Black people officially have one less thing they can hold on to. For years, we could rest assured that when a report came out about a cat killing a slew of folks at once for what appears to be no reason, we could always rest assured that white folks were to blame. Yeah, they say we can’t blame The Man for everything, but we could put those on him.
Not no more. Not no more.

As if the DC Sniper didn’t absolve the race of responsibility for mass atrocities like this, now we’ve got the reports of this cat in Fresno. Buddy wound up being convicted while I was in London, so forgive me for being late on this.
What is going on with these nuts, man? It’s bad enough that we get blamed for so much in the US–including, but not entirely, making it hard for patrons to part at Yankee Stadium–but now we appear to have to take our share of the blame for loco shit like this.
Great.
The quest to be afforded all the priviliges afforded to white folks has officially gone too far.
With all the despair in the world, I’m sure there should be bigger things that get my goat. At the same time, I’ll never forget the disappointment I felt when I found out the sniper’s name was “John Allen Muhammad.” After knowing for months this was a white dude, I heard that name and knew it was a brotha. In fact, I started trying to figure out if I knew the nigga. Luckily, I did not.
Now this cat in Fresno. Heard the story from Lorrie–peep her artwork here–I was sure this was some nutty white dude. White folks were even sure this was a nutty white dude. Then they showed his picture, and he looked like Frederick Douglass. He’s black as water is wet. At last check, it don’t get no wetter than water.
And to top that off, a white dude was the top pick in the NBA Draft (that dude’s a monster, though). People, we are losing a grip on all the things we stereotypically rule! We no longer are the champions of relative sanity. Couldn’t even get the top pick in the draft. And Tiger ain’t strokin the golf club like he used to, so even our positive out of foray isn’t looking so good.
For the first time, I’m down for another one of these Million Man Marches. We gotta get this right, man. Maybe we can have a Million Nut March, get all them cats together, and ship ’em to some island.
Next thing you know, someone’s gonna tell me that Bobby Caldwell’s white.
Wait, someone just called me…
Shit, never mind on that one.
***
Also, I got an interesting e-mail about my last post. I replied to him personally, but I think it’s worth discussing on here. The e-mail read as follows…
Bomani, I just finished reading your wedding story. It was a nice
piece. But there were statements made in the story that seemed
odd to me. You made comments about being the only black there and
becoming the most popular guy at the wedding with the white
women(and you said Lindsey Lohan was wrong). This is what I don’t
understand about the “I’m so proud to be black and I want to
destroy white supremacy” crowd,why is it you get so much joy at
being validated by whites? Why is that a goal? Were you really
uncomfortable around whites or just angry at God for not being
white? And the fact that you now are comfortable with white
people, is that really a sign you have matured,or is it a sign you
no longer feel inferior? If you could I would a reply. I’m trying
to be nasty,I’m just curious.
First, I never said I was the most popular person with the white women there. For the most part, I hung out with the folks I came with, meaning the women were married or on the fast track to getting there with one of my friends. Can’t say too much about all the women there.
However, I’m not sure how anything said is an attempt to be validated by white folks. Personally, I’m encouraged when folks are willing to live and let live, particularly in this society that has a track record for not allowing people to behave as such. So yes, I dig the fact that I can be me around all these white folks and ain’t nobody trippin’. That doesn’t mean I want them to validate me. That doesn’t intimate that. That just means that I had a great time, as did everyone else, and wasn’t nobody trippin’. When race is a variable, that part about no one trippin’ isn’t common. The key for us to move past a lot of this dumb shit is that we just stop trippin’.
Did I ever feel inferior? I know history pretty well. Based on what has been done, if anyone should feel inferior, white folks should feel inferior to me. Most of the last 300 or so years have been indefensible. I have no idea why I should feel inferior, so I never have.
Angry with God? Did I ever mention I was agnostic? But why would I be mad about not being white? If I were white, no one would ever overestimate my ability to dance or play basketball. I’d never give that up!
Anyway, that ain’t me. I just said that I was the coolest cat there, which is a statement steeped in stereotype, yes. That was part of the humor of it. But really, it wasn’t much of a big deal, definitely not an indication of everyone that’s bothered by white supremacy.
I hate white supremacy with a passion, but I don’t hate white people. So, I’m gonna have a ball no matter how many of ’em are in the room. Just that simple. Damn who likes it or who doesn’t. Can’t hate white supremacy and then keep a scowl on your face when folks ain’t trippin.
And that’s all.
***
Been posting a lot lately. That’ll probably slow down next week when I start teaching a class at, of all fuckin places, Dook. I’m sure there will be stories.