If you’ve ever been in a forum or thread about racism, you may have seen that one clown that demands of proof of racism. Evidence is presented from articles, excerpts from books or books themselves, videos, charts, data, statistics, graphs, scholarly writings from academia, stone tablets, whatever. You’ve given the doubter everything and anything you can find to make him/her see that you’re not lying.

To the doubter, that’s not enough. Nothing you can give enough. You’re just wrong. Your proof is wrong based on questionable or straight-up false sources, information and data. Either it’s from a right wing outlet or it was just pulled out of thin air just to not only discredit you but also make you look stupid and insane.

Another thing they could do is pull the old you-don’t-know-what-white-people-think dodge. Son of Baldwin at Medium writes how it’s done:

They will ask you if you can read the minds of white people. Yes. That’s their favorite one. That’s their standard of proof. The only way you will be able to prove racism to these white folks is if you’re telepathic. And even then, they’d question the accuracy of your telepathic abilities and will request a white telepath to verify your knowledge — and they will only believe the white telepath if they disagree with you and agree with them. Anything to avoid having to confront and admit that racism exists, that they benefit from it, and often participate in and perpetuate it…

Nothing you say will refute that. That’s a round-peg claim they will push through a square hole while getting folks to believe that they’re communicating in good faith. But as Son of Baldwin continues:

Beyond being a sign of intellectual laziness, psychological ineptitude, and a gross exploitation of unearned authority and privilege, it’s emotionally sophomoric and an insidious and pathological deflection strategy designed to protect white people from encountering any reality that doesn’t make them feel like the most special and innocent snowflakes at the dead center of the alabaster and crystalline universe.

And there are plenty of snowflakes that hate to melt but end up dripping with intense negative emotions. As such, they will revert to a childlike state, resort to immature name calling, bullying and an obsessive drive to break the patience of the people they’re confronting and will deflect and deny any accountability for their actions. It’s the lowest form of racist Jedi mind tricks to run down any conversation about racism and drive you mad and exhausted.

But as Toni Morrison says on the same piece:

“The function, the very serious function, of racism is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being. Somebody says you have no language, so you spend twenty years proving that you do. Somebody says your head isn’t shaped properly, so you have scientists working on the fact that it is. Someone says you have no art, so you dredge that up. Somebody says you have no kingdoms, so you dredge that up. None of that is necessary. There will always be one more thing.”

And like the author of the piece, I WILL NOT put up with it anymore. They can cry about how their “freedoms” have been taken away. They can pat themselves on the back for winning the mental war on liberal PC culture. They can continue to bad mouth me, call me racist – which is another tactic they love to throw at you – and my blog. But I will NOT put up with any more drippy attitudes from a bunch of assholes running from the truths about racism like a thief running from the cops.

Click here to read the Son of Baldwin’s entire article.

The post Dear Trolls: Show me proof of racism so that I can reject it! appeared first on Madness & Reality.

There’s an excerpt:

The study’s researchers reviewed over 800 local and national news pieces published or aired between January 2015 and December 2016, sampling major networks such as ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News and MSNBC as well as major print publications such as The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today, Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune.

The study — conducted by  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign communications professor Travis L. Dixon — found that national news outlets were more likely to show black families as broken and dysfunctional while white families were depicted as possessing social stability. 

These images are not only distorted, but contradict government data.

Dixon found that black families represented 59 percent of poor people portrayed in media, but actually only make up of 27 percent of Americans living in poverty. In contrast, white families only make up 17 percent of the poor representated in media, but make up 66 percent in reality. As far as criminal depictions go, black criminals represented 37 percent of the media’s criminals while only 26 percent of those arrested on criminal charges are black in real life. White criminals represented 28 percent the criminals portrayed in the media, but make up 77 percent of real life’s crime suspects.

The report argues that constant depictions of black people living in poor, welfare-dependent and broken homes due to absentee fathers has created a negative image of black families in general.

“This leaves people with the opinion that black people are plagued with self-imposed dysfunction that creates family instability and therefore, all their problems,” said Dixon.

If you want to read the entire article, click here.

Again, this observation has been an examined and discussed for years. TheGuardian writes about how negative media portrayals of black men have real world consequences.  The Huffington Post highlights racist stereotypes of black men in popular media.

