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Why Joe Bayou Buckeye Burrow Is Only Partially Correct that Black America needs White America’s Help: It is Time that White America Cleaned Its House of White Bigots

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It would be disingenuous to feign surprise regarding the stream of athletes who have come forward to address the murder of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I am sure that we all agree that the murder of Black men by law enforcement officers has become so common that it is neither shocking nor surprising to any of us.

In fact, the ritualistic murder of Black men has been a psychological release for many Whites who revel in modern-day lynching’s the same way that their ancestors did throughout the 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th Centuries. If nothing else, the George Floyd’s murder by so-called law enforcement officers and the hunting and killing of Ahmaud Arbery by private citizens raises difficult questions regarding my White countrymen. A reasonable person is left with no other conclusion than to say that it is time for White America to get its house in order.

Let me be absolutely clear, it is White America that dug this rugged-path of racial bias and animosity centuries ago, not Blacks. Blacks have been trying to survive this hellish ride as best we can. Yet, these facts have never lessened a prevailing narrative that continues to resurface at inopportune moments. It has risen yet again via a Twitter post by the Bayou Buckeye Joe Burrow.

Burrow’s tweet advances a well-meaning, yet incorrect belief that it is Black America that needs help; as expected, there is no mention of a desperate need for White America to get its house in order. According to Joe Burrow, the first selection in the 2020 NFL draft by the Cincinnati Bengals,

The black community needs our help. They have been unheard for far too long. Open your ears, listen, and speak. This isn’t politics. This is human rights.

Although I applaud Burrow’s attempt to delve into the shark-infested waters that surround the island of American racial matters, like so many other athletes, Burrow has scant understanding of this complex issue.

The foremost evidence of his lack of understanding is the fact that he believes that “The Black community needs our help.” This common trope is wrong-headed.

Although unfashionable to state, it is not Black America that needs help. It is White America that needs divine help in breaking its pattern of oppression and repression of a Black populace that has asked for little more than the ability to avoid them. Despite what many Whites believe, the average Black person would be absolutely fine if they had no interactions with a community that has produced evil-doers who seem to have dedicated their entire existence to the continuation of racial inequality by any means necessary.

Although it may appear counter-intuitive, the harsh fact is that Blacks have little role in ending bigotry or institutionalized racism. How could they? There is no doubt that these social ills emanate from a White populace infested by a virus that was never impacted by Blacks praying and pleading to their sense of decency. I believe that the only effective counter to racial bigotry and institutionalized racism is the intervention of an army of committed White soldiers willing to dedicate their lives to addressing the ardent bigots in their midst.

Their enemy is not hidden.

Make no mistake about it, well-meaning Whites know the identities of those that have dedicated their entire lives to the continuation of Black oppression. Well-meaning Whites invite them to sit at their table during Thanksgiving, they exchange gifts with them during the Holiday season, and work alongside them in Fortune 500 companies. Virulent bigots take pride in their worldview and are therefore far from anonymous. It is White America’s responsibility to not only expose them, but also deal with them in whatever way that they deem appropriate. In all fairness, there has been a rising tide of such activities; I applaud Whites for their efforts.

One of the foremost thorns in the side of accomplished Blacks is the undeniable fact that their racial identity ties them to other Blacks that they have little to nothing in common with. Whites are not immune to this unfortunate situation. For purposes of safety, Blacks have historically viewed Whites as a monolithic population seeking to execute evil dealings.

Yet, even in this matter, White America’s situation is markedly different from that facing Blacks. White America could use its formidable power to wipe evil-doers from not only their communities, but also the nation. The historical record proves that White America possesses frightening power when determined to make alterations to their society.

I only hope that Whites make the conscious decision to aid Black America by addressing the root of America’s race problem. Albeit uncomfortable to admit for well-meaning Whites, many of these people are family members and close friends. The enemy is encamped all around well-meaning Whites, now they must open their eyes, identify this scurrilous element, and take definitive action to destroy it.

