NOT BLACK ENOUGH....
say who?

UPDATED: May 22, 2011 HERE ARE SOME COMMENTS FROM READERS: Andrew Patton Mcnabb has stayed Classy in all of his attacks.. I will address this on the show on Tuesday... http://www.blogtalkradio.com/furious-styles1 Anwar Jamison I will say this Steve. The argument is a lot more complicated than people make it seem, which is why I hate talking about it, because people don't want to talk about the ENTIRE conversation. It cuts both ways. I can't vouch for specifically what Hopkins was saying, I know some reports came out later now about McNabb acting funny towards him and his family in Vegas or something personal like that. I don't really know what he's on as I haven't heard enough of his remarks. I do know it's not as simple as, "you don't sag your pants, you don't speak slang, you pronounce your words properly, you have a good job, you're not Black enough." That's not what most people are talking about when they have this conversation. What people ignore about the Cosby rant, was that he said a lot of offensive things that people didn't notice because they were too busy applauding for him like "these people are naming their children African names, they don't know anything about Africa?" What? Who are "these people?" And what's wrong with naming your children African names? There is a huge conversation to be had here Andrew Patton Thus why is will explain the origins of this "black enough" nonsense... Tyrone J McNabb is classy but he needs to respond directly by himself and not through a rep. No one can ride the back of a man if he stands up straight. Juan G Sometimes we need to accept that a spade is a spade no matter what game you are playing. I'm not in agreement with Hopkins statement but if McNabb or anyone is offended speak to it but how do you determine what's black? That's the ignorant part! Desiree' I have never been put in a position where not only do you feel like you have to address this question at the water cooler among non-black people but the other is how stupid is the question? So, at the water cooler I ask a colleague of mine who's not black, do you think you are Italian enough? He laughed and sarcastically said no... I don't like pasta or pizza... I don't have any tattoos... nor have I ever been to New Jersey or in a gang (mob). Keith Thompson Great question but in short who gives a dayum... I'm not going to prison to find out how black I am... BIG Z dumbest question of the year award is giving out here. Prez Ro I know you are trying to get a conversation started but take it from me, this is dumb. Consider the source.... a boxer who makes a living getting pounded in the head and who has a rap sheet... Alice Gibbons what has Hopkins done for his community? if anything good... otherwise shut the hell up. ORIGINAL ARTICLE.... By definition, a sellout is a person who has sacrificed his morals, values or people close to him purely for personal gain. In lieu of the idiotic comments of Bernard Hopkins towards Donovan McNabb level of blackness came this scribe. If I were in McNabb shoes, this is how I would respond… What does it mean when a person challenges another person of the same race that they aren’t <FILL IN THE BLANK> enough? There’s isn’t another race of people that challenge each other the way we do… simply put, it’s just IGNORANT!!!

So does growing up poor in ghetto America, longing to taste the American dream instead of dying in the bitterness of despair to which far too many succumb, insufficient to prove my Afro-authenticity prove a level of blackness? Or does decades of ’hood residency and a hard path to success and middle-class status disconnect me from the plight of those left behind?

Oh I know, I am black… it starts when I look in the mirror every morning and staggers throughout the day when non-Black folks clutch their purses and their children a little closer to them as they see me swagger towards them — and ends while I hold the speed limit as I drive through my suburban neighborhood.

And you know what? I am unapologetically; irrefutably black — and proud — in the same way that someone who is Irish, or Italian or Jewish. Years after my climb from a single-parent, lower-middle class environment with some government assistance, which included the use of hot plates, boiling water, lack of common utilities from time-to-time to ketchup sandwiches, I am still “down” for the cause to elevate of my people. But with that, I refuse to lend a hand to pull up and allow you and your crew to pull me down! OH HELL NO!!!! So again I ask, I’m not black enough?

Questions like these remind me of those uttered by Bill Cosby almost 10 years ago, when people wrote about the outrage over Cos’ public statements when he called for black folks to assume greater personal responsibility when someone wrote “the problem I had with his comments was that you yelled ‘fire’ from across the street.” I’m no Bill Cosby… but I endeavor, like Cos, to speak the truth from either side of the street believing that no one can really save us but us.

I speak and write having witnessed in corporate America and even universities our absence and being sick and tired of the silence that allows the social criticism to widen. I write without apology and without feeling the need to wave an old food stamp or my ’hood card in the air to prove anything to anyone. Maybe it’s time for people like Hopkins to applauded the McNabb’s of the world who can overcome obstacles, loud and silent, to become a proud reflection of the joy of life… maybe it’s time for Hopkins to accept that all paths do not start nor end in the ghetto… maybe it’s time for Hopkins to except that his resume doesn’t reflect the majority of blacks in America… and just maybe it’s time for Hopkins to just shut up!

So I ask in closing, I’m not black enough? When did I lose my ’hood card or street cred? Was it once I graduated from high school? College? Grad school? Or because I can pronounce ING and TH while speaking? Or I can talk without using my hands? Or because my pants fit and I wear a belt? Or because I have a one child, with one woman whom I have a STRONG relationship with… white collar career… a master’s degree, a house in the burbs, 2-car garage with running vehicles in both of them and I’m not black enough? As for me obtaining the so-called American dream… I’m still working on it but I’m earning everything that comes my way. And guess what, homey? I’m still black. Now, you can run and tell that, homeboy.

PS If you want to see manages Bernard Hopkins career… visit http://www.grabow.biz/SportsCelebrities/Bernard-Hopkins.htm  now who’s in the ‘house? Why didn’t you use black management company?

 

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