The successes and accomplishments of black women have been eclipsed by many disparaging and disheartening images of black women in the media. It has prompt black women to combat these images as they too have to struggle in a world that listens to a racist and sexist media landscape as opposed to actually meeting and talking to real black women.

The funny thing is that whenever a black person reveals something so blatantly obvious, the racism in Western media being just one example, a study has to be done. Black folks are never listened to or believed when it comes to matters of racism and discrimination unless it goes along with whiteness and its many, many defenses. A study has to be conducted to see if we’re right if it’s not what a white person says.

Black people are always assumed that we’re wrong in the case of racism. I’ve seen white-laced attitudes that reject or destroy any and everything a black person says whether it’s actual data and evidence to personal experiences. Black people try their hardest to prove the unfair case against them, but to no avail. They refuse to listen and understand. Whiteness gives them the arrogance to think they know more about racism than the actual victims of racism, the ignorance to shield them from much-needed differing views and the cruelty to insult and guilt trip them all in an effort to avoid the reality that only black people know.

So, even though this study solidifies what was said all along and when it’s evidenced by constant, uninterrupted TV viewing, the problem will still be thrown out in favor of a half-baked explanation not rooted in facts or reality concocted by a someone who claims white people are victims of racism.

The post New Study Finds News Outlets Promote False, Negative Portrayals Of Black Families appeared first on Madness & Reality.

Yet, I’ve been accused of being racist…against whites by whites. Most entries in my blog are about the malign facets of whiteness: white racism, white supremacy, white fragility, etc. That alone is enough for passersby and devoted trolls to deliver more ruinous whiteness in the form of deflection, name-calling, condemnation, and denial. I’m called a racist. My opinions are delusional, silly and stupid, and the truth is fake.

The most important thing these white-minded individuals want me to know out of all of their banter is that white people are victims of racism. Either that or there’s more racism against them than nonwhites. So, one way or another, I’m wrong and – of course, racist – for blogging about all the shit whiteness has done and is doing. Discussing and criticizing whiteness is equivalent to attacking white people, and I’m fundamentally no different than the KKK.

But how oppressed are white people really are? Are they being pulled over by police in large numbers for “looking suspicious”? Are they followed around stores out of fear that they may shoplift? Are they passed over for jobs and careers based on white-sounding names? Are mostly white neighborhoods, especially poor ones, considered dangerous areas to live, especially at night?

I could ask more questions, present actual facts and data, but no matter what I ask or say, no matter what truths are given, white people will reject it as part of the fake news scheme, an unholy plot against white people, because they’re simply white.

This is why it’s not our responsibility to teach white people about ourselves or racism. Doing so is a full-time job with no pay or benefits, at least not for us.

No explanation or contest against their thinking is worthy of their attention. They’re really not interested in a discussion. They rather argue, put down and win by any means. They prefer apologies or better, that we agree with them and adopt their thinking. Nothing pleases whiteness more than people of color siding with it. As a black person, white people just don’t want to listen let alone hear about what you feel about racism unless if it’s from any of the broken records from the archive of whiteness.

Yet, some think going to spaces that weren’t meant for their comfort is somehow a good idea. They claim to want to add to the conversation and present “another side” to the issue which involves more hits from the broken record of whitenss. But in then end, all they’ll end up doing is intimidate, berate, shown hypocrisy, bully and threatened bloggers of color and white folks who disagree and tried to talk to these people and refuse to back down on what they know is right.

I’ve seen a lot of that while being a blogger. Self-proclaimed race realists, Tea Party members, Neo-Nazis, Trump supporters, cocky liberals and ignorant conservatives resort to being the worst kind of people just to get their points across. They will lie, deceive, gaslight and even threaten if they don’t get their way. Even more hair-pulling is when they claim that being a straight, white Christian male is the new homosexual, black Muslim female.

There would’ve been a slight chance for sympathy for these types as many of them are really struggling, but a lot of them prove, one way or another, that they are just horrible people, and they are living in a time where being horrible is somehow honorable. They don’t care that their hatred and deplorable attitudes harm others. Yet, they expect us to feel sorry that their precious people are somehow being oppressed.

They don’t deserve sympathy, because they truly don’t want it. And we should stop trying to reach out to those who would rather die than wake the hell up and realize who the REAL enemies are.

The post There’s no Use Talking to White folks who Say They’re Victims of Racism appeared first on Madness & Reality.

