According to multiple reports, violence erupted in the wake of NBA All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas.
Arrests, fighting, riots. Disgrace.
Kind of like Woodstock 1999 — only Jason Whitlock probably didn’t write about that (and if he did, he likely left out “baby’s mamas”).
This article is not about the thugs who allegedly terrorized Las Vegas. This is not about the men who, like parasites, clung to the NBA’s marquee event and sucked the blood and enjoyment from it. Those people are beyond saving, and not worth defending. This article is also not about the fact that NBA players once again have to be dragged down — and this time, for something no player took any part in. In fact, the only pro athlete potentially facing legal trouble from the All Star Weekend is ‘Pac Man’ Jones of the NFL.
This is about the people who use incidents like these to make a mockery of the black race, under the guise of critic. This is about Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and all the leaders of the black community, who have led ‘their people’ into a never-ending cycle of self hatred.
What young, African American men need to realize is that there are elements who seemingly love nothing more than to watch their downfall. Elements that are not confined to Michael Richards or Ken Levine — elements that aren’t confined to middle-aged, grousing white talk radio hosts. These elements are the pillars of the black community, the elders, the people who set the rules and agenda.
Whether its Bill Cosby, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson or Jason Whitlock, African American personalities of a certain age regularly beat their younger counterparts like its batting practice, taking aim against hip-hop, tattoos, and anything that can be associated with young black culture. Whitlock, the former ESPN personality, is most notable for the purposes of this article. The Kansas City Star columnist regularly takes aim at the NBA and its players, thrashing the league at every turn for every possible misdeed, and he does it under the guise of being a cultural critic. What Whitlock actually is, like Cosby, Sharpton, Jackson and the other “leaders of the black community”, is a curmudgeon — part of an older generation that can’t shut up about how horrible “them kids is being”.
Unfortunately, young African Americans too often validate the claims of their elders. The violence in Las Vegas this past weekend was only ammunition for those who like to blame hip-hop for all the evils in the world (CNN anchor Paula Zahn continued her exploitation of the culture war yesterday, with the topic “Hip Hop or Poison?”). Now, Cosby, Sharpton, Whitlock and the like can freely associate immature, asinine actions with a culture and an age group, casting aspersions and generalities that would make a Gary Thorne beam with pride.
Listen to hip-hop? Means you must like guns. Means you must be a thug. Play in the NBA? Same thing. Hip-hop culture and the NBA have been dragged through the mud by these “leaders of the black community”. Gang violence somehow becomes indicative of hip-hop. Hispanics and Asians are quite active in gangs as well, and yet I never hear a pillar of their respective communities come out against any brand of music or dress. That might be because Hispanics and Asians in this country have enough self-esteem and self-respect to not depend on the opinions of a small group of men and women. That might be because you don’t see Hispanics and Asians forcing themselves into some sort of sickening collective, “the Black Union”, “the black community”, as if instead of being a race of diverse human beings, they are a group of homogeneous underlings in need of constant guidance and advice.
Ever hear Whitlock, Sharpton or Jackson come out against white gangsters? No? Maybe there are no white gangsters; but even if there were, Whitlock, Sharpton, Cosby, Wilbon, et al, would not comment. After all, they lead the black community, not the white community. It’s their job to talk about young black men. And if that means holding young African Americans up to a higher standard than any other racial group in the country, then so be it. If that means giving ammunition to racists, so be it. After all, the leaders of the black community are the parents of the black community. The black family.
And as part of the black family, these leaders can decide what’s best for young African Americans. That’s why there’s an age limit in the NBA, and that’s why so many of these ‘leaders’ supported it. “Get an education before you get money — I am your father, and you should do what I say. I know what’s best for you, because I know you, even if I don’t know you personally.” They are bad parents; the kind who tell you how horrible you are, as if that will motivate you to do anything but fail.
No other race depends so heavily on a small group of people. Never will you see a small group claim to speak and represent white America. Never will you see white people relate the problems of gang members to the problems of the entire race. Maybe because there isn’t a “white community” or a white collective — maybe because black people might be the only people on the planet who seem to want to think with the same brain and share the same opinions.
The black community as communist Russia.
And maybe because no other race has the utter lack of self-respect that the black race does. Maybe because all these pillars of the community swing and swing and swing at every possible negative they can find, associating it with every aspect of “black culture”. Maybe because if 9/11 were to occur again, they’d find a way to blame it on 50 Cent.
There are thugs. There are criminals. They were apparently everywhere in Las Vegas. That is not the issue. At issue is the fact that, if those men were predominantly white, there is no way that it would become an indictment of young white America. There is no way that any pillars of the white community (there are none, per se, they’re usually referred to as Senators and Congressmen) would allow it. The criminals would be referred to as what they are. Criminals.
