Don't Ask and Don't Tell God: The Quandary of Homosexuality in America

                                                                         




It has been a couple of weeks since President Barack Obama openly admitted that he supports Gay Marriage and all the rights and privileges thereof. All forms of media have been inundated with opinions and viewpoints either in support of the President’s proclamation or demonizing his attempt at creating a discourse in this nation, which was allegedly founded on the ideological concept of “liberty and justice for all.” Yet, somehow, the United States’ separation of Church and State has been reconfigured by the religious, particularly Christian, zealots in an attempt to discriminate and further disenfranchise those citizens who identify themselves as gay or homosexual.

 It has always been my belief that every person, regardless of ethnicity or religious beliefs or socioeconomic status should be treated fairly and I believe this civil right should be extended to our homosexual brethren as well. It would be unjust for the laws of the self-proclaimed “greatest country in the world” to disallow same sex marriages on the pretense of the Judeo-Christian biblical texts’ stance on homosexuality. Do we not exist in a realm of national governing that separates the Church and the State? I, for one, am no expert on the origins or the causes or even the totality of comprehension of homosexuality, but with the aforementioned stated, how can any of us vilify one’s sexual preference if we do not know if it is due to nurture or nature?

 There has been a major outcry from Christian pastors, preachers, ministers, and parishioners concerning the President’s decision to publicly support same-sex marriages and, particularly, in the black Church and its respective ‘community’, a divisive demon of epic proportions has ensconced itself around the psyche of the African American Christian. This demon has warped the psyche of the black Christian and reconstructed their understanding of the major tenant of Christianity and the teachings of Jesus Christ, which transmitted by John, states, “As I have loved you, so must you love one another” (John 13:34 NIV). Or one can also reference another book of the Gospel which states, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39 NIV). How are discriminatory practices against our fellow man an exhibition of Love? In my most humble opinion, I believe that it is the exact opposite—Hate.

 Now, I am almost positive that many readers will think my use of the word ‘hate’ is going too far, but if you are intolerant of a particular thing or individual or behavior, the detesting of these things or individuals or behaviors manifest themselves in the form of intolerance which is the next-door neighbor to Hate. Many Christians, theologians, and pious hypocrites, particularly those of Facebook residency, have been selectively cherry-picking the biblical scriptures to support their anti-Gay marriage and homophobic diatribes. Ironically, most of the cherry-picking comes from the Old Testament’s book of Leviticus. I have seen Leviticus 18:22, “Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind” and Leviticus 20:13 (KJV), “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them,” and 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, “Or do you know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor landerers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” All of this seems contradictory. Most Christians adhere to the New Testament and utilize the Gospels as the definitive words, teachings, and accounts of the life and travels of Jesus the Christ and this becomes rhetorically problematic because if readers use juxtapositioning in the analysis of these texts they will find that contradictions abound and what we deem as immoral can be applicable to any and almost every facet of human existence and interaction with one another. Are there not believers of the Christ that are drunkards, sexually promiscuous, and adulterers? Are there not Christians who worship God and Jesus yet have created a false God/idol out of money and material possessions? I won’t answer. I will let you, the reader, pray for discernment and derive at a conclusion.

 What is it that Christians and the religious zealots of this nation want? Do they want to ‘play God’ or do they want to ‘be’ God? If an individual is a homosexual, wouldn’t the omnipresent and omnipotent Creator know this? How, if the aforementioned is true, would the homosexual hide his or her sexual orientation or preference? Should they not tell God and should he or she not ask their sexual orientation or preference? Some opponents of same-sex marriage believe gay marriage is an attempt by homosexuals to taint the ‘sacred’ institution of marriage with perverse intentions. This is a laughable idea, I understand, but so is the idea that homosexuals should not be allowed to marry one another under the auspices of Love. Better yet, how is demonizing a culture of individuals illustrating the unconditional Love that God has for his creations. Did God not love us so much that, “He gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life”? (John 3:16 KJV) Are we to think that LGBT believers won’t be accepted by the Lord? Should John have inserted an asterisk behind this piece of scripture?