I talk about white racism…a lot. So, I’m assumed to hate white people, or so it’s believed. There’s nothing intricate about it. It’s an open-and-shut case, a zero-sum game.

Not to throw any puns, but it’s not that black and white.

One thing I’ve noticed when it comes to people with societal privileges, they seem to can’t stand it when the lesser privileged puts them in an unfavorable spotlight. Right away, the immediate response is that they hate them and has unfairly placed them all into a tight box. The comments usually range in between “not all of us” to “you hate us”, which hints that they’re feelings aren’t used to being pointed out. As such, their emotions appear fragile enough to initiate rejection, deflection and condemnation.

Some will go into an extensive diatribe, which can be plagued with guilt tripping and derailing, in an attempt to prove the lesser privileged wrong. They will throw them under the bus in order to protect their feelings, ego and keep their bubble from getting burst. As stated earlier, they’re not mentally or emotionally prepared to have their privileges check as they’re taught all their lives that they don’t have to do any secondary thinking from beyond their mindset. Asking them to do so, puts them in an uncomfortable position, a place there they don’t want to go, and they tend to not want to go on any journeys.

I’m black, but I’m also a male. I don’t have white privilege, but I have male privilege. Racism effects me, but not sexism or misogyny. I’m also straight. So, I don’t have to worry about homophobia. Yet, my straight male privileges have me think that I have authorities to talk about things that only the LGBTQ and women understand. It wasn’t until I “grew up” that I learn to check my privileges more often.

But being a person of color in this country, I’ve dealt with realities of racism and how it’s a part of every institution here. I know that white racism is still in existence and is still dangerous. I’m forced to deal with this truth everyday. All people of color have to.

White people dominate every institution in America. Politics, business, technology, even education. There are mostly white people in high positions. Yet, despite that, there are white folks who genuinely believe that they’re now discriminated against.

You would think that it would hint them at what people of color deal with on the daily and feel more sympathetic. Some do. Some don’t. Those who won’t end up becoming the problem, becoming racists themselves believing that people of color are racist against them and that white people are undergoing a racial genocide due to affirmative action and interracial dating.

With the growing crisis of sexual harassment in Hollywood and politics becomingthe talk of the media, it should come to no surprise that there are men who want to remind women that not all men are sexual deviants. Even though that’s true, women – and even men who are also victims – the point is not to condemn men but to speak out against a crime that powerful people, who happen to be males, have made a mission to keep under wraps to cover their asses and maintain high status.

Yet, we men think that those women, and feminists in general, simply hate men and are actively working to take down powerful ones. Our privilege make us suspect the worse, ignoring what’s fact and what must be done. Men have it better than women in a patriarchal society to where our crimes against women are usually excused or justified. What’s worse is that our privilege will turn us into defenders of the status quo adding to the problem and making it worse.

To make things as clear as crystal, most people of color don’t hate white people. Most women don’t hate men. Most LGBTQ don’t hate straight people. And so on. They – we are just sick of the truckloads of shit done to us for the lamest of reasons. It’s not the color of white skin, the penis or the attraction to the opposite sex. It’s the content of the character…or lack thereof.

The post Talking About the Harmful Things the Privileged Do Isn’t Hatred appeared first on Madness & Reality.

Actors, CEOs and politicians have been ousted as sexual predators who preyed on (often young) women and men for years. The accusations started pouring in after Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was exposed as a serious serial sexual deviant. After news broke of his disturbing exploits, more men were unveiled. The latest is, or was, a respected Democratic senator who used to be on Saturday Night Live, Al Franken. 

CNN reports:

In her post, (Leeann) Tweeden (morning news anchor on TalkRadio 790 KABC in Los Angeles) says the harassment occurred as the two rehearsed for a USO skit written by Franken in which he was supposed to kiss her. She writes that Franken repeatedly insisted they rehearse the kissing scene despite her protests. When she relented, she says, Franken “put his hand on the back of my head, mashed his lips against mine and aggressively stuck his tongue in my mouth.”

“Senator Franken, you wrote the script,” Tweeden wrote. “But there’s nothing funny about sexual assault.”

She also included a photo in which Franken appears to grab her breast while she’s asleep.

“I couldn’t believe it. He groped me, without my consent, while I was asleep,” Tweeden writes. “I felt violated all over again. Embarrassed. Belittled. Humiliated.

If you want to read her whole story, click here.

