Kendrick Lamar has a song about being a hypocrite when it comes to race. It is called “Blacker the Berry.” He goes on a relentless crusade against racism and discusses why he is pro-black; however, at the end, he pronounces that he is a hypocrite because gang violence would make him kill a man blacker than he.
When we encounter fear, we naturally flock to predispositions about others that are often wrong. These predispositions are learned and difficult to eradicate. A few nights ago, I was having a dream in which I was back in high school, and my wallet was stolen from my backpack. I instantly, and automatically, decided that one of my fellow black students had taken my wallet, even though I had no evidence of this. This dream made me think about the effect of black fear and underlying bias in our lives.
This dream gave me an alleyway to think about things in a new perspective. I blame the media for placing these irrational thoughts in our minds.
The negative images we see about black men in the media project themselves in our behaviors when we lose ourselves momentarily. Sadly, I can rationalize an argument for why George Zimmerman decided that his life was in danger in that second of fear and killed Trayvon Martin. I can rationalize an argument for why 12-year-old Tamir Rice was labeled as a man and shot without question by police. Mass media placed implicit fear of black men into their mind, and they acted accordingly in split-second decisions.
If this line of thinking is true, the future is scary.
I have even suffered from this media-driven syndrome. Last summer, I met a guy, and we proceeded to have a summer romance. One night, we were coming home from a late night out, and we stopped to eat. We were in line, kissing, holding hands and having a great time with each other. All of this ended instantly for me when three black males approached us. I assumed they were going to gay bash us based on our behaviors; however, they came to tell us that someone cut us in line. I do not think I would have been nearly as frightened if three white men had approached us.
The saddest part is that I know better. I have been on the Black Student Union Executive Council and am very well versed on race and race relations. I have a genuine love for my black brothers and sisters. However, it seems that none of this mattered in that split-second decision.
We jump to prevailing notions of “blackdom” when it matters the most. This is reflected well in a quote from the movie “Chameleon Street” that basically alludes to this: “I’m a victim of 400 years of conditioning. The man has programmed my conditioning. Even my conditioning has been conditioned.”
Basically, I am the biggest hypocrite of 2015.
Marcus Daniels is a senior biology major from Brandon.
