OPINION: A Critical Look At Today’s Black Man
If I were gay, I’d hate today’s heterosexual Black men for being so, well, gay. I would never be sure who to hit on. Back in the days, looking good for a man meant a wild afro, a nappy beard or butcher-block sideburns, a leather coat, leather shoes and possibly even leather pants. Now, looking good for a man means skinny jeans, loud colors, funny sneakers, plucked eyebrows, “manscaping” and more gels, creams and products than a prom queen.
What happened? Where did all our heroes go? I miss the men from my pop’s and my uncle’s generation. Men that smoked “cheeba” and drove Cadillacs; men that always bordered on sexual harassment but usually ended up scoring anyway; men that you had to apologize for at dinner parties because they were brutish and socially inept and always ready to fight about it.
Today’s men are way more polished and refined. They’re like girls, actually. Debutantes. I don’t know, maybe it was the times. The men of the times that I miss had just come out of the 60’s and were still looking for revenge. Everything about them was hard. Even the R&B of the time was hard. These guys that we’ve got gallivanting around today don’t even have hard hip hop!
Now don’t get me wrong; nobody’s happier than me that the thug movement is dead. Nothing, not even a “flaming bottom” was gayer than a post-Tupac Shakur thug. But Public Enemy was hard. X Clan was hard. NWA was hard. Weezy is king, but is he…? Forget it.
It’d be dismissive and counter-revolutionary to blame the women. To suggest that Black women have somehow “held back” or retarded Black male development is absurd; it’s bogus. The only thing that women can do is ask themselves if they’re happy with these weirdly dressed things that expect them to always make the first move. As an Econ major, I know for a fact that supply will eventually follow demand.
Ladies: demand better!
Dr. Conrad Murray CHARGED
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As a man I think that a man should know who he is inside and out. He shouldn’t depend on the media or anybody else to define his personal since of style since the outside is only a relection of what’s on the inside.
Wow….my first response is nothing more than genuine laughter because this is something that has crossed my mind many times over the years but I’ll say this much, I don’t believe that being “hard” or “tough” in outward persona has anything to do with the actual strength of a man and in growing up as a black man in America you have to know how to very carefully walk that thin line else you pigeon hole yourself into a reputation that can cause your grind more hurt than help. You don’t have to portray any specific image to stick around and take care of your children nor do you need to be involved with any extremist activities in order to be a hard worker and support your family and those to me are the things that count. As black men in this country we had one of two options, smarten up or die out, point blank. Truthfully, I’m a bit of a stickler for street justice because I feel it calls for a bit more accountability for your actions but at the same time the stick up kid has to understand that just like if Bill Gates wanted to come survive in the life on his block that he’d have to learn the rules for survival that the same applies to him trying to move out of his lifestyle and into that of an average citizen. I think that a lot of the trends that have developed are from the struggle between trying to walk in a more organized and political environment such as the office space while still having to live in or having had come from a jungle type project where that heart of a warrior is a necessity for every day life. We want to be tough but tough gets us fired, we want to be civilized but civilized gets us robbed and it’s just a cycle that will continue unbroken until more of us find that comfort zone between professional and pimp. As for the new age tv gangsters, I agree 100%. There’s a big difference between entertaining and shucking-n-jiving and I feel that far too many youngsters don’t understand the difference. I myself have never been in a gang or sold drugs but I did however grow up around people who were involved in those activities who were often at ends with the law. I know that above all else, mouths generally stay closed about situations when dealing with real hard hitters and nowadays it seems that everyone wants to tell everything that their doing behind closed doors for publicity. If you are a REAL gangster…..there will be no p***k waving contests or advertisements when it comes to real animosity, only the grieving of loved ones in one way or the other. I don’t see a problem with a black man being “cultured” so to speak and portraying a more social friendly identity because truth be told, it’s not always what you know that can help you gain ground but at the same time if you ever lose that knowledge of self and that air of confidence that comes from knowing that if pushed too far that gentlemen can turn to G’s in a heartbeat that you’re also setting yourself up for the illusion of the worst kind and that’s the illusion of thinking that America will ever one hundred and ten percent not want to test your heart because of your skin color.
omg u are so right. n!ggas today let these females punk they asses out. i was listening to the radio the other day. this woman said that she controls the remote control, and her and her guy go to sleep when she’s ready…. that ch!ck would’ve been a single lady for real if i were in his shoes….
Church, church, church! I wonder about this all the time. Brothers used to get paid $100 a week and brag about it. It would cover clothes and their weekly hop to the club, support of the family, and over and over again. They mighta had more than a few women while they went home to one; and made no apologies for it. And they dang sure didn’t stalk. This generation needs more Rollos and Lamonts and Gradys and Freds lol. I can’t really put my thoughts into words here. I usually can. It’s just not coming together today. Too many thoughts on this issue. And I’m not about to continue and start rambling. But yeah. I’m not wearin any jeans that would look better on a woman. And I’m with Ice Cube.. “Watch them loud a** colors”.. lol
omg…a black man ready to take responsibility for himself instead of whining about how the black woman has destroyed him? i’m in shock! u get a gold star for being a real man
The last paragraph was incorrect. If women can’t see how all of the complaining for a “more sensitive”, more refined man has resulted in mass emaciation of black males then you are all delusional.If you don’t see how your unwillingness to get to know a guy unless he is emaculately dressed in the latest fashion trends has resulted in an effeminated entity with a neurotic obsession with “gear”, then you are blind out of one eye and nearsighted out of the other. You are as responsble for this as us men are for the collective anger and dissatisfaction that sisters feel for the brothers who have hurt them. There’s a lesson to be learned here, be careful what you ask for…
Times change and it doesn’t matter if you agree or not…thats the beauty of it I guess…time waits for no one…either buy some skinny jeans, or grow a fro!
Because if time could speak he would say STFU!…sit back and watch!
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