Why White People Love To Call Educated Black People “Militant”

Yesterday I posted a status update to Facebook in reference to the events that took place in McKinney, TX stating:

I see the “it’s not about race” crowd has shown up.

Here’s the thing:

When one group of people are at least 200 million strong (white people) in this country, the “it’s not about race” line can easily roll off the tongue so simple because you exist in a world where you don’t ever have to consider your race being an issue simply because you are literally EVERYWHERE.  So everybody is just accustomed to seeing you every single day at every single place…it’s like being desensitized.

But when you are 41 million in numbers (Black society) and you are NOT everywhere like the 200M+ crowd, then you’d be a fool to think any negative reaction with a member of the 200M+ club doesn’t have a hint of a racial component.

If it’s NOT about race, then why did the white lady (Tracey Carver-Allbritton) attack that Black 19 year old young lady & tell her to go back to her section 8 housing?  If it’s not about race, then how was it that the white kid filming the event did not get treated in a similar manner as that of the Black teens that police officer Eric Casebolt was chasing around & slamming to the ground?  Shit, the white kid filming the whole incident was all up in the mix with his camera just like all of the Black kids.

Bottom line:  if you are Black, any questionable interaction with a member of the dominant society…you ALWAYS have to keep the “Is it because I’m Black?” thought process in the back of your mind at all times until things prover otherwise.  Why?  Simple…it’s only 41 million or so of us in this country, so realistically there are literally millions of white people who never have any real contact with Black people beyond what they see on TV; & we all know how the media gets down with its portrayals of Black society.  Meanwhile, Black people cannot go anywhere without seeing white people.

Don’t be mad…it is what it is.

So upon reading that you can only imagine the reactions I received.  In fact, I received over 300 such responses which literally began to expose a lot of people’s (Black & white) ignorance on the subject of race.  But out of all of the responses I received, one comment stood out to me the most & this was a comment from a white lady:

“Onyx Truth comes across harsh and militant at times, ok most of the time, but I have sat back and just read and gained insight for more than a year.  He makes me uncomfortable, makes me question, triggers me to look at the world with less rose colored glasses.  I have gained insight I lacked without knowing I lacked it.  That’s just it, being open minded and non predacious does not automatically equal informed and aware.”

My response:

“Militant really?  What do I say that leads you to believe I’m militant?  I’m curious to know.”

Her response:

“Combative and aggressive dear.  It’s not a bad thing, it’s just overwhelming.  A person like myself needs time to digest and ponder and you are full steam ahead.”

*le sigh*

Here’s the problem I have with white people labeling Black people as militant

You know why they say “an educated Black man is the most dangerous person”?

It’s because that educated Black person possesses the power to actually influence the way other people think.  Power & control starts with ownership of the mind.  You can tame a physically “dangerous” person; slavery has shown us that.  But to convince slaves that slavery is the natural order of things, you have to first control a slave’s mind to the point where the slave actually begins to believe being a slave IS the natural order of things.  Harriet Tubman stated that she could have freed more slaves if only they knew they were slaves to begin with.

You cannot have educated Black people running around educating other Black people to a new way of thinking & analyzing the world.  You’re going to disrupt the flow of the system and people like that got to go.  Don’t believe me?  Since everyone LOVES to toss out MLK’s name in discussions of this nature…what eventually happened to him?

Now when it comes to the term “militant”

1.  The definition of militant is:  combative & aggressive in support of a political or social cause, and typically favoring extreme, violent, or confrontational methods.  Somebody please point out when & where have I EVER favored Black people becoming extreme, violent, or confrontational.  So all of a sudden being educated & articulate somehow equates to having the propensity to become violent & confrontational?  Really?

2.  That is only a term reserved for educated & articulate Black people who speak out on social issues.  That term is NEVER applied to educated & articulate white people who do the same.

3.  It’s about the white people who dish out the label being uncomfortable with this educated & articulate Black person FORCING them to analyze how white people as a collective are known to get down historically & in the present day as far as their interactions with Black society.

4.  It’s about forcing white people to look at themselves to do some soul searching to see if the things they do are really offensive whether they know it or not.

5.  It’s simply about white people being FORCED to STOP seeing the world strictly through THEIR eyes only & actually realizing that a lot of Black people DO NOT experience life in the exact same manner as that of white people.