A Message from the Average Black Person

To Whom It May Concern:

Greetings. My name is Elon James White. I'm Black.

I write this letter on behalf of a lot of people that fall into the category of Average Black People. (Yes, I capitalize it, as if it were a title.) I do not claim to represent them because that would be absurd. I really, truly don't. I don't even represent my circle of friends. At any point in time one of my Black buddies will, in fact, tell me to go to hell when speaking on concepts of race, politics, or religion.

I do, however, qualify as an Average Black Person. I am neither a part of the Black intelligentsia, nor do I fall into the category of your garden-variety street Negro. A lot of folks see Black people in one of these two categories. Normally, let's be honest, it's the latter.

I don't qualify.

I do come from "the Hood." That's right. I am a born and bred Brooklynite raised in the middle of Bed-Stuy. If you aren't familiar with Bed-Stuy, perhaps you have never listened to gangster rap. You're probably also unfamiliar with Jay-Z, Biggie Smalls, or the thousands of songs that yell out "Brooklyn!" and then give a shout-out to Bed-Stuy. It's fine. Just understand that Bed-Stuy has a primarily negative connotation and for many years was used in boasts to gain respect or fear because it's an incredibly violent environment.

In other words, you could get shot, son.

Speaking of which, I am the son of a single mother. My father is in prison. My grandfather was a pastor and I grew up in the church. I, without shame, also enjoy fried chicken, watermelon, ribs, and orange soda. I can have an incredibly in-depth debate on the best five MCs ever. My credit isn't great and I've been shot.

With facts like this I qualify as a stereotypical Black person right?

But I am also a computer programmer. I've been known to quote Nietzsche. I, on occasion, host dinner parties where I serve five-course meals, including a specialty of mine, White Truffle Tilapia (it's delightful). I have the entire John Williams discography and wear a backpack that is emblazoned with the Thundercats insignia.

Those with one half of that story shake their head at the sheer mass of stereotypes I carry. Then those with the other half question if I even understand the Black experience at all. Some refer to me as someone who "made it out." I currently live in Crown Heights. Some say "You're not like the others." Most people I interact with are very similar to me.

I am an Average Black Person.

So, as an ABP, I have a few requests:

Media.
Please stop referring to blacks as a monolith. I can't possibly express to you the different types of Black people that exist. We neither move as an entity, nor do we move as three or four entities. For every Sharpton, there's a Steele. And for every Sharpton and Steele there are a hundred folks in the middle. What we share is a past, which on occasion helps shape our view on things. Also? Obama is not a unicorn. Please stop acting like Obama and his family are magical in the Black community. Just because some of you may not have seen a Negro like this doesn't mean they don't exist. Lots of smart black folk living with their smart mates and their cute smart kids. So please remember. Obama? Not a unicorn. Black people? Not one voice: I don't care what the supposed Black leaders try to claim.

Supposed Black Leaders.
Please stop speaking for us as if we were a monolith. This is not the 1960s. We don't need a Martin Luther King, Jr. or a Malcom X. You speak for yourselves and your view on what's happening. You also can't police black people. There isn't an us. Are there issues within the Black community? Absolutely, but it's not everybody as much as it is certain groups, most time classes that are in need of help and focus. Hence you can't speak for "Blacks." There are people who need your help and don't want you speaking for them. Oh, and for the love of all that is holy, could you please stop critiquing Obama simply to show you aren't drinking the kool-aid? I get it. You're sugar-free. Got it.

Critics Of Obama.
Hey, um...guess what Black people are not? A monolith. We are not holding Obama on a pedestal. Some critique him harshly (and personally I feel unjustly) and others love him. This is the case with every president. Obama is not the spokesperson for Black people. He is a symbol of hope. He is a symbol of opportunity in a land where opportunity for us seemed nonexistent. He's a symbol of a fight where people cried and died and sacrificed in order for the opportunity for him to exist. But his actions are his actions and have to be judged. Just not four months after he walked in the door with one of the worst clean up jobs in the countries history. You may critique him without critiquing Blacks' ability to critique him.

The hypocrisy of saying we are not One, and yet speaking for the exact group for which I just emphatically denied exists, is not lost on me. Perhaps there are Black people who absolutely want to be spoken for and referred to as if we were one big team. I acknowledge the possibility, but if this was the majority people like Dyson and Smiley would be way more important, and let's be honest: they aren't. I hope that my message is clear. After reading this, the next time you talk to a Black person you can feel comfortable in now knowing with every fiber of your being that you have no clue what they think or feel based on their skin color.

But if they're wearing a Soulja Boy shirt you may disregard this essay and judge them immediately.

