(ThyBlackMan.com) The thought hit me hard once again when I pondered the thought of how Black men are vilified in the media more so than any other race for the same exact indiscretions.
There is no official gauge to measure whether they are or not as the way many will respond to this question is totally dependent on the person.
…….and as we all know, any inquiry that an individual responds to is definitely influenced and colored by their prior experiences in this life which can be as varied as the grains of sand on a tropical beach.
My feeling is that Black men are for the most part given less of a break in the media and amongst the people who allow their judgment to be colored by what the mainstream powers that be deem to be important in our
worlds or not.
As a man who works with all factions of the public and its notorious underbelly, I get a rare opportunity to keep my hand on the pulse of a good cross section of a diverse swatch of what people are talking about pretty much more so than your average isolated blogger.
I have countless conversations on many intense topics as it has served me as the raw creative inspiration that I have in my heart on a constant basis. That being said, on the subject of the Black mans image in the media, overall I feel that there is so much to be desired and that we still have a long way to go.
While it may seem as though we have made tremendous progress in how the masses perceive Black men, and those who believe so can probably bring a very convincing argument, those in the industry who I’ve been blessed to have their insider’s view shared with me tell me that it’s just as hard as ever to get work and get the meaningful roles that would truly uplift the perceptions of us as morally upright men.
In today’s world it is very hard to get away with any wayward behavior because with nearly everyone in possession of smartphones, the entire world has become the Paparazzi!
The Black men feel as though they can get away with the crap that they do – making babies with these while in a relationship – because they have a little fame and money.
But what made me bring up this particular topic is the recent news of the outside children born to Hip Hop entertainer Ludacris and the NBA’s Dwayne Wade while in supposed committed relationships with their girlfriend’s Gabrielle Union (Wade) and Eudoxie Agnan (Ludacris).
Dwayne Wade tipped off with a woman named Aja Metoyer and had a son named Xavier and the news of this surfaced a week after he proposed to Gabrielle after being in their relationship for four years.
Ludacris spent some of his free time conceiving his recently born daughter, Cai Bella, with mother Tammy Fuller who supposedly is a long time friend of the rapper. But many are hearing that Ludacris is requesting a DNA test so this drama is definitely not over for him.
I’m going into detail about these current situations for a reason as it colors the perceptions of Black men the world over even if it isn’t fair that the immoral buffoonery is treated as gospel for an entire race of men.
Sadly, perception is everything in the world today.
The other notable news story that I feel has an effect on the overall flavor of the soup of perception on Black men is the recent engagement announcement of Hip Hop’s Eve to the UK designer and entrepreneur Maximillion Cooper.
Eve, who for the most part has kept a low profile in recent years when compared to the more visible time in her career when she was putting out music in higher volumes.
What does Eve’s announcement of being engaged have to do with the imbalanced and negative perceptions of Black men in the media?
Well, while it really shouldn’t matter -and it really doesn’t matter to me – Maximillion Cooper is white and of course Eve is Black.
So what’s the big deal?
Well, the combination of these three news items have set off a virtually tsunami of confrontational battles on the message boards of Hollywood gossip sites as well as many unrelated message boards.
One thing’s for sure, people will definitely speak their minds behind the comfort of their keyboards and under the anonymity of an assumed internet persona! They will speak their mind without the risk of any repercussion in their personal life whatsoever. So you will get their entire range of opinions in an uncut bold manner to say the least.
These stories seemed to strike an underlying cord of several unresolved issues in our society all which touched on race and the alleged lack of control of the Black man in his morality while in a relationship.
While these stories may not appear to be related issues on the surface, in the streets they were constantly mentioned in phrases such as this overheard several times to my recollection:
“Did you hear about Dwayne Wade and Ludacris having babies outside of their woman’s backs? Hell, I don’t know why they stayed because I ain’t going for that! See that, these Black men are off the chain and now I can see why Eve went and got herself engaged to that White man she was dating, these Brother’s need to grow up!”
…….and yet another:
“These famous Black men feel as though they can get away with the crap that they do – making babies with these chicks while in a relationship – because they have a little fame and money, this is the only reason why their women stay with them in the first place, I bet you Eve won’t have to go through “no more” drama with that
White dude she’s marrying!”
But wait a minute!
Is this negative perception of ALL Black men fair?
Why is it that when a highly visible Black man makes a bad judgment call in his life that all other Black men have to bear the weight of another man’s sins on his personal resume?
Personally I don’t think it’s fair at all! I merely think that men in general make bad choices but when Black men specifically do it, it is amplified over and above the norm because we are not supposed to have anything anyway and it is a way of just tearing us down.
And yes, we do things like anyone else but for some reason the stench of our immoral acts linger on in the air a lot longer than our White counterparts.
Let President Barack Obama get caught with evidence that shows he had an affair on his lovely wife Michelle and that he was receiving regular “oral” in the Oval office and the stigma will NEVER go away! Bill Clinton? He’s a hero now who, in the mind of the public has never done any wrong ever!
What makes Ludacris and Dwayne Wade and different than Michael Douglas, Dylan McDermott, Jude Law, Mark Anthony, Eddie Cibrian (Leann Rimes’ husband), Woody Allen, Steven Segal, Brad Pitt and Tom Brady?
Are all Black men horny little roving dogs hellbent on having unprotected sex with whomever they can get their despicable claws into not caring if they get anyone pregnant just as long as they can spray sperm deep into their naive wombs?
ALL RACES OF MEN CHEAT just as you have great men who have self control and would never even THINK of such a thing!
What it boils down to is the fear of the Black penis which makes the same act that any other man would commit to becoming a crime scene if you let them tell it!
…….and Amerikkka been so conditioned to amplify anything that a Black man does with a negative slant and the media has specialized in this in a very wicked manner.
So from now on into the future, you must absorb the news columns and take in the gossip programs with a modified mental filter to see behind the breaking news into the secret agendas and hidden motivations of those who frame the news in a special way to make you see it different from those to whom they want to boost up!
Wrong is wrong no matter WHO does it, but when Black men are found to be committing the same indiscretions that their counterparts from other races do, the stigma seems to never go away.
Think before you make the leap! It just might NOT be worth it!