Understandably, this has let down a lot of people. Franken, to them, was thought to have been an actual righteous politician, one of the “good” ones. But this incident that occurred over 11 years ago shows that he’s not so righteous at all, and is fundamentally no different than the other fools accused of similar crimes and sins.

Robyn Pennacchia at Wonkette expresses her disappointment:

Al Franken has done a lot of good over the years, both as a senator and before then. It is a goddamned shame that he could not have backed that up by being a decent person otherwise. I am mad about this. I am mad for the people he represents who trusted him and needed him to be a better person. I am mad for and at myself, because my first reaction to this was “please don’t let it be true.”

Franken’s revelation of his past cruelty shows that sexual harassment is not a party issue. As you know, Alabama politician Roy Moore, a republican seeking for a seat in the Senate when he was accused of sexually abusing several women during his younger years. As expected, he has his defenders, particularly those on the far right with supporting silence from Grab ’em by the p***y Trump. (I don’t like using or spelling the p-word even if it’s about cats.) Yet, the jackass-in-chief went to condemn Franken who seemed to have owned up to his shit while not saying a word about Moore or holding his own orange ass accountable.

If this is to be weighed out, why should Senator Franken go down for one act of harassment (as fas as we know) while we got an incompetent, emotionally fragile testicle still in office for a long list of abuse for which society seemed to have moved on from? This isn’t to not hold Franken accountable. But this is one of the things that makes you go hmmm.

If some people are shortsighted enough to make it a political issue, that’s part of the problem. Some things aren’t politically based. This is a human rights issue, the rights of women and men who are victims of unwanted advances from men who abuse their privileges.

The post You Too, Al Franken? Woman Claims Politician Sexually Assaulted Her appeared first on Madness & Reality.

From sexual harassment to mass shootings, white male crime has taken a troubling spotlight once again. Yet, the turnabout will be missed deliberately. This post, as well as its writer, will be called racist purposely ignoring the fact that the same message was delivered against black and brown communities while bitching about how this post is somehow harmful to white men and ignoring that dozens of lives have been taken.

In an Alternet article, it was mentioned how there’s still a question about why black folks don’t do more to stop “black-on-black crime” as opposed to say, kneeling during football games. People have been explaining painfully why “black-on-black crime” should be denounced and how black folks don’t have one-track minds and deal with multiple issues, including crime, in their communities.

But the fact that people still demand that we turn our undivided attention to a topic “they” consider is more important for us to tend to shows they don’t care to listen or actively help. Even though “black-on-black crime” is lower than some people think, it’s still a thing to them that, apparently only, us black people need to do something about.

Personally, I’m past the point of giving fucks about the hurt feelings of the woefully sensitive and blatantly ignorant.

Let’s examine what’s been going on recently in the latter half of 2017. Powerful men  – mostly white men – have been accused of sexual harassment by a countless stream of both women and men. And white males have been pulling triggers in different locations shooting and killing multitudes of people. Something has to be done to stop the damn violence, and white people need to start worrying about this before more white people, and other people, become victims. 

I’m not joking. I’m being sincere. White crime and white terrorism are out of control.

Yes, some people consider such coverage as fake news, a liberal conspiracy or even racist and sexist against white men. Personally, I see it as avoidance out of collective guilt, saving their frail feelings by resisting any hint of reality. If they’re not ashamed or guilty, then why go overboard in trying to downplay the bullshit?

Case in point, right-wing commentator Gavin McInnes tried to minimize white terrorism by arguing that they weren’t politically motivated. “Dylann Roof, Batman shooting, Columbine—those are mental midget lunatic drug addict psychos on crazy medication. That’s not terrorism.” Funny, because according to McInnes, if it’s done by Muslims, then it is terrorism. Simple.

And then, there’s Texas Governor Greg Abbot who seemingly tried to give the people dealing with another mass shooting that occurred at a church in Sutherland Spring, Texas that took the lives of over 20 people, crashed and burned when he reminded them that there were worse acts of evil prior, Hitler being one of them. Don’t believe me, check out his Fox News interview here. Apparently, taking the lives of over a dozen or so people at a place where such an act would be unheard of is nothing compared to holocausts and wars.

The media still refuses to consider such acts as terrorism, and people still believe that Muslims are a much more important threat. But of course, terrorism is an act that only Muslims do, and it’s much more problematic than angry white males with guns.

