Self Haters with a Pen

Getting teens to understand that we exist in a world of grays and not black and whites is probably the most complex lesson they will ever learn, just because you admire someone does not mean they will always be right and the person you loath is not always wrong. It is the issue not the person that has to be judge. To quote the late John Johnson CEO of Ebony "We have no mutual friends or enemies only interest."

Case in point: the brilliant writer, director, John Ridley who directed the showtime series Barber Shop wrote the novel that inspired the movie U-Turn and did the screenplay for 3 Kings
Brilliance does not cover racial self hatred which is quite evident in his incendiary,December.Esquire article, The Manifesto of Ascendancy for the Modern American Nigger.


"Let me tell you something about niggers, the oppressed minority within our minority. Always down. Always out. Always complaining that they can't catch a break. Notoriously poor about doing for themselves. Constantly in need of a leader but unable to follow in any direction that's navigated by hard work, self-reliance. And though they spliff and drink and procreate their way onto welfare doles and WIC lines, niggers will tell you their state of being is no fault of their own. They are not responsible for their nearly 5 percent incarceration rate and their 9.2 percent unemployment rate. Not responsible for the 11.8 percent rate at which they drop out of high school. For the 69.3 percent of births they create out of wedlock.

Now, let me tell you something about my generation of black Americans. We are the inheritors of "the Deal" forced upon the entrenched white social, political, and legal establishment when my parents' generation won the struggle for civil rights. The Deal: We (blacks) take what is rightfully ours and you (the afore-described establishment) get citizens who will invest the same energy and dedication into raising families and working hard and being all around good people as was invested in snapping the neck of Jim Crow.

In the forty years since the Deal was brokered, since the Voting Rights Act was signed, there have been successes for blacks. But there are still too many blacks in prison, too many kids aggrandizing the thug life, and way too many African-Americans doing far too little with the opportunities others earned for them.


My issue with Ridley:If you truly had an concerns with African Americans why don't you bring it to African Americans, why is it in Esquire, a white forum as if you're going to whites to ask them to correct Black issues because as you can see these dumb blacks are too dumb to even appreciate this fine article about how dumb they are. I love to ask Mr. Ridley, What have you ever done to change the condition you so heavily criticize? I see this as an exercise in self hate especially coming from a guy who made his career doing urban oriented shows
Undercover Brother: The Animated Series, Those Who Walk in Darkness,Platinum and the Fresh Prince. I wonder was he always above those negroes, or did he realized his position when he could afford it? Hollywood's fickle John and the heads you chop off today WILL be the butts you're kissing later.

Then we will have a walking definition of a "N" & Sell out