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[size=+Taylor's death a grim reminder for us all[/size]
[size=+ [/size]
[size=+There's a reason I call them the Black KKK. The pain, the fear and the destruction are all the same.[/size]
[size=+Someone who loved Sean Taylor is crying right now. The life they knew has been destroyed, an 18-month-old baby lost her father, and, ifyou're a black man living in America, you've been reminded once again that your life is in constant jeopardy of violent death.[/size]
[size=+The Black KKK claimed another victim, a high-profile professional football player with a checkered past this time.[/size]
[size=+No, we don't know for certain the circumstances surrounding Taylor's death. I could very well be proven wrong for engaging inthis sort of aggressive speculation. But it's no different than if you saw a fat man fall to the ground clutching his chest. You'd assume a heartattack, and you'd know, no matter the cause, the man needed to lose weight.[/size]
[size=+Well, when shots are fired and a black man hits the pavement, there's every statistical reason to believe another black man pulledthe trigger. That's not some negative, unfair stereotype. It's a reality we've been living with, tolerating and rationalizing for far toolong.[/size]
[size=+When the traditional, white KKK lynched, terrorized and intimidated black folks at a slower rate than its modern-day dark-skinnedreplacement, at least we had the good sense to be outraged and in no mood to contemplate rationalizations or be fooled by distractions.[/size]
[size=+About as well as the attempt to shift attention away from this uniquely African-American crisis by focusing on an "injustice"the white media allegedly perpetrated against Sean Taylor.[/size]
[size=+[size=+Within hours of his death, there was a story circulating that members of the black press were complaining that newsoutlets were disrespecting Taylor's victimhood <http://www.maynardije.org/columns/dickprince/071127_prince/>[/size] [size=+by reporting on his troubled past[/size][/size]
[size=+No disrespect to Taylor, but he controlled the way he would be remembered by the way he lived. His immature, undisciplined behavior withhis employer, his run-ins with law enforcement, which included allegedly threatening a man with a loaded gun, and the fact a vehicle he owned was once sprayedwith bullets are all pertinent details when you've been murdered.[/size]
[size=+Marcellus Wiley, a former NFL player, made the radio circuit Wednesday, singing the tune that athletes are targets. That was hisexplanation for the murders of Taylor and Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams and the armed robberies of NBA players Antoine Walker and EddyCurry.[/size]
[size=+Really?[/size]
[size=+Let's cut through the bull(manure) and deal with reality. Black men are targets of black men. Period. Go check the coroner'soffice and talk with a police detective. These bullets aren't checking W-2s.[/size]
[size=+Rather than whine about white folks' insensitivity or reserve a special place of sorrow for rich athletes, we'd be better servedmustering the kind of outrage and courage it took in the 1950s and 1960s to stop the white KKK from hanging black men from trees.[/size]
[size=+But we don't want to deal with ourselves. We take great joy in prescribing medicine to cure the hate in other people's hearts.Meanwhile, our self-hatred, on full display for the world to see, remains untreated, undiagnosed and unrepentant.[/size]
[size=+Our self-hatred has been set to music and reinforced by a pervasive culture that promotes a crab-in-barrel mentality.[/size]
[size=+You're damn straight I blame hip hop for playing a role in the genocide of American black men. When your leading causes of death anddysfunction are murder, ignorance and incarceration, there's no reason to give a free pass to a culture that celebrates murder, ignorance andincarceration.[/size]
[size=+Of course there are other catalysts, but until we recapture the minds of black youth, convince them that it's not OK to "superman dat ho" and end any and every dispute by "cocking on your ##+*!," nothing will change.[/size]
[size=+Does a Soulja Boy want an education?[/size]
[size=+HBO did a fascinating documentary on Little Rock Central High School, the Arkansas school that required the National Guard so that nineblack kids could attend in the 1950s. Fifty years later, the school is one of the nation's best in terms of funding and educational opportunities. It's60 percent black and located in a poor black community.[/size]
[size=+Watch the documentary and ask yourself why nine poor kids in the '50s risked their lives to get a good education and a thousand poorblack kids today ignore the opportunity that is served to them on a platter.[/size]
[size=+Blame drugs, blame Ronald Reagan, blame George Bush, blame it on the rain or whatever. There's only one group of people who canchange the rotten, anti-education, pro-violence culture our kids have adopted. We have to do it.[/size]
[size=+HBO did a fascinating documentary on Little Rock Central High School, the Arkansas school that required the National Guard so that nineblack kids could attend in the 1950s. Fifty years later, the school is one of the nation's best in terms of funding and educational opportunities. It's60 percent black and located in a poor black community.[/size]
[size=+Watch the documentary and ask yourself why nine poor kids in the '50s risked their lives to get a good education and a thousand poorblack kids today ignore the opportunity that is served to them on a platter.[/size]
[size=+Blame drugs, blame Ronald Reagan, blame George Bush, blame it on the rain or whatever. There's only one group of people who canchange the rotten, anti-education, pro-violence culture our kids have adopted. We have to do it.[/size]
[size=+According to reports, Sean Taylor had difficulty breaking free from the unsavory characters he associated with during hisyouth.[/size]
[size=+The "keepin' it real" mantra of hip hop is in direct defiance to evolution. There's always someone ready to tell youyou're selling out if you move away from the immature and dangerous activities you used to do, you're selling out if you speak proper English, embraceeducation, dress like a grown man, do anything mainstream.[/size]
[size=+The Black KKK is enforcing the same crippling standards as its parent organization. It wants to keep black men in their place -uneducated, outside the mainstream and six feet deep.[/size]
[size=+In all likelihood, the Black Klan and its mentality buried Sean Taylor, and any black man or boy reading this could benext.[/size]
