Sunday, December 11, 2016

The Extinction Of The Black American Male

Okay, so black males are not in the same class as the African elephant and Siberian tigers; but black males are indeed experiencing troublesome times in the United States. Every day I read at least ten newspapers from cities all across the country, and the result is always a jaw-dropping response. Black males are not returning home at the end of the day.

Firstly, black men are simply being neglected. It's not only the police who are giving black men a hard time. American businesses are doing their fare share of placing black men into situations of desperation.  Blacks are constantly being passed over for jobs (most recently by Mexican-Americans due to their willingness to work through harsher working conditions). Illegal immigrants are also preferred because of their willingness to accept less pay. As a result, there is an increase in black men's involvement in crime as they aim to feed their families as well as themselves. One can only predict that this statistic will rise until issues regarding illegal immigration control is properly handled.

Blacks are also being killed at alarming rates. It's assumed that because black on black crime is in high black unemployment areas such as Chicago that the estimated value of black male lives is at an all-time low. A white youth uses an automatic weapon to kill black church members during bible study. A white male kills a known black athlete during a road rage incident and is released by police after the killer admits to the killing. These are the types of incidents which causes people of color to protests and boycott yet the typical American response remains the same, i.e. the "Colin Kaepernick is the real racist" sort of response. It's hard for people who practice habitual racism to understand that their acts are indeed wrong.

Another form of extinction is one which I call "the seasonal controlling of minorities."  Every winter there are fires in older poorly kept buildings which are normally rented to unwealthy blacks. These residences have electrical wiring dating to the early 1900s and are not well insulated; yet, 1200-watt space heaters which compensate for the poorly insulated buildings can be bought in stores for less than $12 dollars. Black children under the age of 7 are being killed by house fires every single day during the winter season. This form of inhumanity is the result of property management neglect and is often treated as simple casualties due to extreme weather.

Black people (black males specifically) are losing a war which is directly waged against them.  And yes, war is the best choice of wording.  It's a war not much different from those read about in history books and those so vividly portrayed in movies.  Weapons of choice have been the use of neglect, the use of  guns, and the presence of fire.  All which have intentionally been used as a mean to break the will of humankind.

So what is the answer to this systematic and continual form of inhumane treatment?  It's a simple one. And it's called acknowledgement. None of this is anything new. Any elder black man will easily tell you that all this has been going on for years.  The key is simply believing that it's all true.

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