Blacks in America 2 by Soledad O'Brien, the CNN Documentary coming up next month, along with the death of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, have made me think about the Black race in America lately. I would like to bring a different perspective on the issue of race within the Black community by comparing the blackness of Michael Jackson with that of President Barack Obama based on my observation of Blacks students in colleges and Black employees at the workplace.
I would like to begin by dividing Black Americans into 4 distinct racial-psychological groups. First, there are Black Americans who are Blacks from Black parents, and love their blackness. The second group of Black Americans also has Black parents, but hate their blackness. The third group is the mixed kids that have one parent that is black, while the last group is made up of Blacks that were adopted by Whites.
The first group makes up most of what I call the real Black America. They take pride in their history, culture, and heritage despite all the negative propaganda against Africa and Black existence in the United States of America (USA). They speak their mind no matter the cost, stand for one another, marry each other happily, and will do whatever it takes to promote and enhance their cause against all obstacles. Unfortunately, many of them are still struggling with the shackles of slavery, which is enhanced by the American laws, to keep them in a state of unemployment, poverty, incarcerations, police brutality, racial profiling, illiteracy, and broken homes. It is dues to the influence of the American laws on this class of Blacks that encourages the other Black groups and even foreigners to stay away as long as possible if they want to prosper in the United States of America (USA).
The second class of Blacks is actually a break-away faction of the first group. They are from the same exact bloodline and are even siblings of the first group, but have realized that to be successful in the United States of America (USA) they do not only have to deny their blackness, but also talk down upon it whenever they get a chance to impress their White colleagues. These Blacks are usually Republicans or pretend to be, they even bleach their skins to get white or lighter (especially the women), they do anything and everything to fit into White groups, they take pride and pleasure in marrying non-Blacks, and encourage their children to shy away and stay away from anything Black or African. This is done to guarantee their success under the America way of life by becoming more acceptable to the White American culture. This is the group I believe Michael Jackson belongs to.
The third group is the mixed group, which I believe President Barack Obama belongs. This is a group I also call the fortunate group. Many of them are already light enough or have their hair straight enough to fit into White America without going through the dramatic headache that the second group goes through. This group usually choose the White side of them, except they live in a Black or low-income neighborhoods. It does not take much intelligence to know that in America, it is better to be White than Black. So if you are already half White, what are you embracing Black for? Many of such children do not like to associate with their darker siblings publicly nor do they like to get close to their darker parent openly. Many of these people feel very privileged and lucky not to be the real Black kid, and enjoy showing this distinction by how they socialize and chose their friends. As they get older, some eventually embrace their blackness as a rebellion to being second class in White groups. They soon realize that they are nothing but glorified White puppets and the leaders among them break out to become very Afrocentric by not only embracing Blacks, but also Africa, global cultures, the poor, and the oppressed.
The last group is the adopted Blacks by White families. While this may appear to be a noble act on behalf of the White parents, I almost do not see the cultural and psychological benefit in the long run. This is the group I called the confused but grateful group. They are very grateful to be adopted by a White family because they have the same access to opportunities that the mixed kids have, if not more. Many of these Blacks, depending on the age at which they were adopted, are not only lost about how to identify with other Blacks, but are also kind of lost in the world at large. Many try to do white hair styles with their black hair, use non-Black body lotions and cream that tends not to bring out the beauty of their body, and tend to talk non-Black with little or no Black ideals. This makes them look like clowns to many Blacks and they are ignored for it. Many of them soon stay or return to be second class friends of White groups because it becomes difficult to break into many Black groups as associates.