 If we as a people allow the castigation of the homosexual in America, what will be the next discriminatory technique used to further cement xenophobic behavior? Will the Church disallow homosexuals to worship in the houses of the Lord that are almost on every corner of every street in the United States of America? Will we revisit the miscegenation laws of the past that banned interracial intimacy and marriage? (Loving v. Virginia was the last anti-Miscegenation law to be defunct in 1967) Surely not—I hope. The issue at hand is not whether you agree with the homosexual lifestyle or endorse same-sex relationships and marriage but that equality for all is under attack—by the Church of all institutions. We must stand up for the equality for all and resist the subjugation of our fellow man by the efforts of some to reconfigure a social hierarchical structure by creating yet another subclass of people. The problem with inequality and discrimination is that it reinforces the social hierarchical structure that posits some people, in this case heterosexuals, as ‘better’ than others and that is not only problematic but also troubling and destructive in a ‘civilized’ society. It is unjust to ban same-sex marriage on the pretense that some people do not have the same type of sexual intercourse as others do, and as the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. said in his ‘Letter from a Birmingham Jail’, “An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” -Gee Joyner

A Broken Rose Giving Bloom Through the Cracks in the Concrete

The recent events surrounding the death of another one of youth, this time at the hands of a neighborhood vigilante, has gained national attention and sparked the previously dormant flames of action which, once fanned, have now spread like a California wildfire across all of America. We all see young Trayvon Martin (may God bless his soul and bring comfort to his family) as one of us. Even the President of the United States gave a speech acknowledging, "If I had a son.....he would look like Trayvon Martin." When we see those pictures of this young man, who on his way home from the store to buy Skittles and Iced Tea, was profiled, stalked, approached and eventually murdered by someone who was 'patrolling' the neighborhood and felt the "fucking coons" always seemed to get away, we should see our younger brother, our son, our daughters, our friends......we should see ourselves. Upon recognizing ourselves, we seem to always ask that plain and simple question......"How could something like this happen?!" I plead for you to not stop there however, also ask "What can be done to prevent other innocent young lives from being senselessly loss to the hands of violence and apathy (and in some cases disdain) towards their futures."

Since blacks have been in America, and certainly sense they have been deemed Black Americans, we have had to deal with racial profiling and violence. Because of the color of our skin, we have been considered dirty, immoral, ugly, unworthy of love, malevolent, distrustful and worse. Our women have been considered loose, disinterested in motherhood, slothful, and whorish....and worse. Listen to the propaganda and you'll learn that our children are wayward with a love for violence and carelessness and a profound hatred for education and structure. Personified images of these sentiments were created and spread throughout the US and anywhere else in the world it was assumed would have interaction with the Negro. This caused many people the world over to 'know' this version of the Black person from America. It took a strong sense of self awareness and focus on self empowerment to garner the efforts of all of those who stood strong and shot this message down during the Civil Rights movements of the 50s, 60s and early 70s. Black Americans began to realize the freedoms they had been afforded and wanted to see more for themselves than the poor disenchanted neighborhoods they'd been raised to believe was their pinnacles. We want to be able to live as we decided to live, where we decided to live and without a fear for being attacked because of the unfounded negative preconceived notions constructed by White America to disassociate us from the of Humanity. To a degree it worked. The messages from leaders like Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael, Huey Newton, Bobby Seals, Fred Davis, Martin Luther King Jr. and others, bled into every facet of Black American life and created a sense of love and the desire to be empowered. The reflection of this movement was seen in how we entertained ourselves as Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Marvin Gay, Sam Cooke, Gil Scott Heron and others subconsciously (and not so subconsciously) promoted the message that we as people were worthy of love and would begin to uplift one another and show the world our collectiveness. The message Black America sent across was a powerful one....so much so that it gave fear to the structure of America itself and served as the cause of death for virtually every leader named above. Crack was introduced to our neighborhoods, poverty and a sense of helplessness set in, children became orphans and wardens of the state, parents became disinterested in being responsible and accountable for anything and eventually a complete and total fall of our culture ensued.

