Let's talk about race, bay-bee...

"The chief obstacle to the progress of the human race is the human race."
- Don Marquis

As a Black person who was born Black, grew up Black, looks Black, thinks Black, Drives While Black, and LOVES being Black it has always been amazing to me when other Blacks attempt to define or question my Blackness. Apparently, all my life, i've unknowingly broken one or more of the Black Rules of Conduct. Let me see if i can remember them all:

1. Only protect, defend, or help Black people. If you want to help the poor, women, or any other disenfranchised person, they must either be Black or 'of color'. If unsure of a person's racial background, ask them to name their favorite entertainer. If they say "Michael Jackson", they are white.

2. If you break Rule #1 then you are disloyal to Blacks. In effect, you are either pro-white, you hate yourself and all fellow Blacks, or you just hang around too many white people.

I could go on but it's too annoying. All of that kind of thinking is dangerous for many reasons. Firstly, it doesn't allow for the diversity that is Blackness. We are not all the same. Nor should we be. We all have different ideas about social responsibility, multiculturalism, Black Nationalism, interracial dating, global consumerism and any other issue you can possibly think of. And that's as it should be. I personally love that about my people. That we each have so much we can learn from each other's experiences. But it seems like all alot of Blacks are content with criticizing and psychoanalyzing others instead of appreciating our differences. And that divides all of us even more.

Secondly, it completely disregards the similarities between people of all races and the shared responsibility of EVERYONE towards EVERYONE. If you have a Black scientist who is spending all of her time, money and resources to develop a cure for breast cancer, should she only make the cure available to Black people? Hell no. Imagine how pissed people would be if the Chinese developed a cure for AIDS and refused to share it with anyone else but the Chinese? I will acknowledge that racism, discrimination and plain old politics plays a large part in the rapid and devastating spread of AIDS in Africa. Its heartbreaking to think about it....

Racism is but a fraction of the problems that exist in this world. We are in a global crisis RIGHT NOW. Its bigger than black and white. Polar ice caps are melting each day which results in rising sea levels. Our ozone layer is so dangerously depleted, brush fires from drought are becoming an increasingly alarming problem, weather patterns are out of control. Global warming is no longer a future concern. It is smack, dab and squarely in the present. So I apologize if i ain't got the time to be Black enough for some of y'all...

The HUMAN RACE is gonna have to face some hard facts about itself and its abuse of its own habitat. And nobody is ready to do it. Maybe not even me.

tags: Race relations, Blackness, Environment, climate change