I will not apologize for my name OR Another reason why Cosby is wrong
We [blackfolks] are like the battered wife in this fucked up relationship with whitefolks. We constantly get beat up then try and change ourselves and make excuses for their fucked up behavior.
Take "we should not look so mean so they won't be afraid" or "we should not name our kids [Tiesha], [Shaniqua], or [Ebony] so they will accept them" or "we should not talk this way so they won't think we're stupid" and compare it to "I should not upset him to make him hit me." We enable their ignorance, blame ourselves and then carry the entire burden.
If someone is stupid enough to think you are "mean" because you have a screwface (as if people don't have bad days or simply choose not to smile) then why is the non-smiler the one who should change? If someone is ignorant enough to make value judgments and assumptions based on the type of name a person has and deny them access because of it, then why is the namer of children the one who should change? If some moron thinks intelligence is measured by what variation a person uses, then why should the speaker of that variation stop speaking?
Why shouldn't the dummy realize that not smiling means just that: that you are not smiling? Why shouldn't the ignorant be forced to realize that names do not express how qualified one is for a position? And for fuck's sake why can't stupid bastards realize that speaking AAVE (Ebonics) does NOT denote level of intelligence and be forced to change THIER stupid notions?
Why do we request ourselves to mold to ignorance? Why shouldn't the ignorant mold to US? Would you tell that woman who says that she should not bring up her husband's lack of job because "she knows it only gets him mad" not to do it because he lacks control of his anger and punches her in the face? Would you say to her "Well you know how he is, so why did you bring it up?!" Or would you say that HE should change stop fucking beating her?
We are in this sick, co-dependent relationship and some honestly take the "well, I/we asked for it" stand. We need to have a Tina Turner "is that all you got" style reaction the next time someone comes at us with a boot.
Take "we should not look so mean so they won't be afraid" or "we should not name our kids [Tiesha], [Shaniqua], or [Ebony] so they will accept them" or "we should not talk this way so they won't think we're stupid" and compare it to "I should not upset him to make him hit me." We enable their ignorance, blame ourselves and then carry the entire burden.
If someone is stupid enough to think you are "mean" because you have a screwface (as if people don't have bad days or simply choose not to smile) then why is the non-smiler the one who should change? If someone is ignorant enough to make value judgments and assumptions based on the type of name a person has and deny them access because of it, then why is the namer of children the one who should change? If some moron thinks intelligence is measured by what variation a person uses, then why should the speaker of that variation stop speaking?
Why shouldn't the dummy realize that not smiling means just that: that you are not smiling? Why shouldn't the ignorant be forced to realize that names do not express how qualified one is for a position? And for fuck's sake why can't stupid bastards realize that speaking AAVE (Ebonics) does NOT denote level of intelligence and be forced to change THIER stupid notions?
Why do we request ourselves to mold to ignorance? Why shouldn't the ignorant mold to US? Would you tell that woman who says that she should not bring up her husband's lack of job because "she knows it only gets him mad" not to do it because he lacks control of his anger and punches her in the face? Would you say to her "Well you know how he is, so why did you bring it up?!" Or would you say that HE should change stop fucking beating her?
We are in this sick, co-dependent relationship and some honestly take the "well, I/we asked for it" stand. We need to have a Tina Turner "is that all you got" style reaction the next time someone comes at us with a boot.