The only thing we had which shed light into what was happening.....the only "voice" we had throughout the darkness of the 80s and 90s was that of our entertainment. As drugs (which were proven to have been introduced and funneled into the Black American community by our national government) and gang violence ravaged whatever sense of security and peace and love we had, our entertainment.....Hip Hop, continued to tell our story. Our spoken artists continued to be the Voice through which virtually an entire generation of Black Americans gained a sense of self pride, self worth, self awareness, self acceptance and most importantly.....peace. Sure there were negative images in rap music throughout these times, but those images were not something young Black Americans were told to strive for at all costs. Those images were what those of us who grew up in troubled, poverty stricken neighborhoods knew all too well. We were comfortable with what we were hearing because we were seeing this reality every day. Art was imitating life. And while coded and cryptic to some, the messages were still messages of empowerment...."You Gotta Keep Ya Head Up," "Today Was a Good Day," "Never Seen a Man Cry." Many of us were 'raised' from this music. Still till today, when I'm in a complete life rut, I turn on some Pac and "Smile".

In 2012, we can no longer say that the world is being influenced by stereotypical propaganda being handed out by White America.....not exclusively. As a people, Black Americans have lost their way. And it is going to take the collective efforts of us as a People to regain our footing. The hip hop and entertainment which once served as our voice through the wilderness has become but a war cry to all that we dare come into contact with. Where we once strived for excellence and betterment, we now only care to gain wealth so that we can flaunt it in the eyes of those of us who do not have such luxuries. We make promises to the world and anyone in it that we are beasts and murders and drug users who act without thinking and without remorse. This image, now coming from us, is sold worldwide and is being promoted and saluted on television stations and radio stations everywhere. For a few gold coins, we have allowed ourselves to become our own worst enemy. No longer can we blame others for how they view us. The truth is Black Americans are afraid of Black Americans. We don't want to live next to one another. We are afraid of those children that were left behind by their fathers and disregarded by their mothers who have grown up with a perpetual chip on their shoulder and harbor disgust for everyone who ignored their pleas for help. There has been so much pain and anger in their world that many young Black Americans have no fear for death or life. They have no respect for elders and authority. They have no desire to gain an education of any kind that they feel will not elevate them immediately. Rappers (because I refuse to call some of this art) know this and cater to that anger and resentment. Self hate is spewed loudly on microphones and through speakers and into the young minds of our children who are being raised by children. Our lives and our communities are now imitating the so-called art. By choice we have created an environment for ourselves where everyone has a right to be (unfortunately in many cases should be) afraid of our children.

The only way to fix these concerns is through love. We must recommit ourselves to ourselves. We must regain control of our own communities and become more open to our young people who are looking to their elders for guidance. Hell, it’s time for many of us who haven't, to recognize ourselves as elders. Love is the only thing that can overcome hate. Nothing else is strong enough. Loving our enemy has proven to fail us time and time again. That should not be our first priority.

We must learn to love ourselves:

I stand with us all as we demand justice for the family of Trayvon Martin. I also stand in love and support for every young life that is lost. I stand against injustice and indiscriminate behavior against all Black American youth, no matter who sits at the hands of. I stand against the promotion of the so called thugs who are making it harder for our innocent children to be viewed as such. I stand against the rampant misogyny and ultra sexuality that has taken hold to and distorted the minds of our young people. I stand against the deadbeat dads who walk away from their children and leave them wondering their entire lives who they are and how well they stack up to the rest of the world. I stand against gang activity and the foolish interpretation of 'no-snitching' that says we cannot speak up against anything we see out of fear of being attacked ourselves. The energy we are now exuding for justice must not die with the arrest and charging of George Zimmerman. That's too easy. Let's stand strong and demand the betterment for our people across the board. Let's hold one another accountable for the lives we create, take or influence. Let us again fall into love with ourselves and one another.

