Why Are You People So Angry?

Y'all noticed that the subtitle of my blog labels me as part of a long tradition of angry black men in America.

Truthfully, in real life I'm a fairly jovial fellow, particularly around people I know and trust. My friends will tell you I am often irreverent and sarcastic, but rarely cruel. While I am full of opinions and love a great debate, I also can listen to people when they need an open ear and a closed mouth.

But those are people who know me.

Strangers typically find me to be quiet and stuck-up. In my travels through cyberspace I've been labeled an angry, race-baiter for some of my stances. I used to relish the confrontations my viewpoints would inspire, but now I try to avoid those arguments because I'm not that interested in conversing with certain folks.

A common comment I've seen from a lot of white folks and folks who identify with white folks, is that they are annoyed and disturbed by the anger and bitterness black folks often display. As Rev. Wright has shown the world, black folks can get a little excited when they are recounting the evils done in this country throughout the years. Unfortunately, not only does that subject matter displease a lot of folks, but the "tone" doesn't sit too well either.

My brother and I were discussing the way black anger is received in this country the other night, and we agreed on a simple explanation. Mainstream America really doesn't think black folks have earned the right to complain.

I'm sure most of you have seen this manifested in your lives, and Pat Buchanan wrote a wonderful letter recently for those of you who didn't get the earlier memos. The lack of respect for the complaints of black people is easily visible in the way they are handled.

Black people's complaints about systemic racism are counteracted by anecdotes about personal discrimination. Black people's complaints about individual injustice are minimized by statistics about the overall advancement of the black race. It's a racial Catch-22, that has existed for centuries.

Eventually, if they are lucky, black folks who complain enough are told about the drain their race places on this country through its dependence on welfare and its overrepresentation in the prison system. Basically, we get asked "What are you all bringing to the table?"

I'm not going to bother with giving a historical breakdown of what black folks have brought to America's table because I assume that most of y'all are pretty familiar with the litany. But, it really piqued my interest that so many white people could think black people were a race of moochers.

Seriously, I know that the media, Hollywood and racists have pushed the stereotype of black people as lazy, roustabouts, but I just can't believe that people are willing to ingest those lies when contradictory information is right in front of their faces. I know that most neighborhoods in the country are still pretty segregated, but you would think that white folks have seen enough black people working somewhere to figure out that we aren't allergic to labor.

Combine that with the fact that many, MANY people still living in America witnessed black folks diligently struggle at the most menial tasks because discrimination barred them from better jobs, and you just have to wonder, WTF?

Given this country's history and its present condition, you would think that if any group had earned the right to complain based on hard work, it would be black folks. Shoot, I think our ancestors paid enough tolls for all of us, but even if they didn't, black folks are still earning their keep today.

Yet, it seems that mainstream America was never alerted to this reality. Instead, scores of Americans think black people always want something handed to them. It's such a popular lie, that you'll even hear black folks themselves repeating it.

What magical tasks do black people have to complete to become white? Are they like the challenges of Hercules? Any of y'all know where I can find the list?

I need to get cracking on earning my Justified Anger card.