Black Friday? Or Fried Blackie
Inculcation Nation
When I hear things like “why don’t the blacks get over it,” or white supremacist and racist rhetoric that compares Black People in the United States to others, for me to characterize it as infuriating is violent understatement. As one fascinated by words, their origins, history and meanings, I am cognizant that Black People in the United States are subject to linguistic insult constantly. The constant linguistic insult is accompanied by other types of constant insult from stereotypes to murder; insult that absolutely no other people, on planet Earth, are subjected to. In the words of Adrienne Rich “Language is power…language can be used as a means of changing reality.”
As a fitting prelude to my upcoming article on the symbology of white supremacy and terrorism, and given “the season,” I am inspired to write this piece on “Black Friday.”
It is true that I am the Black Sheep of my family and society at large. I am neither Black As Sin nor Blackamoor (more of a honey-brown) but I have been indicted for having a Black Heart (in more ways than one). Resultantly, I have been Blacklisted on more than a few occasions; Blackballed as well. You see, a man that behaves in a contemptable manner is called a Blackguard.
There are those that read this article that might wish to beat me Black and Blue.
Once, I attended a funeral and most of the attendees were clad in Black garb. The cars in the procession were Black. That morning, as I prepared to depart, my toilet overflowed with Blackwater. Wretched, indeed. During the funeral, the eulogizer mentioned the Blackness of Death.
On my way home, I noticed The Omen of Darkness flying overhead; a Black Crow. As I walked up the pathway to my home, I saw a Black Cat staring intently at me. It had yellow eyes. Black Cats are bad luck and people kill them due to this brainless belief. For reasons I cannot quite put my Black Finger on, I felt the cat and I had something in common.
.The “war on terror” familiarized many with Black Operations in the military. Black Ops are, basically, the equivalent of military lawlessness (yes, quite the oxymoron). Many of those rendered “terrorists” resultant of Black Ops were sent to Black Sites. Black sites are clandestine detention facilities operated by a state where prisoners who have not been charged with a crime are often kidnapped, incarcerated without due process or court order, mistreated, murdered, have no recourse and bail is not afforded them.
As a child visiting my grandparents in Kansas each summer, I learned of a terrible illness that caused necrosis in cattle called Blackleg. The animal would have to be “put down.” Ironic. In all fairness, Blackleg is also a term used for a cheating gambler. Luckily, I gamble only with life itself and there is no cheating life because no one gets out of this world alive.
Though my reputation may be Blackened by this writing, I don’t much worry about being Blackmailed as a Black Male. I’ve never gone to a Black Friday event. I don’t like crowds; especially crowds full of superficial, greedy, materialistic idiots. No, no. I think I’ll just keep my Black Ass in my humble abode and eat and drink until I Blackout.
Happy holidays, enjoy your White Christmas whilst I go enjoy some Blackened chicken. And you know how we just love chicken.
Black…out.
Ohh my Goodness, Rohn. How I've missed your writing, and I got my Fix this afternoon!!! I'm with you on this Shopping Insanity, besides,I've got left overs to tend to, and a blown up kitchen to clean. I missed you, and can't hardly wait to see what you've got coming up next. Thank you, for being the Sane person you are, my friend. 🙏
Mr.Kenyatta, the other day I was writing and I used black-something, don't remember what, and I stopped and found another phrase. You've made me very conscious of such terms and I find myself trying to avoid them...sometimes.
But it is not necessarily that the terms are not apropos but the application to people of darker complexion than some to the same "dark"ness in quality of their personality.
We are all afraid (to a degree) of darkness, even though with my light sensitive eyes I tended to prefer it, but we can be "spooked" by what we can't see and sounds can be quite alarming until we locate it.
The "spooks" in white hoods were, themselves very "spooked" by darkness and seldom met each other in darkness and they have always been "spooked" by the darkness of people darker than themselves whom they claim they cannot read the emotions on their face.
But they're just to "spooked" to even look at their face for fear that if they look into their faces they might see they are lighter in their ability to smile. Or maybe they can't look into each other;'s face., they also look into an interviewer's face but it's always made the interviewer nervous and they couldn't meet my gaze.
Maybe they are just afraid because they are vapid of defenses in the face of light and burn atrociously and must cover their skin or burn up.
You know white people really hate being unnaturally "white" though they cannot admit and they seek to hide from the shame of their own paleness that makes them uncomfortable in light and stand out in darkness and increasing their own fears of bring exposed to becoming prey and that develops into having "blackhearts."
I never wore shorts since second grade (when pictures show I had very dark legs) and my legs were paler than pale. So I didn't like taking off my pants in front of people in the light and wanted to turn off the lights before removing my pants.
Kind of silly because that paleness probably stood out more in darkness. And that's exactly what white people are afraid of and can't even admit---they are afraid of the light and scared shitless in the dark and their own fears muster into self-hatred that can only be abrogated in their minds by projecting their own self-loathing of their coloration onto others not as unfortunate to the whims of nature as they are.
Not being able to face this fear of each other (and with good reason) they see all evil as you have described all of the "black" terminologies that you have catalogued because whites are so "blackadent" in their souls and can't awaken in the morning with any confidence that some other "black"guard on the inside who looks likes they do on the outside will not turn them into a wilted "Grey"moor that they have already transposed themselves into becoming by their fears of being living aberrations of nature.
And they can't admit that aberration to themselves, can they.?
I wrote a post recently called "the Aberrant Insecurity of Being White" and lost 14 of my white readers. However, until they can accept that aberrancy they will remain vulnerable "white"sheep and open prey to each other.
(And you know how I know I'm right, no white man discusses chapter 42 of Moby Dick.)
P.S. Like Ms. Scofield, I've missed your writing. It gives me pleasant dreams when I know white people will let a "black" excoriate them for their "blackness" of how they have treated others because they don't like their skin color.