(ThyBlackMan.com) To all the naysayers and nonbelievers, yes- believe it or not, There ARE Black Men Making a Positive Difference Every Day. When turning on any television, radio, or any form of mass media outlet in the past— forever, the narrative of Black Men has been one of hopelessness, recklessness, and us, put simply, being a menace to society. As Huey P. Newton said “I do not expect the white media to create positive black male images.” He felt that sentiment during the early days of the Black Panther Political Party and I feel the same sentiment during the days of “Post Racism” and a guy named Barack Obama being the President of the (somewhat) Free World .
Looking at this topic from a somewhat positive stereotype point of view, not all of us can or will be Barack Obama, Jay-Z, Will Smith or Lebron James. For the most part, they are anomalies. People like them are a rarity; hence the reason one can name them without having to do too much intricate research. Although these men are very powerful, influential, and doing as much good as they can to help their families and communities for the most part, they are not the standard. They are the exception when it comes to black male success in America. On the other hand and from a more negative stereotype point of view, not all of us should or will be dead beat dads, criminals, rappers or athletes (no diss to the Lebron’s and Sean Carter’s of the world). Although these stereotypes are some of the most pervasive and intrusive when it comes to the perception of black males in America; they too are not the standard. They are the exception. No matter how negative of an exception, they are still an exception of what black males can sometimes succumb to being.
Although the statistic from the report on the staggering racial disparities in the criminal justice system says that 1 in 3 black males will go to jail at some point in his life, we often overlook the flip statistic that states 2 out of 3 black males will not liken the same fate. Statistics like this, on both side of the negative and positive fence, are the ones that dominate our minds and control our thinking. As Malcolm X said “The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.” Even though the statistic states that 33.3 percent of black males will go to jail at some point, it never mentions the majority 66.7 percent who will not. Numbers like this are why I consistently state that There ARE Black Males Making a Positive Difference Every Day.
For the most part, the majority of us will eventually pursue some form of higher education, not have a criminal record, and try to play our hand of cards we’ve been dealt, historically and currently in America, as best we can. From here on out, the mindset of black males, in order to build and reap more black males who are strong and positive minded, must be one of highlighting the right and not the wrong. We need to focus on the good and not the bad. Instead of constantly saying rap is bad or that jails are full of black males, why not combat it by saying there are a lot of conscious minded rappers and there are colleges full of black males?
Just as in teaching, if you highlight and consistently scold the child who is the “problem” of the class, you will only prompt him or her act out more because they like the attention they are getting from the class. Soon after, other students may begin to conform the “problem” child’s behavior because they would like to receive the same attention from their teacher. Teachers of today have been told to narrate behavior to control and manipulate it. Rather than saying “Stop doing that, sit down and be quiet,” teachers of today are instructed to say things such as “I see group one and the student to the left of me have their work out and are ready to learn.” By still highlighting a behavior, the good this time rather than the bad, the teacher is able to influence the minds of the “problem” children and make them want the same attention, for good instead of bad this time. The same theory must be applied to black males. If we want more positive ones, we must highlight and point out the positive attributes we have.
To leave you with a few points to prove that there really are brothers out there making a difference every day, check out the following links:
A group of males who have dedicated a minimum of 2 years to teaching and lifetime to changing the lives and minds of young black males in Metro Atlanta: Teach For America, Black Male Leadership Association: http://vimeo.com/50307958
A group of black male college students, who are driven to make sure Louisiana State University recruits, admits, retains, engages, develops and graduates more black males: The Black Male Leadership Association http://www.lsu.edu/bmli
A website that seeks to actively promote a positive black male image, The Black Man Can: http://theblackmancan.org/
A black male from South Louisiana who recently published his first book and is the CEO and founder his own educational nonprofit- Michael Mallery, I’m So Educated: http://imsoeducated.com/
A group of black males in Baton Rouge, LA who came together to start a grassroots community organization for mentoring, tutoring and community service for the betterment of black males- Inventing Not Killing: https://www.facebook.com/TeamINK23
In case you’re still confused about this post, I summed it up for you: Stereotypes are traits given to a certain people that are related to their race, nationality or sexual orientation, just to name a few. In this world, like all things, there are both negative race-based stereotypes and positive race-based stereotypes. However, because they oversimplify groups of people in ways that lead to overwhelmingly negative mindsets of those within and outside of the group being stereotyped, they should be avoided at all cost. I, of all people, know how hard it can be when our history has made us learn these thoughts and our current world constantly reinforces these beliefs. Instead, we should actively seek to judge people, black males with regard to this piece, based on our individual experiences and interactions with them and not on what you believe or have heard about “their kind.”
Staff Writer; Ray James
Ray is a first year teacher in Morrow, GA from Louisiana. For more information or to connect with him, check out his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ray.james.18