I too, am Trayvon Martin. And I stand for him as I stand with you:


"Father forgive us for living
While all my homies stuck in prison
Barely breathing believing that the world is a prison
It’s like a ghetto we can never leave
A broken rose giving bloom through the cracks of the concrete
So many other things for us to see.
Things to be our history so full of tragedy and misery
To all my homies never made home
The dead peers I shed tattooed tears for when I'm alone.
Picture us inside a ghetto heaven
A place to rest
Finding peace in this land of stress
In my chest I feel pain come in sudden storms
Life full of rain in this game watch for land thorns
Our unborn never got to grow never got to see what’s next
In this world full of countless threats
I beg God
To make a way for our ghetto kids to breath
Show a sign
Make us all believe....." (Tupac Amaru Shakur)


-Mustafa Shakur

The Lamb That Was Slain: The Killing of Trayvon Martin

                                                                              


In ancient Jewish tradition, an animal sacrifice-- most often a lamb-- was used as an offering, a tithe if you will, for God to illustrate man’s appreciation for the blessings they received from the omnipotent and beneficent Creator, or even a ‘Forgive Me’ card for immoral behavior, sins, and human transgressions. (Hosea 14:3 is referential evidence that Ancient Jews eventually ceased killing innocent beasts for sacrificial offerings—“ Take with you words, and turn to the Lord. Say to him, forgive all iniquity and receive us graciously, so we will offer the words of our lips instead of calves.”) Though other animals were used for sacrifices, such as goats and calves, the lamb has become a metaphorical symbol in popular culture and modern History more than likely because of its attributes of docility and timidity that evoke emotions of sympathy and empathy when one identifies another as being a ‘sacrificial lamb.’ Some cultures, such as the Mayans and Aztecs, even went as far as to not only sacrifice beasts, but also humans to their ‘Gods’ as a means of offering recompense for sins or gifts that would satisfy the Gods and keep them safe from impending danger. On the evening of February 26, 2012, George Zimmerman, a ‘Captain’ of a neighborhood watch program in The Retreat at Twin Lakes, a gated community twenty minutes north of Orlando, Florida, located in Sanford, Florida, murdered, or sacrificed, a 17-year-old Black American teen at the altar of U.S. prejudice and racism.

From Numbers 7:57 to Revelations 5:13, one can find numerous references of a ‘lamb’ and the slaughter thereof, yet Revelations Chapter 5, verse 13, really symbolizes the death of young Trayvon. The text states, “In a loud voice they sang: Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” And this is what Black Americans, and even non-Black Americans, will exclaim when remembering the legacy of the young Trayvon Martin. We will exalt him because his bravery in the face of a murderer with premeditated intentions. We will uphold him and place him in the clouds with Emmett Till, who was also killed by racist monsters with malevolent intentions. We will contrast his willingness to verbally question the paranoia of Mr. Zimmerman by rebelling against authority just as the Christ rebelled against the Roman Empire and the tradition of Jewish exclusionary practices that exhibited prejudice towards Gentiles.

Now, by no means am I positing Trayvon Martin as a Christ-Like figure who has died for the sins of mankind in order to save them from the fiery lakes of Hell, but we can juxtapose his significance in the continual struggle for African American equality in the United States to the efforts of Jesus Christ to free man from his sinful ways and lead him down the path of human, if not Godly, righteousness. Jesus Christ was tried and convicted for claiming to be the Son of God, while Trayvon was murdered, gunned down in the cloak of night by a vigilante night watchman for essentially claiming his innocence of being a criminal; “Why are you following me?” which an anonymous girl who was on the phone with Travyon at the time, to me, is similar to Christ’s assertion that he was the ‘Son of God’ and had done nothing to deserve being accosted by Pontious Pilate’s Court just as Martin had done nothing to be relegated to the status of ‘criminal’ by Mr. Zimmerman.

While there may never be any concrete answers as to why this happened to Trayvon, I do believe the masses of Black Americans who have been unjustly profiled as delinquents, thieves, thugs, criminals, and ne’er- do- wells know why Zimmerman did this to Travyon— it was the direct correlation to the creation and perpetuation of the derogatory stereotype of the African American in America. For centuries, this has been the root cause of instances of mistreatment, and, in this case, unjustified killing of individuals of the darker hue. Many people only see the stereotype of the Negro, rather than the character of the human being, thus the stereotypes that have permeated the psyche of Americans, both Black and White, Asian and Hispanic, cause individuals to prejudge the Black American and label them as the aforementioned culprits of skullduggery and mischief that I mentioned in the lines above.

