of the United States. This past semester I wrote a paper on the Constitutionality of requiring federal or state-issued identification in order to exercise the right to vote, and the effects that such legislation would have on blacks. It seems as though we as a people still remain acceptant of mediocrity and wonder why the rest of the minorities of the United States are bypassing us exponentially. Its because we continue to hate on each other, kill each other, and make up reasons for our lack of drive in wanting more from our government and expecting more from ourselves. Okay so we were enslaved, so what we never received our 40 acres and a mule, so what the United States is letting immigrants come to this country and accommodate them by still letting them speak their language, SO THE FUCK WHAT?! When we came here, by force, they didn’t value us the same as other human beings and in the past 100 years or so, we’ve only slightly increased over that 3/5ths standard that we used to be held to. So what that Barack Obama has a lot of people voting for him strictly under the rhetoric that he is black and has a black wife, if that incites the American public to go back and exercise their right to vote, then I’m all for it. Most people do not know that the last presidential election in which a majority of the eligible voting population voted was 1968, 40 years ago. And keep in mind that was during the Vietnam error, which follows true to the traditional strategy exercised by our Commander-in-Chief while in search for reelection; start a war. I’m not here to rant and rave about Obama and why he should be president, because anyone can do better than that idiot Bush, I’m just trying to stop the hating.

Another example of how education does not kill the crabs in a barrel theory is that in the past week I’ve had several of my classmates remark that it was time for me to let my locs go in favor of reformation for a successful legal career. Why the hate? Because someone cut their balls off and they were scared to be an individual, they would like to see my testicular fortitude removed in a similar fashion. I’m sorry homeboy, but I’m not you. Cutting my hair in order to become successful is a LAST RESORT, I REPEAT, LAST! For us as a people to get our house in order we must fist follow Walker and Texas Ranger’s advice; “Get your balls back.” If we stop worrying about what the next man is doing, and why he is doing things that we cannot or were unwilling to take the risk to, we can never hope to rise above how the masses view us. I’m pretty sure if those of us, including you Jesse, who lost our balls get them back and focus more on self-reformation rather than why you can’t do what he can/is doing, it will be much better, can we do it? Yes we can, Black America, please don’t make this one of the rare instances where I am wrong…