As far as the sexual harassment claims that have populated news coverage since the Weinstein scandal exposure, they’re still coming, and so far, most of the perpetrators are powerful white men. Let’s not get it twisted; misogyny is not limited to white men. Still, with years of men of color being portrayed as sexually deviant, karma seems to be partying right now as white males with wealth are the faces of sexual deviance.

There will be defenders as usual, and ordinarily in the past, I would gloat hard. But this shit is not something I take pleasure in observing. This is serious, deadly serious. America must do something about the culture of sexual abuse, crime and terrorism at the hands of white men.

And by America, I mean White America.

The post What About White-On-White Crime and White Terrorism? appeared first on Madness & Reality.

The stories of powerful men exposed as serial sexual predators reveals what some of us already know, society is awash with toxic masculinity with rape culture thrown in the poisonous mix. Some dudes with wealth and power believe they can do whatever they want to whomever they want and get away with it. But in recent years, they’re learning that all the money in the world can’t protect them from revelations bringing to light their predatory behaviors.

I wrote about how the New York Times reported on the numerous sexual assault allegations levied against former Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly and how the accusers were paid tens of millions of dollars by the network. He had long since been removed from the conservative media giant’s lineup.

After the legal troubles he’s been having, one would think O’Reilly would see the error of his ways. So, he apparently did some reflecting, and started to blame the cause of his problems. God.

“You know, am I mad at God? Yeah, I’m mad at him,” O’Reilly said on the latest episode of his web series, “No Spin News.” “I wish I had more protection. I wish this stuff didn’t happen. I can’t explain it to you. Yeah, I’m mad at him.”

You’re right, Bill. You can’t explain it, because it makes no damn sense!

But the thing I noticed with overprivileged males, including white and(or) conservative, is that they supposedly believe in a little something called personal responsibility. It’s that concept that only YOU are responsible for YOUR actions. That means that if you fuck something up, you only have yourself to blame.

A lot of us men (and many of those on the right) have missed out on that department, but on the other hand, we have no problem preaching it to others. We just can’t take it if we’re the ones that are the damn problem! And yet, we refuse to see the hypocrisy of it all.

So, it’s God’s fault that O’Reilly is a dirty old man that won’t control his urges. The Lord should’ve been more responsible handling O’Reilly’s situation. Oy vey!

The post Bill O’Reilly Takes Responsibility for His Sexual Harassment by Blaming God appeared first on Madness & Reality.

I’m sure you heard this bullshit before by local news or word-of-mouth. Some of you may have even witnessed it, have been victims yourself or knows someone who is or was. But it doesn’t get any easier no matter how many times it occurs, where it happens or how many people are shot and killed.

On the first Sunday evening of October 1st, Stephen Paddock unleashed a hell-storm of firepower on a crowd of concertgoers in Las Vegas killing at least 58 people and wounding over 200 more. Media outlets would christen this as the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.

I’m going to skip all the usual liberal observations. I’m not going to talk about how this was another tragic incident of white men with guns. I’m not going to talk about the privileges attached such as him being described as a mentally unstable lone wolf that doesn’t represent the entire whole. And I won’t bring up any double standards and what if scenarios if he was nonwhite. It’s not that I don’t cosign with such analyses. It’s just that I’m tired of the whole broken record.

Let’s be honest, mass shootings in America are more common than we would like to believe. Each time, a heavily armed terrorist, a white male most of the time, would unload gunfire into a group of unsuspecting people taking out as much of them as possible. Each time, the news would report on the incident and dig up as much about the shooter, particularly any history about his mental history. And we are urged by politicians to pray for the victims and their families and friends affected by the tragedy.

Yes, praying is always the go-to solution for gun violence. While I’m not against prayer or anyone who practices it – hell, I do it too – what has praying done so far, and what exactly are we praying for?

We live in a nation obsessed with guns and gun safety. We’re fed the same spoonfuls of NRA bullshit that having weapons will make us safer. We’re told that having a gun will protect us from, ironically, a “bad guy with a gun.” We’re even told what those “bad guys” look like. And we’re told that it’s your unalienable right to use it. Protect your life while snuffing out others is the American way.