Hopefully, and from the attention this tragedy is receiving from national media outlets, both visual and print, as well as social networking sites, Trayvon’s death will serve as another turning point, just as the ghastly lynching of Emmett Till provided a launching pad for the success of the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, and prove to be an intricate piece of evidence that proves that the Black American still has miles to go before we sleep in the bed of equality, societal acceptance, and civil rights. We must remember that Trayvon Martin, and all of the unnamed Blacks who have died behind racist intentions, did not die in vain. He died, involuntarily, for the ‘cause.’ His blood will scream out from that Floridian soil and protest against the demonic spirit of racism, discrimination, and prejudice. Though I am saddened at the death of this young man, who could be my son in 14 years, I have peace within my soul because I know that there is “wondrous working power…in the precious blood of the Lamb.”

-Gee Joyner

Faith Without Works?

I am a Christian. I believe in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. We hear these “so called” declarations of faith from one end of America life to another. Our political candidates “declare” their belief in God while using it to pass legislation that fits with their beliefs system despite the First Amendment’s ban on congress making laws respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. However, we see a form of Christianity in this country that has nothing to do with the actual teachings and actions of Jesus, but more of a public display that put the idea of being a Christian in the same league as joining a fraternity, sorority or other social clubs. Then, there is the selling aspect of it all. We have to buy bumper stickers, bracelets and t-shirts to” share our faith” with the lost world that is in desperate need of the gospel.

Celebrities and even sports stars “declare” their faith and two particular athletes have really given the Christians base a big push over the last year. Tim Tebow and Jeremy Lin, whose public confessions of faith have energized our Christian base from the religious right to evangelicals. Jeremy Lin now wears bracelets made by Active Faith, an apparel company started by former basketball player Lanny Smith and Minnesota Timberwolves forward Anthony Tolliver. Both are members of the Lakewood Church, the mega-church pastored by Joel Osteen, which draws almost 50,000 attendees per week. The website opens with a verse from 2 Corinthians 5:7 “For we walk by FAITH, not by sight. A pretty catchy way to lead to their mission statement which says they provide fashionable and functional sportswear the active athlete as well as any person wanting to wear and share their faith. Again, “share” their faith, what does this really mean? I can share my faith by buying a pair of $30 yoga tights or a $45 hoodie? Or, maybe one of those wonderful wristbands that Jeremy “Linsanity” Lin wears during his games now that he starts for the New York Knicks.

On a slightly different note, Tim Tebow, the Denver Broncos quarterback has made his faith public by kneeling in prayer at games and even post Bible verses under his eye. Tebow, like Lin, have seen a ground swell of support from those on the Christian Right who believe that Tebow, in his public displays of faith (now known as Tebowing), is somehow “standing up for Jesus”. Tebow has made his rounds on Fox news and has been interviewed about his faith by several including former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee where he discuss the reasons for his faith and even talked about his mother and father’s decision not to terminate him in the womb when there were potential complications. Tebow, like Lin really believe in doing humanitarian work, however, this work is usually overshadowed by the PDF’s (public displays of faith). Even those on the Christian right seem to ignore the works that Tebow and Lin are doing to make the world a little bit better by only discussing the public displays. Why are Tebow and Lin paraded around like poster boys for Jesus? It gives the Christian Club, as I call it, a chance to thumb their noses to a society that they claim is so against them and their beliefs. Evangelicals will often say that they are persecuted because of what they stand for when they are the ones that prove to be intolerant of beliefs that different from theirs.

If you look at the society as a whole, Christianity is very dominating in this society and most of the world. For nearly four years we have been forced to hear argrements over the religion of President Barak Obama, and our negative perception of Muslims has increased greatly. I don’t chanellged the faith of this men, I do challenge what Christianity has become in this country. Jesus was a revolutionary but he is seldom described as such. He spoke to the power structures both political and religious and demanded justice for all oppressed people. However, he is always described as meek and humbled.

We loved to proclaim the belief in Christ be we have made it a point to fall short of doing the work. Christians are given a duty and that was to stand for those who have no voices. Instead, Christians hide themselves away in their buildings, selective communities, and only speaking out on “certain” issues. This is not what Jesus taught. What we have instead is a religious system that has married itself to the very oppressive system that it should be standing against. It convinces people to except the world as it is and to worry only about you and yours. We see this throughout the history of America from Spaniards first arrival in the New World, to the present. But, that is fine as long as we can buy our little toys proclaim out faith and not really do anything. That is what it’s all about, right? James 2:14; my brothers, what is the gain if anyone says he has faith, but does not have works? Is the faith able to save him?

