Let’s Talk Black Folk and “Personal Responsibility”…

I’m going to be raw here, so please keep reading…

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

There’s always a lot of talk in the Black community about personal responsibility. This is a conversation that is not to be had in mixed company...meaning these conversations are for Black ears only.

That’s why it’s always funny to me when a non-Black person, especially a white one asks, what about Chicago or what about Black on Black crime whenever there’s, for instance, a case of police brutality against a Black person by a white cop.

It’s hilarious because Black people do criticize other Black people. This isn’t soft criticism either. Because of our history in this country, many of us have internalized racism, or self-hate, so Black people can talk about other Black people something vicious.

I’m not talking about Candace Owens or Herschel Walker either — Black people who absolutely loathe being Black and will say anything for the approval of, and “acceptance” from, white supremacists.

I’m talking about Black people who dislike, or downright despise, what they view as “lower-class” Black people or “lower-class” behavior from Black people. “Lower-class” doesn’t even mean money. It means the “behavior” associated with the hood — crime, gangs, violence, fighting, twerking, drugs, single-parent homes, and…