Have Blacks become too
self-centered, too intolerant?
too selfish?© 2016


Samuel K
theblacksilentmajority SM

Immediately after the Orlando mass shootings, a black Wal-Mart employee in Georgia posted a comment that said of the shooter, “He was doing a community service.” That employee was subsequently fired. He should have been fired. You don't have to like a group's lifestyle, but you should respect the group’s humanity.


What if a racist had posted comments defending the actions of a rogue cop. What if that racist said the officer "was doing community service," when he murdered a black male? We would be outraged at such a statement. We should be equally outraged in this instance.




As a group, some of us have become too much too self-absorbed and too intolerant. Some of us have claimed Black Lives Matter. But when others have said All Lives Matter, we act offended as if only black lives can matter. It’s as if we’re blind to the injustices faced by others because we’re too obsessed with our own injustices.

The fact is other groups support us. But if we became the majority, would we be as bad as the current majority, or would we be more humane?

In this country and in every other country on the planet, there are poor people. There are people who are being discriminated against for one reason or another. Many of us in the African American nation, seem to forget this. We seem to think we are the only ones who face discrimination or any kind of hardship, and too often, it’s all about us, our concerns, and to hell with everybody else.


Case in point. During several protests last year over police shootings, black protesters blocked traffic and even kept shoppers from going about their shopping during the Black Friday and other days leading up to Christmas.


Here’s the thing. Neither the shoppers, nor those who got stuck in traffic due to the protesters, had anything to do with the issue the protesters were so animated about. But the protesters were so obsessed with their issues, they had no consideration for others. Chanting, “No justice, no peace,” they acted as if they were justified in inconveniencing others and preventing them from going about their business. Their concerns, and their issues, had been elevated above those of others who did them no harm.


We can be just as pro-black and as down for cause as we have been, but that doesn’t mean we cannot be compassionate towards others in the process.