Angry Black People

I have been that Angry Black Girl, that one that says the thing that makes everyone uncomfortable, the one who demands space to speak the truth of what it is like to be Black in America. It's nothing new, it's nothing rare. If you are Black and grow up in this country and don't live in a bubble, something has probably happened at some point in time to really piss you off. That something might be just a realization of how f%$#ed up our history has been, how many Black missing people were found buried in Mississippi in the summer of 1965 alone, or it might be something like racial profiling, not getting that job because you have nappy hair, or being called Nigger by that crazy person on the bus. Black people are twice as likely to get heart disease, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes. On average we live about 5 years less than White people and is there any wonder why? It is stressful living here, but what's even more crazy making is that because angry Black people are seen as scary or threatening to White people, we are often told that our anger is inappropriate. We are told that in order for them to hear us, we must speak in a calm voice. We must suppress our feelings to be palatable,because heaven forbid you say something true and some guilty feeling White person gets upset about it. Well, I'm sick of it. SICK! And to hear it coming from Colin Powell, just pisses me off even more.

Back tracking. I am in Portland visiting my Dad. We've got the TV tuned to CNN and we are watching Larry King live with special guest Colin Powell. Larry's first questions for Powell were in regards to the recent arrest of Dr. Henry Louis "Skip" Gates JR.

For those of you who don't know Skip Gates, he is one of the most notable Black public intellectuals in the US. Gates was one of the co-editors of the Norton Anthology on African American Literature and among other things put together a PBS mini series on African American Lives. He is currently a professor at Harvard. Recently, he was arrested for "breaking into" his own home. This is another example of things that could possibly inspire someone to feel what bell hooks terms a "killing rage". Gates' key got stuck in his front door. He was eventually able to get in, but in the meanwhile his White neighbors called the police to report a possible burglary. The police showed up, words were exchanged and then Gates was arrested for "disorderly conduct", though I maintain that Gates was really arrested for being an angry Black man.

Gates is about 58, a little shorter than me, and walks with a cane, so clearly he is not very physically imposing. As he had managed to get into his house by the time the police arrived, and had access to his identification which clearly illustrated that he was indeed in his own damn home, I can only conclude that his only real crime was possibly running off at the mouth because he was angry. And while you theoretically can't be arrested for "reckless eyeballing" anymore, apparently you can still be charged with the crime of being an angry Black person.

In recounting these events, Powell stated that he thought the neighbors who called the police were just being good citizens and that the police were correct to respond the way they did. Then he all but said that Gates deserved what he got for not being "cooperative". What kind of bullshit is that? While I usually respect Colin Powell as being a very intelligent, well thought out person, I feel like he has just lent validity to a notion I would spend my life working to invalidate: that Black people must still be trained to "cooperate" and that we should curb our feelings to make White people comfortable.

It's 2009. When does this end? SO slavery is over, Jim Crow laws have been abolished and yet still there has to be some way for White America to get keep us in our place. A few weekends ago, I was at the Hidmo performing at Tamika's Tanzania fundraiser when I looked out the window and saw a group of young Black men. They weren't doing anything. They weren't talking too loud. They weren't committing any crime. They didn't look suspicious to me at all. They just looked like some people walking home. Suddenly there were sirens and they were surrounded by the police. A group of us went outside to take pictures and bear witness. As I watched, it was clear to me that this was not the first time this had happened to these young Black men. They knew exactly what to do. They lowered their eyes and kept their hands in front of them. The cops told them to assume the position, so the all slowly and quietly put their hands on the hood of the cop car and spread their legs so that they could be more easily frisked. Several more cop cars descended upon the area and at no point in time did I see any evidence of ANY criminal activity. I guess it was just another WWB, Walking While Black incident. The cops glanced back at us from time to time and then eventually left the boys to go on their way, but what was that all about? What if one of them had gotten angry? Would he have been arrested? I've seen angry White people before and none of them got arrested. Why the double standard?

When do we get to feel what we feel? When do we get access to these so called "equal" rights that we've been promised under the law? Let me just say this, because someone needs to say it, those people who called the cops on a man entering his own home were not being good citizens or even good neighbors. Had they been good neighbors they would know their neighbor by sight. I know mine. Also, the police officer who arrested Skip Gates, was not just doing his job. The job of the police is to protect and serve. He did not accomplish that by arresting someone who clearly had committed NO crime. I have to agree with Obama's initial reaction. The actions of the police were STUPID, but more to the point they were deplorable and should be illegal. And lastly...I don't care what Gates said, or what tone he used to say it, no one should be arrested in their own home for NO DAMN REASON. And that it happened was totally racist, wrong, and I am totally pissed about it. But moreover I'm pissed at Colin Powell for legitimizing and placating the guilty white response. It isn't okay.