Are you contributing to the stereotype?

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(ThyBlackMan.com) How to be a black man that sets a standard and not a statistic.

When you look at the politicians and the platforms in which they stand, it is quite often that the black man and woman come into the spotlight. And while we want to have acknowledgement and we want our voices to be heard, the linguistics allotted to us from the political stage are often not to the successful black male, but to the stereotypes which have framed our modern men and women. So the question that arises is why is this? Have we not progressed as a race which is worthy to stand beside the majorities? According to NBC news, white non-Hispanics are expected to be a minority group over the next three decades. Additionally, the report shows growth of “17 percent; blacks”. Why then do politics and the media hone in on the black community’s stereotypes? The answer may be found not in pointing fingers, but in examining whether or not you are fueling these stereotypes.

Fatherless nation

Fatherless homes have been stated as one of the key elements in our country’s state. And while the numbers are great across the board, black children in unwed homes make up 66% of the Black or African American homes. Coming in a close second is American Indians with a 53% fatherless home percentage. And while the numbers have shown decreases by about 100,000 a year (an indicator that Black males are stepping up and being the father figures they are supposed to be) the numbers are still too high. If we want to be seen outside of the mentality that black men do not care for their children we must take the percentage down. If you have a child and are not involved with his or her life, you are contributing to the problem, not the solution. The argument that “they are better off without me” is an excuse that has been debunked time and time again.

Do you set the bar high?

Where there are several (and I do mean several) successful business men and women in the United States whom are black, there is still progress to be made. Black Students in college have shown a modest progress, but the numbers still fall below 50% (with 42% graduation rate). We should not take this as an indicator that we would give up and slide into society working jobs that barely bay the bills, but rather we should use this information to inspire us to motivate our youth, and ourselves to greater things. High School and college graduation should not be considered an option; it needs to be at the forefront of our ambitions. Men and women who attend college on average make twice the salary of a diploma holder. Those which do not have a high school diploma or GED are far more likely to fall into unemployment.

As education and establishing more successful and prominent figures into the mainstream is essential to the black community, setting realistic goals while at the same time dreaming big is vital. Encouraging doctors, lawyers, politicians, zoologist, botanist, stock brokers, and such over the stereotype that every black male wants to become a rapper is essential. Where there is nothing wrong with promoting a musical career, when doing such it should be to the same high standards of other avenues (meaning that the person wanting to be a rapper should obtain a degree in music theory, sound production, or similar field). We must stop looking at the world from a view that it is tilted against us (even if such is true) and start pressing forward and making it into a world in which we can thrive.

Get involved in the politics

I find it disheartening that the only coverage that the black American seems to get these days is in the uprising of the community when someone gets shot. Yes, we should stand unified in such times, but at the same time we need to have more than just a protestor’s voice. By expanding our influence into other sectors of politics and making our voice heard in these areas we as a whole will force the speeches which target the Black community as a minority, poor, and disorganized race into speaking about a race that is progressed, educated, dedicated to their families, and making a positive influence upon the world.

“There is no force like success, and that is why the individual makes all effort to surround himself throughout life with evidence of it; as of the individual, so should it be of the nation”

–Marcus Garvey–

Where there are still major tensions between the races, we must get away from making this our sole platform. We must look at improving the overall perception of the black community not by our voice alone but by the actions that we take. Only then can the stereotypes be broken.

Staff Writer; Lee Hawkins

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Marque Anthony says:
July 27, 2016 at 1:48 am
If you think you are BLACK, you are contributing to a lie and the stereotype.
It amazes me how many of you are still brainwashed to call yourselves BLACK. Black is not an identity and scientifically black is not even a color. It is next to nothing. Black is the “color” of your car tires, not your skin. The white oppressive slave trader called you black and himself white to set up a contrast and to attach negative images and denotations to you based on a lie about color. Look up BLACK in the dictionary.
Research even shows that blacks are perceived by other groups as very different from African Americans. But we still keep calling ourselves what someone else defined us as, what we are not and what has a negative dictionary denotation in society. WAKE UP. LOOK AT THE REAL COLOR OF YOUR SKIN. YOU ARE NOT BLACK. You are an African American. The lie of calling us black and defining us by color (the wrong color) has been in place so long that our people accept it as truth – but it’s not. Know your colors.
Native Americans do not allow others to call them red men. Asians do not accept being called yellow men. Hispanics do not answer to “what’s up brown man”. And Caucasians are not white, notebook paper is white. Wake up and see the plan where white racist supremacists plotted to redefine our people from Africa. STOP CALLING YOURSELF SOMETHING THAT YOU ARE NOT!
AFRICAN AMERICANS ARE NOT BLACK.
Black is the color of your car tires, not your skin author. Being called “black” is a lie and it should be offensive. Haitians, Jamaicans and even Africans do not accept being called “black”, Why do you think that is? They are identified by tribes, klans, geographic areas and their respective countries. By using the very term black to describe us, we are doing the following:
1. Using a term white oppressors and slave masters gave us.
2. Letting someone else define us other than our own people.
3. Calling ourselves something we are not.
4. Buying into thee lie and the negative denotation. Check the dictionary.
5. Being set apart in a way that no other ethnic group allows. Native Americans are not called Red Man. Asians are not called Yellow Man. Hispanics are not called Brown Man. They do not and will not accept being defined by color and by some other race or ethnic group at that.
6. Ignoring our actual color (brown) which means brainwashing has worked. Any time someone can get an entire race, ethnic group or culture to ignore what they are and call themselves what they factually are not, THEY HAVE BEEN INDOCTRINATED, ASSIMILATED AND BRAINWASHED.
7. Playing right into the oppressor’s profiles and stereotypes. Did you know studies show there is a different perception of black people than there is of African Americans? Words create perceptions and perceptions create actions towards us.
WAKE UP. You know your colors. And even though others around the world equated our ancestors with the color of the soil in Africa or the meaning of negro/negroid, that does not change the fact that WE ARE BROWN – NOT BLACK.
If you look in the dictionary or send an email to brainstormonline@yahoo.com, I will send you the research. Facts are facts and YOU ARE BROWN, NOT BLACK. When you receive the revelation of why they keep calling African Americans “black” and Caucasian people “white”, you may just wake up!
STOP LETTING OTHER GROUPS DEFINE YOU WITH AN OBVIOUS LIE that we have heard and accepted so much that we believe it’s true and forget our colors. The de-programming has to take root or African Americans will forever be defined, limited and oppressed by those who get us to accept a lie.