Dr. James Thomas Jones III

© Manhood, Race, and Culture 2020.

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Why White America is Responsible for the Lynching of George Floyd and What They Can Do About It

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Brrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinng!

The above word is the first line of Richard Wright’s novel, Native Son. The famed Chicago Renaissance writer intended for the ringing alarm clock to serve the purpose that all alarm clocks serve, to wake this nation up. From Wright’s perspective, America needed to be awaken to its Race problem.

Although significant by itself, Wright’s Native Son is only one of a series of bridges that highlight America’s great tradition of racial bigotry. The resistance of David Walker’s Appeal, Frederick Douglass’ admonishments during a Fourth of July presentation, Anna Julia Cooper’s lamentations from the South, W.E.B. DuBois’ prophetic warning that “the problem of the 20th Century will be the color line” and a series of deaths all serve as reminders of America’s horrific history of racial animosity. The alluded to bridges have led us to the murder of George Floyd by so-called law enforcement officers who were deemed fit for employment by the Minneapolis Police Department.

Americans are no different from other groups in their desire to embrace traditions that portray them in a favorable light and distance themselves from grander traditions that depict them in a negative, yet accurate light. An unbiased review of the American historical record reveals White America as a collective of greedy, avaricious, ends-justify-the-means, racial bigots who have little problem turning a blind-eye toward genocide if it serves a larger purpose.

This consistent inconsistency is nothing new.

There is no greater depiction of America’s character than the following litany offered by Frederick Douglass nearly two-hundred years ago. Douglass characterized this nation in the following manner.

There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices, more shocking and bloody, than are the people of these United States, at this very hour. Go where you may, search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the old world, travel through South America, search out every abuse, and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of the every day practices of this nation, and you will say with me, that, for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival.

The murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police Department officers in front of an attentive public is yet another reminder that Douglass’ words still ring true.

The optimistic side of me hopes that Douglass’ words will activate White America to take a serious look at its soul. A soul that has been formed in the midst of centuries of unconscionable acts of hatred, racial bigotry, and tyrannical rule.

Let me be clear on this matter, the genesis of America’s Race problem began with White America and the solution to it will come from that community as well. There are only two reasonable paths that Whites can take to achieve the above goal. They can either aid in the total destruction of Black America or turn inward with the full intention of executing a intra-racial Civil War designed to exterminate unsavory portions of their community. A process that would call for them to address the bigotry of close family members, political leaders, and associates. It is obvious that there is no way that White bigots and Blacks are going to ever peacefully coexist within the same country.

I resist with every fiber of my being the white rage that leads so many of my Black countrymen to view Whites’ as a monolithic population whose foremost priority is the extermination of Blacks. My personal experience prevents me from embracing this daunting perspective. Yet, I am firmly entrenched in the belief that the only population capable of stomping out America’s grand tradition of racial bigotry and hatred is White America. Put simply; it is time that White America regulated its own citizens as there are segments of White America that are impenetrable to outsiders.

I am certain that it is within these socialization centers where the most virulent racial bigots are created by a daunting narrative that masquerades the evil-doings of White heroes and heroines for the extension of White privilege. This can only be eradicated by our White countrymen. The failure of White America to get its house in order makes the public lynching of Black men such as George Floyd an inevitability.

The ability to end racial bigotry and the cascade of ills that flow from it is found within a White America whose power and privilege rests on its existence. Trust me when I say that the alluded to conundrum is not new. It is the same issue that faced abolitionists William Lloyd Garrison and John Brown. I hope that White America will realize it and get busy cleaning their own house; however, I have little hope that they will.

After all, racial tyranny is one of their grandest traditions and its destruction will come at a steep cost that I am unsure that they are willing to pay for the sake of freedom, liberty, and justice.

Dr. James Thomas Jones III

© Manhood, Race, and Culture 2020.