[size=+ [/size]
[size=+There's a reason I call them the Black KKK. The pain, the fear and the destruction are all the same.[/size]
[size=+Someone who loved Sean Taylor is crying right now. The life they knew has been destroyed, an 18-month-old baby lost her father, and, ifyou're a black man living in America, you've been reminded once again that your life is in constant jeopardy of violent death.[/size]
[size=+The Black KKK claimed another victim, a high-profile professional football player with a checkered past this time.[/size]
[size=+No, we don't know for certain the circumstances surrounding Taylor's death. I could very well be proven wrong for engaging inthis sort of aggressive speculation. But it's no different than if you saw a fat man fall to the ground clutching his chest. You'd assume a heartattack, and you'd know, no matter the cause, the man needed to lose weight.[/size]
[size=+Well, when shots are fired and a black man hits the pavement, there's every statistical reason to believe another black man pulledthe trigger. That's not some negative, unfair stereotype. It's a reality we've been living with, tolerating and rationalizing for far toolong.[/size]
[size=+When the traditional, white KKK lynched, terrorized and intimidated black folks at a slower rate than its modern-day dark-skinnedreplacement, at least we had the good sense to be outraged and in no mood to contemplate rationalizations or be fooled by distractions.[/size]
[size=+About as well as the attempt to shift attention away from this uniquely African-American crisis by focusing on an "injustice"the white media allegedly perpetrated against Sean Taylor.[/size]
[size=+[size=+Within hours of his death, there was a story circulating that members of the black press were complaining that newsoutlets were disrespecting Taylor's victimhood <http://www.maynardije.org/columns/dickprince/071127_prince/>[/size] [size=+by reporting on his troubled past[/size][/size]
[size=+No disrespect to Taylor, but he controlled the way he would be remembered by the way he lived. His immature, undisciplined behavior withhis employer, his run-ins with law enforcement, which included allegedly threatening a man with a loaded gun, and the fact a vehicle he owned was once sprayedwith bullets are all pertinent details when you've been murdered.[/size]
[size=+Marcellus Wiley, a former NFL player, made the radio circuit Wednesday, singing the tune that athletes are targets. That was hisexplanation for the murders of Taylor and Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams and the armed robberies of NBA players Antoine Walker and EddyCurry.[/size]
[size=+Really?[/size]
[size=+Let's cut through the bull(manure) and deal with reality. Black men are targets of black men. Period. Go check the coroner'soffice and talk with a police detective. These bullets aren't checking W-2s.[/size]
[size=+Rather than whine about white folks' insensitivity or reserve a special place of sorrow for rich athletes, we'd be better servedmustering the kind of outrage and courage it took in the 1950s and 1960s to stop the white KKK from hanging black men from trees.[/size]
[size=+But we don't want to deal with ourselves. We take great joy in prescribing medicine to cure the hate in other people's hearts.Meanwhile, our self-hatred, on full display for the world to see, remains untreated, undiagnosed and unrepentant.[/size]
[size=+Our self-hatred has been set to music and reinforced by a pervasive culture that promotes a crab-in-barrel mentality.[/size]
[size=+You're damn straight I blame hip hop for playing a role in the genocide of American black men. When your leading causes of death anddysfunction are murder, ignorance and incarceration, there's no reason to give a free pass to a culture that celebrates murder, ignorance andincarceration.[/size]
[size=+Of course there are other catalysts, but until we recapture the minds of black youth, convince them that it's not OK to "superman dat ho" and end any and every dispute by "cocking on your ##+*!," nothing will change.[/size]
[size=+Does a Soulja Boy want an education?[/size]
[size=+HBO did a fascinating documentary on Little Rock Central High School, the Arkansas school that required the National Guard so that nineblack kids could attend in the 1950s. Fifty years later, the school is one of the nation's best in terms of funding and educational opportunities. It's60 percent black and located in a poor black community.[/size]
[size=+Watch the documentary and ask yourself why nine poor kids in the '50s risked their lives to get a good education and a thousand poorblack kids today ignore the opportunity that is served to them on a platter.[/size]
[size=+Blame drugs, blame Ronald Reagan, blame George Bush, blame it on the rain or whatever. There's only one group of people who canchange the rotten, anti-education, pro-violence culture our kids have adopted. We have to do it.[/size]
[size=+HBO did a fascinating documentary on Little Rock Central High School, the Arkansas school that required the National Guard so that nineblack kids could attend in the 1950s. Fifty years later, the school is one of the nation's best in terms of funding and educational opportunities. It's60 percent black and located in a poor black community.[/size]
[size=+Watch the documentary and ask yourself why nine poor kids in the '50s risked their lives to get a good education and a thousand poorblack kids today ignore the opportunity that is served to them on a platter.[/size]
[size=+Blame drugs, blame Ronald Reagan, blame George Bush, blame it on the rain or whatever. There's only one group of people who canchange the rotten, anti-education, pro-violence culture our kids have adopted. We have to do it.[/size]
[size=+According to reports, Sean Taylor had difficulty breaking free from the unsavory characters he associated with during hisyouth.[/size]
[size=+The "keepin' it real" mantra of hip hop is in direct defiance to evolution. There's always someone ready to tell youyou're selling out if you move away from the immature and dangerous activities you used to do, you're selling out if you speak proper English, embraceeducation, dress like a grown man, do anything mainstream.[/size]
[size=+The Black KKK is enforcing the same crippling standards as its parent organization. It wants to keep black men in their place -uneducated, outside the mainstream and six feet deep.[/size]
[size=+In all likelihood, the Black Klan and its mentality buried Sean Taylor, and any black man or boy reading this could benext.[/size]