Frank Johnson

Poor Lil' Tink-Tink: Being or Looking 'Black' in America

Flying anywhere in the months following 9/11 were to say the least, interesting. I am a 6’3” Indian male. And not the casino Indians, from India Indians. I grew up in the South, I have a Southern drawl, and I drink sweet tea. It all makes sense as far as I’m concerned. But, I got to experience the wonder that was the newly post-9/11 airport security on a December day in North Carolina. I was chosen for three “random” security checks. They eventually put me in a room and went through all my stuff before they were satisfied enough to put me on my flight. Through it all, I was never outraged. Everything the security people were doing is what I would do if I was the government. I’d check the close-enough-to-arab-to-make-me-look-twice looking guy a million times over before I put him on a plane full of innocent, god fearing American citizens. I did however, feel a sense of familiarity, which bothered me. Policy and cultural ideologies seemed to resonate with images from a violent and oppressive past.

Fast forward 11 years, and now I have a wife, twins babies (a boy and girl), a house, a minivan, and a stable job. My wife is Black, which means I have two mixed little babies-- half Black/half Indian. I can see both sides of their genealogical heritage in their eyes, and faces, and even in their little toes. It is truly a wonderful thing to witness. My babies themselves make everything in the world seem brand new. But through all the brand new-ness, I have never been able to shake that sensation of familiarity.

I feel that when my kids get old enough, there will be no Indian in them when perceived by the public. They are half black, and no one will care about the half-indian. When the police roll up, my son and daughter will be regular old Black folk. When they apply for college, they will be normal African-Americans.
There is one very specific time in American life today that definitely is worse for the black guy. It’s when a representative of an armed authoritative force tries to exert said authority, for example, the killing of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida. I’m going to assume that everybody knows about this kid, because everyone reading this blog on their ipads knows how to use google. Trayvon was shot by George Zimmerman, the “captain” of a citizen’s watch organization. Zimmerman claims that Trayvon attacked him; therefore Zimmerman used his legally concealed gun and put two unauthorized holes in Trayvon’s chest. It turns out that Trayvon was armed with a bag of skittles and can of thirst quenching southern iced tea. Trayvon was in high school, Zimmerman is a grown man.

Zimmerman has yet to be charged with a crime. Meaning, the police department in Sanford, Florida feels that Zimmerman was well within his legal rights to use deadly force. The Chief of Police feels that race is not an issue in this case because the police do good police work. The police, from what I can tell, have reconstructed the night: 1) Trayvon was walking through the rain in the gated community, 2) Zimmerman saw him and called 911, 3) Zimmerman confronted Trayvon, 4) an altercation ensued, 5) Zimmerman feared for his life, and 6), pulled out his gun and shot the boy dead. If that ain’t self-defense, I don’t know what is.

Trayvon could be my son or daughter. I don’t believe that Mr. Zimmerman would see my children as half-Indian, but only black, and therefore suspicious. My little Amir and Leela could be, in some 15 years, lying in the grass, rain falling on their frozen faces, and a spreading blossom of blood mingling with the dirt. I can’t even imagine what my wife’s face will look like. I imagine that I would be mighty close to committing a cold blooded murder. And that is a feeling that I don’t want to be familiar with.

America has always been unjust with black folk. I know that we live in an era that is supposedly “post-racial,” but I can’t seem to shake that abhorrent sense of familiarity. I don’t want to feel such vulgarity so intimately. More so, I don’t want my kids to know it. But I’ve never been able to find my way out of the labyrinth. I don’t think my Dad, with all his infinite wisdom, has ever found his way out, only a means to survive within. I don’t believe that Amir and Leela will ever find the exit. I should have named them Daedalus and Icarus apparently. Trayvon’s family must wear the scars of Mr. Zimmerman’s actions as a representative of an armed authoritative force. The law is written to favor the actions of Mr. Zimmerman. And once again, it doesn’t work out for the Black guy, and that sounds real familiar.
Anjan Basu

Hey, Nigger. You look like a Nigger.

