(ThyBlackMan.com) I’ve learned never to say that “I’ve seen it all” when it comes to my people because we are extreme in everything that we do. The fact that our people are the best at whatever they choose to engage in is nothing new. Consider for a moment the African-Americans who have succeeded against all the odds. Names such as Venus and Serena Williams, Arthur Ashe, Paul Robeson, Oprah Winfrey, Josh Gibson, and Barack Hussein Obama populate such a list.
Unfortunately for Black America, the penchant for being the best at whatever we do is an Excalibur that cuts both ways. There is rarely a middle-ground for Blacks; we tend to be either significant successes or colossal failures in life.
Black America’s ability to excel at “viral challenges” that accomplish nothing beyond momentary stimulation backs the above claim. It appears that the word “viral” has become a euphemism for “What is hot with Black people at the present moment.”
Black America has led the way with things such as the “For the dick challenge” and a host of other challenges that made them spectacles for an amused world. I’m sure that I’m not alone in thinking that after seeing the latest “challenge” that “Now, I have seen it all.”
As mentioned earlier, we must be careful regarding such blanket statements. Experience has shown that there is a hidden force that sparks ignorant minds in ways that most could never conceive.
Nevertheless, this new Chicken sandwich battle reveals much about the mindset of many within Black America. The misplaced priorities of a few remind politically astute African-Americans why efforts to uplift Blacks from their dire situation have repeatedly failed. The Chicken sandwich challenge displays to the world how many Blacks could not care less about real-world issues such as politics, education, and economics.
If there is a silver lining to be found in this sad tale, it is that there is no longer a reason to doubt Blacks ability to work together. This pursuit of Chicken Sandwiches displays our ability to do such. One does not need to be a political scientist to recognize that organization and solidarity are crucial elements in the political process.
The question facing those standing in long lines for a measly Chicken Sandwich is why do you care so much for such trivial things and so little for more substantive issues such as political campaigns?
The answer to this question is multi-faceted. It involves matters such as (a) a flawed educational system with little utility to Blacks, (b) socialization that occurs without severe conversations regarding the creation and maintenance of politico-economic power. Maybe the usefulness of this and other “viral challenges” is found in the fact that for downtrodden Blacks it provides a momentary escape from the never-ending grind that they experience in a nation ruled by unsympathetic Whites. Could it be that this opportunity to escape their hell provides participants a fleeting chance to grab The Mask that Paul Laurence Dunbar wrote about a century ago?
In time, this fascination with Chicken Sandwiches will subside, and the momentary opportunity to escape the harsh realities of being Black in America will return to center stage, leaving many within our midst to eagerly await the next “viral challenge” that allows them to grab Dunbar’s “Mask” that grins and lies.
When one considers that the impetus behind every problem Blacks have experienced on the North American continent over the past 400 years can be traced to racial bigotry and institutionalized racism, it should be evident that concerted collective action in the realms of politics, economics, and education is the only means of addressing the oppression of Black folk.
Unfortunately for Black America, it appears that a particular segment of our population reserve collectivism for “viral challenges” not political mobilization. If I did not know any better, I would believe that a specific section of Black America has lost what little portion of God-given common sense they were born with on their way to convincing themselves that a Chicken Sandwich is more important than political engagement. It is to illuminate the minds and streamline the thought patterns of such individuals that I forthrightly state the following for all who need to hear it.
A Chicken Sandwich, even one inspired by Louisiana cooking, will never, I repeat it will never, save you.
Staff Writer; Dr. James Thomas Jones III
Official website; http://www.ManhoodRaceCulture.com
One may also connect with this brother via Twitter; DrJamestJones.