The Wayward Scholar

Personally, I do not believe in coincidences. In a globalized world permeated with institutional and systematic injustice; I find it is quite unlikely that the influences that condition our individual decision making and mobility of choices and opportunity are not interrelated and interconnected. Our society is structured to that extent to propagate oppressive establishments within our sociopolitical and socioeconomic systems. However, ranging from athletes, politicians, talk show hosts and tragically misinformed celebrities we find a barrage of insults and criticisms stating that communities of color and persons of color are alone responsible for the welfare of underprivileged areas. That our disadvantages and disenfranchisement is somehow founded in personal circumstances or coincidence rather than greater social and historical ramifications.
Anti-racism actively seeks to abolish this ideology from contemporary American mindset and values which I whole-heartedly support and stand united with. All the same, anti-racism is not without faults, where persons of color can still internalize negative messages and internalize the influence of white supremacy without their knowledge and in turn struggle to face this reality. Similarly, I argue there is often a misunderstanding that though intra-cultural violence and intra-cultural struggle is often a symptom of white supremacy, it is not always.

I often hear men and women of color make statements and generalizations to ultimately forgive black violence and attribute Black violence to white supremacy. Their vantage point of suffering daily disparagement or aggravation at the larger institutions working around them may be blinding. The need for absolute and consistent resistance becomes an oppressive space within itself. I worry that those who construct objections to those citing black violence are caught up in a whirlwind of resistance that is just as equally problematic. Some of the conceptualizations by anti-racists is that black people and other people of color are hardly ever legitimate contributors to our own destruction and I disagree.

In this article, I argue that (a.) It is naïve to think that crime did not persist in our community and culture long before white supremacy or that it will not exist long after. (b.) There are devastating congruencies between the Ku Klux Klan’s (KKK) onslaught against the black populace and the modern intra-cultural violence (Black-on-Black crime) that exist within black communities. (c.) acknowledging and understanding the broader complexities that work between systems conditioned to create and cause harm and how black communities harness that to gain power and recognitions for themselves.

First, I think that it is significant to understand the context in which I am formulating my argument. The central position that I am taking is that because violence against black persons by black persons is rooted in white supremacy that this is problematic on a level of depth beyond petty crime and injury. That the scars and wounds are not only physical but psychological and historical and influence our culture whether pro-black or anti-black in significant ways. We always hear this term, Black on Black crime but what exactly does this mean? What constitutes black on black crime precisely. What are these crimes that people of color are committing within their respective communities that is cause for national stir?

Black on black crime is crime and it only causes a national stir because it posits a suitable rebuttal to evading any significant political or social reform, likely due to the disbandment our community faces. Crime is normal human behavior regardless what is appropriate, moral, ethical or conducive with societal expectations and law. Our humanity [as history never allows us to forget] empowers us with the capability of doing some really scary stuff just as equally as we are able to be compassionate and kind. Crime exists within every color and every community.

We have great pride of our Black History specifically pronouncing the historical presence of Africans as Kings and Queens and bathing in the riches of the motherland. It’s exciting and uplifting to truly believe that our flesh, blood and bone is as precious as the most sacred jewels. The narrative of nobility is powerful and resists the common stereotypes and prejudices with affirming our birthright as superlative, unparalleled, unrivaled. This celebration thoroughly positive is where the problem begins.

Self-love, empowerment and honoring ‘Black is Beautiful’ has become so significant to our personhood and our emotional, spiritual and often physical survival that it has mutated as more than an act of resistance but into a regime of Black Excellence to be situated in every single body. Black Excellence has been revised to a narrow and limited restriction of economic success, triumphant over racism, education, expression of special talents or ability and enduring struggle. The concept of Black Excellence meant to express uplifting sentiment can at times fail to account for the diversity within blackness.

Africa is forged into our hearts and minds as a focal point of our strength and power and yet we fail to acknowledge that Africa is an enormous continent. Our attention often migrates towards Northern territories such as Egypt. The obsession with finding grace and empowerment has led to our own erasure of much of relevant history. Most historical empires and civilizations, including modern societies thrived on a system of hierarchy. Therefore, pre-colonialization, imperialism and European pillaging majority of African people suffered inequality and inequity. The majority of African ancestors were not Kings, Queens, Princes or Princesses. An entire population endured through working class systems or were impoverished and felt class, social, political and economic oppression’s all at the hands of fellow black Africans.