                                                                             

Recently, I’ve been challenged via Facebook because of many of my racially ‘charged’ postings. So often, my non-Black, Facebook friends tend to think that I enhance the race problem in the U.S. rather than “move past” or “get over it” as many of my posters, actually both Black and white, suggest that I do. But, what I endured last night may offer a parable (yes, it’s oxymoronic to call last night’s situation a parable because it actually happened—non Fiction, not make-believe) that will help my non-African American ‘friends’ understand why I persist in offering socioeconomic, sociopolitical, and hierarchical observations and commentary on the issue of race and the conflicts that exist because of race in My Country ‘Tis of Thee.

The aforementioned scenario unfolded like this: Around 8:45 p.m., I was sitting on the steps outside of my condo indulging in one of my vices, cigarettes, when a neighbor and I, who was also outside talking about the Lakers dismal showing against the revitalized Los Angeles Clippers, observed two, young white men in khakis, button-downs, and ties walking through the complex. I shouted out, “Ya’ll lost?” to which they replied, “No, man. We’re missionaries.” I snickered, glanced at my neighbor with an inquisitive look and replied to the ‘missionaries’, “Be careful.” I didn’t think much about it, but I did find it intriguing and perplexing that two white males would be prosthelytizing in an all Black complex at that time of night, yet didn’t try and offer my neighbor and myself any of the missionary material or indoctrinating spiel that I’m sure they are charged to do when they go out on these ‘missions.’ We both watched as the two young men disappeared around the corner into the black cloak of night and continued dissecting the Lakers’ loss and analyzing their lackluster offseason acquisitions and failed trade attempt.

Within moments, our conversation was interrupted by the screeching of tires in front of our building. Quickly a Ford Expedition and two Dodge Chargers were in front of us and ten Narcotics officers, adorned in bullet-proof vests and Jodeci-like combat boots exited the vehicles and asked who lived in the building. I replied, “Me.” The leader, a white male who looked to be in his early 30s with a red, Brawny man beard said, “What’s your name?” I gave him my last name and he responded by reciting my first name from a sheet of paper in his hand. I asked him what was the problem and he told me that there had been complaints of me selling drugs through the fence behind my building to residents of the adjacent apartment complex.

In awe, I began to explain to him that I am a professional, a professor to be exact, and that I do not indulge in that type of criminality and that I had my fiancé and son upstairs preparing for bed. My neighbor, young, Black, and aware, did not scamper into his home leaving me to the boys in blue, but rather remained outside positing himself as a witness-of-sorts in case the lawmen had intents of skullduggery. After asking for my license, to which I did not have on me, I gave the Brawny man my social and he typed it into his hand-held, computerized pad. He informed me that there was a tip from someone that I was a drug dealer and that they had to respond to this complaint which, by the way, had been issued in September.
I asked him who I could talk to in order to clear up the complaint and whether I could retrieve a report concerning this matter. He told me it was an internal Narcotics matter, and, since I was compliant, he would return to the office and cancel the complaint. I found this odd, yet I never put my cigarette down nor moved from my position. The men,draped in guns, bullet-proof vests and all, reentered their vehicles and vanished just as quickly as they had appeared.

Now, I know many readers may wonder what this has to do with race, but it has everything to do with race and the relations and stereotypes thereof in the U.S. of A. I mean, would they have come ten deep to my home if I was a white man who lived in a predominately white neighborhood? Would they have even responded to an unfounded complaint if I lived in a complex that wasn’t occupied by Blacks and a few Hispanics? I doubt it. The mere characterization in this nation of young, Black males as being drug-dealing thugs is so permeated in the minds of the public, that they felt this complaint was warranted and needed to be checked out, even if it was four months old. And, as I compose this piece, I think about how only one of the Narcotics officers was Black and he was the only one with his hand on his gun-in-holster as if he was a heel from an episode of Bonanza. Maybe it was the way I speak that made them figure I was innocent of this allegation. Maybe they just bring almost a dozen officers to your home to question you and not search your home and pat you down. I thoroughly doubt this. I watch enough television and know enough about the streets that no police department in this country, maybe even the world, bring that much manpower and leave without doing anything or confiscating anything, let alone not even search one’s person.