Follow Elon James White on Twitter: www.twitter.com/elonjames

Comments

[IGNSTHMD]

group think may have it's roots in status quo and status quo may be invoked by media forces, but where did these media forces introduce the culture of status quo (or at least revise it to a maluable institution? I say we should look toward the culture of death as it has progressed through film since the advent of the in screen pistol discharge and impact. a list of movies graded by grotesqueness of death:

The Black Hole
Indian Jones and the search for the lost ark
Return of the Dragon
Romeo and Juliet (Harold Perrineau)
Interview with a Vampire
Deep Blue Sea
Full Metal Jacket
Menace 2 Society
Predator
Sin City

From Alfred Hitchcock to Jason Vorhees we have sated our need to distance our humanity from materialism and thus the status quo; the dissonance of creating a system of values that answers discriminately instead of loyaly. “The functioning American, as the heir of a history of extreme contrasts and abrupt changes, bases his final ego identity on some tentative combination of dynamic polarities such as migratory and sedentary, individualistic and standardized, competitive and co-operative, pious and free-thinking, responsible and cynical, etc…. To leave his choices open, the American, on the whole, lives with two sets of “truths.””(Ray)

[BlueGlueBunny]

Perfect! im a black chick that likes metal, :). Good post, good us ABP don't get lumped in with the lower half.

[NevadaDick]

Great article with thoughts that need to expressed more. I'm an AWP but celebrate all minorities who are "normal" "average" "mainstream" "civic" Americans. Now if my gay, black, cowboy friend could just face up to his bipolar problem, he would be "normal".

[dubiousthoughts]

Great point. We need to be less hyphenated­-americans and better Americans

[SJBrown]

Why is a hyphenated-American problematic for you? What makes sameness better?

[amo]

Hey Mr. White
thank you for the article. All of us have to fight being labeled according to color, sex, income,educational level, place of birth and a combination of so many things. I'm a southern white male (from a very small town with the accent of course, which always labels me with most people) I'm a hairstylist/yoga instructor, a vegetarian that enjoys reading the Bhagavad -Gita, among other strange habits for a bubba, hell even my family is confused but the friends and family that love and respect me still accept me as I'm sure your friends and family do. Keep being yourself you sound like a confident and happy person to me.

[robert234]

I'm a 73yr. old white guy. I absolutely agree with everything you say. However, I'm also an anarchist, and I also believe that the STATE is the genesis of evil. Therefore, I do use crimes and slavery committed againist Blacks by state laws as a unique example of that evil. And I assume that all Blacks would agree with that historical truth. So in this isolated context they suffered as a group.

































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[bgoodric]

Thanks, Mr. White! Wonderful. I teach a philosophy class on the ideologies of racism and sexism, and want to link to this as a reading, if that's OK with you. (A plug for Nietzsche, too -- I'm in heaven.)

[Elon James White - Huffpost Blogger]

Absolutely. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[hankandted]

This really perks me up!!
Re: Tshirt, won't most of the people wearing it be teens? So they do think alike in many ways, regardless of race.

[SouthJerseySteve]

Fabulous article posted -- the same could be said for us AGP (Average Gay People). We aren't all like Perez Hilton or the Board at HRC (or porn stars for that matter).

[SBrooksB]

You snatched the words out of my mouth, Steve..
Great post, Mr. White.

[saami]

Thank you for your post. Someday we will realize that there are no stereotypical blacks, whites, asian or Indians. We are just people.

[EST74]

Great article Elon. As another ABP I'm right there with you. We are not a monolith and there is no arbitrary list of all things black that defines us. I think it's a product of fear and intellectual laziness when people choose to view us all the same and think we all share the same views because we have shared history and ethnicity. That is tribalism and the last time I checked I am not apart of a tribe.

[IGNSTHMD]

if there wasn't any truth to the twoness or tribalism of our group there would be no such thing as horizontal violence. true, not true?

[bighat]

Quite possibly the best article I have read in years. Straightforward and honest. No political agenda.

Well written and a very good message. Hope the white liberal not only reads your article but comprehends the meaning

[StillIRise]

Thank you for your post. Let's just hope it sinks in!

[themagicrat]

This is a brilliant commentary, Elon. Thanks for this.
You might hate this comparison, but as a Brooklyn-born Jew, I can relate to certain elements of your piece, like when people assume that all Jews think exactly the same, support each other without question, and are, of course, part of a huge conspiracy (cabal) to rule the world (or at least the banks and Hollywood).
By the way, I have never read Nietzsche, do not own any John Williams albums, and am not really up on the Thundercats. I have also never been shot. However, I do know all the words to Hava Nagila, make a mean potato kugel and matzoh brie, and have traveled to Israel with my family.
And I don't expect there will be a Jewish president anytime soon.

[authoritarianbootlicker]

Right on!