Only the neverending stream of mass shootings and gun violence in general just proves how quick this nation plays fast and loose with firearms when men with burning hatred can obtain a gun and decides who lives and who dies. The hollowed pleas for mourning and prayer masquerade the compliance of leaders not to act and instead, heed those who profit the most not to impose stricter gun laws. And after days, weeks and even months of grieving, we will move on with our lives, until history repeats itself with another shooter in another place taking out more lives.

I live in an area where gun violence has happened and will likely occur. I remember one such incident where there was a drive-by shooting outside a club around the corner from my home. That club has long since been closed, and in its place, a church is installed. But I still remember hearing those gunshots as if it happened yesterday.

People in poor neighborhoods struggle to stop the violence. In low-income black communities, there have been movements and groups committed to ending the killing of their residents no matter who the killers are. Those people are familiar with the crisis that guns present. It doesn’t matter if they’re in the hands of “good guys” or “bad guys.” All that they know is that they’re in the hands of guys. Period. And any guy with enough rage in his heart and a loaded gun in his hand will make sure someone suffers. Whether they’re good or evil doesn’t matter. All that matters is that lives are being snuffed out as if they’re worth nothing.

Close to 60 lives were taken in one night by one man hellbent on taking out more. But don’t think this is isolated. As stated earlier, gun violence is frighteningly familiar in the U.S. As you read this, lives are being erased, and more lives will follow suit. Soon, another mass shooting will occur. Mourn. Pray. Move on. Repeat.

The post I Can’t Think of a Clever Title for this Article, Because Writing About Gun Violence is Draining appeared first on Madness & Reality.

I know some of you are angry over a certain football star, and his actions. You know, him kneeling during the National Anthem. You’re probably even more pissed that other football stars are following his lead. And you see how most, if not all, of them are black. And as such, that likely touched a nerve that set off your color-aroused bigotry.

We’ve seen this time and time again. We know the score. So, it’s useless to claim how you’re not a racist, nor will your faux-pology hold any weight. Personally, I’ve been taught that actions speak louder than words. So, you’re usual retorts and denial are powerless against your use of the n-word and other racial epithets.

Well, some of you will go that route while others will bitch and moan about how it’s your right to use hateful language, because apparently, if you can’t say something nice, say it anyway because free speech.

So, you will get mad at these athletes and the people who back them up. You will tell the ones with darker hues to go back to Africa. Telling black people when they’re upset at the injustices in America that affects the black community tremendously or exclusively to go back to Africa is one of the most heartless commands to give when they’re suffering in some way. It’s also nonsensical seeing as how most Black Americans are born in America and helped to create it. For generations, we largely built this country. We helped to fight for this country. We work hard to make it in this country. We respect the laws in this country. And we exercise our rights in this country, including the right to protest. You will say anything hurtful and destructive to avoid listening to why black people protest or should protest. Maybe it’s not so much as you think that black people don’t have anything to fight against. Maybe, just maybe it’s more along the lines that you don’t think black people are ALLOWED to stand up for anything that only affects them probably due to your unwillingness to see them as American citizens.

Black people, in general, love this country. We love it more than you want to know and give us credit for. Hell, we may even love this country more than you so-called patriots. The current issue at hand is that this country doesn’t love us back. The murder of unarmed black folks by fear-based police is but one example.

When Black Americans who posed no threat are killed left and right by people charged with protecting its citizens and then those people are primarily unpunished for taking innocent lives, it should be understandable that black people should get upset. But it’s not understandable to you, is it? Instead, you prefer that we handle a problem you think is important, black-on-black crime. You think we only get active when it’s a cop-based execution. Even worse is that you believe we hate police, and that we’re out to do to them what they’ve done to us.

Black folks have explained it over and over again. We simply want to be treated with the same rights and privileges as white people by police and other institutions in this country. We don’t want to take over. We don’t want hand outs. We don’t want revenge. And we are doing everything we can about the problem of crime in neighborhoods. To make a long story short, black people are doing everything they can to make America fulfill its potential, to truly turn it into a land of opportunity of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for the people, of the people and by the people.

But that’s still lost on you, and I can only guess that it’s due to you ignoring what we’re saying and avoiding what we’re doing. Your main beef is with athletes taking a knee during a song and you think that they’re disrespecting the flag, a decorated cloth used as a national symbol while a sporting event is about to commence.

And you think that’s patriotism. That’s the problem.

