Black people are not respected in the United States and in many places around the globe. Without going too deep into the litany of reasons why this is, let me focus on one…Lack of Economic Power and Unity.
Second Thought
Racism has become institutionalized in the US and blacks (both gay and straight) suffer from it’s affects.
However, since President Obama was elected, overt racism has returned front and center. From emails, to Twitter messages, to bumper stickers, to Facebook posts, to cartoons, billboards, feedback on websites, etc., the examples are many. Depictions of this President as a Muslim chimpanzee, chicken and watermelon eating coon have shown up everywhere. Along with jokes and overall nasty sentiments spewed by everyday citizens, judges, columnists, policeman and politicians.
This has recently escalated with the Republican primaries taking place and the murder of Trayvon Martin.
For-profit prison corporations along with the help of politicians have streamlined the process of getting US citizens locked up.
The process …
1.Dumb down and distract the populace
2.Underfund schools
3.Except private financial contributions
4.Under educate
5.Close schools
6.Accept financial contributions from corporations
7.Pass Laws
8.Build prisons
9.Fill prisons
10.Make profit
Success! We now have a new reluctant cheap labor force that helps generate money for the publicly traded for profit prison companies and their executives. Some of this profit comes from tax revenue and government funds. These prisons provide jobs to it’s employees which in turn provides jobs and revenue to medical and insurance companies which are apart of the employees benefits packages. Banks also benefit because these employes deposit their funds and also may open up 401k or other retirement accounts. The wages the prison staff earns also provides jobs and revenue to the businesses in the surrounding community. These for profit prisons also provide business to all the contractors that are needed for the prison’s care and maintenance and also for the food supply for the prison population.
The scope of this would not be possible unless black men were being targeted, arrested, charged and given higher prison sentences than their white counterparts by elected or appointed judges within the US Justice System. Once released most of these black men can only contribute minimally to their community because they now have the curse of being an ex felon and in most states their employment and voting rights are restricted.
Let’s move onto how the ultra-religious black community as a whole does not embrace, tolerant nor accept the Black LBGT community. The black community is very conservative when it comes to homosexuality. We are told we are possessed by demons and we break up the black family.
Across the nation, certain Christian churches in the black community have spoken out (and marched) against anything related to LGBT rights. These churches condemn a many of gay souls to hell while accepting their gay dollars when the collection plate is passed around. Many of these churches are not speaking up and out about HIV/AIDs that is impacting communities of color.
Their are few topics that can unify White Supremacist and the Black Church quicker than their hatred of homosexuals?
This staunch religious black conservative point of view has even made it’s way to leaked secret memos and strategies from the white republican run National Organization for Marriage (NOM).
An excerpt is below…
Answer. Even though the black community as a whole does not support me, I have to support it because I am still a part of the black community.
I view myself as a human being first, a man second, a black man third and a homosexual man fourth. When white America views me, they see a black male. When the police stop me because I fit the description; the description is of a black male.
My sexuality would only come into play, if it is somehow disclosed by me…being that to most of the outside world, I do not appear homosexual because of my masculinity. I blend into the vagueness of being just another black male…a disrespected, stereotyped, made out to be a monster, arrested and locked up, black male. But of course black men are so much more than this. We know this by our numerous past and present achievements throughout history.
I personally see one key tool to overcome these issues and that is Black Economic Power and Unity.
The primary thing that is respected and sought after is money. Economic power equals respect, but unfortunately that is something the black community fails to recognize as our key to success. Not just marching and protesting when a black male is murdered by a non-black but collectively operating as one single powerful financial entity.
Blacks spend over $500 Billion dollars annually in the US. Of that total, over $22 billion is spent on cloths and shoes, over $3 billion spent on electronics and over $12 billion spent on furnishing homes (mostly rentals).
There are about 412 Billionaires in the United States. Of those 412 about 40% of them are Jewish even though Jews make up about 2% of the US population. Jews are by far the most powerful ethnic group in the United States, why…because they have Economic Power. Through their social unity and economic power, the Jewish community is able to influence media and politics by influencing law makers and perceptions.