I want to know what this was all about. I’m almost positive every Black male in America has had something like this happen to them, whether it be me or Harvard's own Dr. Henry Louis Gates, and wonders to themselves, "Would this have happened to me if I was white?' It’s not the spewing of hate speech or the declarations of white supremacy that bother people like me. No, it is the de facto racism that cannot be measured or properly analyzed to the non-Negroidian in this country that so infuriates and stupefies those of us who have been unjustly profiled. In essence, you don’t have to be called ‘nigger’ to be treated like one.

                                                                                                              Gee Joyner

Klansmen Need Love Too

For the first time in my Black-by-way-of-African-Americanism life, I have not stood behind someone because he or she was Black, like me—even if they were wrong or acted inappropriately, or, God forbid, reinforced the horrifically negative stereotypes that cloak the darker-hued African descendents who reside in the U.S.A. I always ‘bet on Black’, but in the peculiar case of Troy Davis, and the seemingly clear-cut jurisprudence associated with the case of Lawrence Russel Brewer, I’m wondering ‘Does the socially constructed, by Anglican-Americans I may add, ‘race card’ exist?’ Apparently, from reading numerous status updates and comments from mainly African-Americans on the social networking behemoth Facebook pertaining to the execution of Troy Davis, the Loch Ness Monster lives amongst us in plain view. There really is a Big Foot/Sasquatch in the remote mountainous areas. Oh, and shooting stars are really UFOs, Elvis, Tupac, and Jimmy Hoffa are alive, and Shakespeare wrote the Bible.

Last night, I read, dissected, and contemplated upon the plethora of posts and comments of undying empathetic compassion and support for the stay of execution of Troy Davis, yet only read one status, from a Black minister, which questioned and protested the death of Lawrence Brewer. Obviously, as I write this editorial piece, both Davis and Brewer are no longer among the living, but I cannot understand why the majority of those protesting the execution of Davis and the totality of the concept of the death penalty did not abhor the execution of Brewer. Then, I realized that the ‘race card’ is a real trump card that Africans Americans utilize when things of sociopolitical relevance are antithetical to their belief system. So, Davis allegedly kills an off-duty white policeman and is sentenced to die and Blacks in America say the death penalty is immoral, but Brewer participates in the 1999 Jasper, Texas lynching of James Byrd along with other Ku Klux Klansmen and it is fine because he killed one of ‘us’. Sure, seven of the nine witnesses who once testified against Troy Davis recanted their testimonies and Davis maintains his innocence, but so does Brewer; He says he participated in the attack on Byrd, but that he was not the one who killed the man (though being in the truck and watching Byrd’s body dragged from the back of a pick-up truck on a gravel road does implicate you as a member of the lynch mob, thus being responsible—if not partially—for Mr. Byrd’s death). So, why no fuss from the African American populace?

If we are not to ‘play God’, as my pastor said in Bible Study last night, then why are Black Americans ‘playing God’ by favoring Davis over Brewer? Is this a Cain and Abel situation? Why are African-Americans so outraged over the death penalty when someone who looks like them is at the receiving end of this punishment, but when the punishment is handed down to a white American, the discussion boards and social networking sites are void of any dissent, and barber and beauty shops, churches, and Negro watering holes are so quiet you can hear a rat piss on cotton?

I am maturing as a man and as a Negro, so I am trying my best to be as objective as possible when it pertains to any human’s unequal treatment, socioeconomic plight, discrimination of any kind, and any –ism that may bombard them during their time here on planet Earth. I guess what needs to be said is that ‘we’ Blacks must begin to exhibit the equality and objectivity we so long for when interacting with and existing among those that are different from us—if only visibly different.

The execution of Troy Davis was no more a tragedy than the execution, on the same night I may add, which reeks of irony, of Lawrence Brewer. The judicial system played God by determining when, how, and who is deserving of murder. The judicial system decided that these two men’s lives were no longer worth living and the punishment should be death. Is the Negroidian American anti-death penalty or only against the death penalty when a Black person is on the receiving end of this kind of terminal punishment? There is no gray area here, folks. It’s either up or down, left or right, or, for lack of a better analogy, Black or white. No pun intended.

-Gee Joyner