Patriotism is not about waving flags and singing songs that praise America. It’s about fighting out of one’s love for this nation. It’s about standing up for the injustices happening in this country. And it’s about fighting so that a nation becomes true to its word. Black people are not doing this out of hate. They’re doing this out of love, true love for this country, not some cosmetic affection born out of blind worship. Maybe you should learn more from them.

The post Listen, So-Called Patriots: Black People Love America Too! appeared first on Madness & Reality.

I’m a black man. I’m about 6’2″, average build. Nothing too fancy. I think I look normal, not intimidating in the slightest. I grew up in a middle-class neighborhood. My parents were blue collar workers, but provided for me and my sister. We were taught manners, said our pleasantries. I got detention once in fifth grade because I was late to class because I spilled paint in my Art class and had to clean it up. But that’s it, that’s the worst trouble I’ve ever been in in my life.

I am a surgical resident at a hospital you’ve probably heard of. I was educated in a Top 10 university and went to medical school at a pseudo-Ivy League institution. I have had a great life. I’ve made sure of it. So have my parents.

Of course, I have noticed racism throughout my life. I have been pulled over and the officer has never given me a clear answer. Sometimes, they will straight up lie and tell me that I was speeding when I know I wasn’t. Once, I was stopped and frisked. The officer apologized and told me that I matched the description of a criminal-on-the-run in the area. The only description was “black man, average build.” I never reported this, but I always remember it.

Today, I was leaving after a 26-hour shift at the hospital. I’m in my fourth year of residency and the hours get longer and longer, but I’m almost done. Today was particularly grueling, because I found out that a patient I have worked with since the start of my residency is now deemed ‘terminal’ and will be moved to hospice care. It sucked, it broke my heart. It was like four years’ worth of work had been erased.

As I was walking across the parking lot, a young man—younger than me, maybe twenty-five—leaned out of his car and – (continued)

As I was walking across the parking lot, a young man—younger than me, maybe twenty-five—leaned out of his car and called me the n-word. It was loud enough so people could hear. People stared, most in shock. Others picked up the pace to get away from the earth-shattering embarrassment unfolding.

I stopped and looked at him.The man didn’t get out of his car, but he made sure I saw him. The sneer on his face, it grew into a piercing grin. He started mimicking the sounds of a monkey. He called me the N-word again. People continued to stare. My mouth fell open. The guy mocked my expression; he feigned behavior like one of my patients suffering from severe mental retardation. He was trying to show me how he saw me.

A lot of things were on my mind in the forty-five odd seconds I was standing there. I wanted to walk up to the man and list off all my accomplishments. I wanted to tell him how, in eleventh grade, I won a science fair by creating a more efficient way for our school’s agriculture club to conserve energy. It took me to a national conference.

I wanted to tell him about the first time I fell in love. I wanted to tell him about the guy who made my heart beat so fast that I thought it would explode. This guy, he was tall, his smile was dopey and his eyes were light. Just the thought of him took away the painful feelings that this man was bringing to me. I wanted to tell him that I’m a good person; that I volunteer, I save lives, I work so people like you get a chance to survive and carry on being the hateful people you are.

But instead, I walked to my car. The man called me the N-word about five more times, laughing so hard I thought it was certain he would lose consciousness.

I sat behind the wheel for a very long time, maybe ten minutes, processing. I was angry at the man, but also at the people that didn’t say anything. I was angry at myself for not saying anything.

Sometimes, I just feel alone. Who I am, simply the color of my skin, makes me the target of hate from people that I will never even know. I truly try to love and understand everyone, so when one person returns that with malice and ill-will, it’s a lot to take in.

I don’t think anyone will read this, but I just wanted to tell you all about my day. I want to put this out into the world. I want to let the Internet know that black people are good. Black people are strong, capable, smart. Black people are resilient. I’m proud of my Blackness. I’m proud of my coarse hair and thick lips.

I’m proud of my body that is subject to ridicule. I am proud of who I am, what I have been through. I am proud of my ancestors who were slaves and now I am their wildest dream. Black people can be bad, too. Black people can be murderers and thieves and rapists. Black people can be everything—except human, apparently. I just want to be acknowledged as a human. I want to be seen as a human. I want to be known.

I love my black body. I’m tired of having to explain that pride in my black body is not hatred for any other race. I’m tired of worrying that I may be shot driving to work.

I don’t hate police. I don’t hate White people. I don’t hate anyone.

But, God, I love me. And I want that to be enough

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