The black community is so easily distracted and divided when it comes to the typical wedge issues (abortion, homosexuality and gay marriage) that we do not realize we have greater things that we should be focusing on like our black men being terrorized and jailed by police at astounding rates, HIV / AIDs, heart disease and diabetes reaching epidemic levels in many US cities and the ever increasing wealth gap between blacks and the rest of our society.
With little reluctance, I still realize I have to support my black community in hopes that we will one day achieve economic power that will help us achieve social and political justice regardless if the black community does not approve or tolerate my homosexuality.
What do you think? Please feel free to leave your comments and feedback.
–Octavius
OckyDub
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To be very honest, there are more times now that I find myself wishing we could just mobilize the black gay community a lot more and create our own community. Let the rest fall off and do whatever it is they do. It seems to me other communities are doing so well because when it counts they unite and save their own asses first.
The problem I see with our community as a whole is that we live for the “now”. We’ll go spend thousands of dollars in putting rims on a car instead of putting that in a savings account to put towards a down payment on a mortgage. We’ll go a rent these big ass tvs and furniture sets instead of making what we have work until we can afford to go and buy one. We put too much money into things that hold no value or depreciate in value quick just for looks. Tax season sickens me….I see on my facebook page pictures of new cars, new rims, and all sorts of electronics coming out of wally world….the whole nine. Then about two months later, a status talking about how they have no money. Are you fucking kidding me? Too few of us as black people have our priorities in the wrong places. We’ll go spend fewer bucks at a white man’s large corporation instead of spending a few more $s to support our local market where are brothers and sisters grow food that is so much more benefical to our health.
I thought your post made total sense and it takes a certain mindset to be able to connect the dots. These events are the ramifications of not having economic power and further more being a disunited people who are brainwashed by religion and are clouded and lost in mind, therefore not being able to see the bigger picture. The Black problem transcends being gay and let me add that it is not the same as and far worst than whatever so called issues in the hispanic/latino community, we are two seperate groups no matter how the NAACP sings kumbaya and tries to link as one minority group. This issue needs to be tackled because Black people are at the bottom of the totem pole. It’s not about a Black person “earning your respect”. You are still part of the Black group no matter how much you think you’re an individual and carve yourself out of it. The problem that people fail to relaize with the white and Black issues is that it takes at least two to form and agree to a contract, if one side does not wish to abide and agree then all bets are off. Ask yourself what you have then?
I got where you were going with this. That’s not to say that I disagree with the point dude made, however still we need to seek out Black owned businesses and support them. If we don’t.start to take responsibility for the plight of our communities and future generations.who will? Obviously if I were to encounter a Black business owner who spewed anti-gay rhetoric that would signal the end of our relations, but until that were to come to light I would be and am all about doing my part as a Black man in support of building Black wealth and serving our communities. You are totally on point about other ethnic groups. When you go to their neighborhoods, whether it be a Hispanic neighborhood, Asian, or Hispanic……those are the people who own and operate the businesses. But who holds ownership o the businesses in the Black neighborhoods? Arabs, Jews, whites, and Hispanics who half of the time treat us like shit….criminals and thieves when we go into these businesses. Most oftentimes they even own the rental properties where we lay our heads at night.
This shit is unsettling in 2012!
I have often wandered why the Black Gay “community” does not have “unity?” If Black Gay people know what is wrong then how come Black Gay people do not fix this among themselves. White Gays have business districts in Kali, Chi, NYC, Philly, and numerous other places, even where I live. What do Black Gay people have —- N O T H I N G. Why is this? Look in the mirror. Get the dirt out of your own eye before you can get the dirt out of somebody else’. Clean up your own backyard before you try to clean up somebody else’. “Fix your family before you can fix somebody else’.” If Black Gays are a subculture within The Black Community then Black gays need to fix shit amongst themselves first. They need to have businesses among themselves first. Then maybe the rest of the Black community WILL GET A CLUE! Truer words have never been spoken