The day after the election I jokingly made a status on Facebook saying, “Does anybody have any more I SUPPORT TRUMP bumper stickers?” because my spidey senses told me that the white supremacists were about to turn the fuck up after this election victory. Little did I realize just how much turning up they were about to do. At the time of this writing it’s been reported that over 200 hate crimes have been committed in some form or another just since the election of Donald Trump. Basically, white supremacists are losing their fucking minds. I’ve seen stories of swastikas being spray painted everywhere, neo-Nazi propaganda fliers being dispersed at the universities, I’ve seen a video of a black mother talking about how her middle school aged son was attacked by some white kids who burned him with a hot glue gun, I read a story recently about a brotha who was at a gas station who got into an altercation with a white dude who called him a nigger, and on & on. To make matters even more disturbing, President-elect Donald Trump has full blown white supremacists in his cabinet…well they are using new code words such as “nationalist”, but don’t be fooled. Basically, it’s getting real dangerous out in these streets ladies & gentleman. I’m not saying that the danger was never there before, but being that we have a guy who will become the next President of the United States about to take office who clearly has no issue with his supporters openly expressing white supremacy, black people need to be extra cautious more than usual.
So what can you do?
We can continue to blog & tweet away hoping and praying our words of logic & reasoning somehow resonate in the white supremacist’s mind but, keep dreaming. We can lace up our marching shoes to hit the streets to block traffic & sing new chants demanding society recognize black people as being actual…people. Good luck on that. We can keep loitering on the Democratic plantation hoping & praying the “good ole” white massas create some laws specifically designed to address our needs…keep waiting. We can buy a bunch of guns, go to the gun range & prepare for potential situation with a white supremacist…not a bad idea, but the law has proven it won’t be on your side *Philando Castile*. We as black people can pray to white Jesus that our so-called white allies will somehow “re-educate” white supremacists to get them to understand how racism works…good luck on that. Bottom line is, there really isn’t anything anybody can do to change the mind or ways of a white supremacist. White supremacists are who they are, they believe in what they believe in, & they have constructed a system over the last 500 years or so to enable them to uphold their beliefs & practices. This is the world we live in.
Here’s another option…
Here’s a potential option that may cause some of you to look at me side-eyed extremely hard, but if you’ve been rocking with me for a while now, I don’t just spew bullshit for the sake of spewing bullshit when it comes to the subject of racism & white supremacy. Those of us in intelligent black society have spent the last few years going all out to identify every major coon figure in our society because we understand exactly how lethal a coon can potentially be to black progression. Well, what if we in intelligent black society decided to adopt a strategy of undercover cooning? Here me out before you attempt to toss me on the coon train.
I presently live in the deep south where I’m surrounded by Donald Trump & Blue Lives Matter supporters galore. They are everywhere. They are like cockroaches who aren’t running away even when the lights are cut on. When I go jogging around my neighborhood I see endless cars with Donald Trump or Blue Lives Matter stickers on them. You can’t escape a Blue Lives Matter or Trump supporter in my area. I imagine it’s like that in plenty of places around the country especially in these suburban & country areas. Being that that is more than likely the case, this can present plenty of potentially life threatening situations for black people in these areas who are not Trump supporters or Blue Lives Matter advocates. So here is my simple solution that could possibly help you to maneuver through life in these areas (or anywhere in the country in general) that might actually help to “spare” you from a threatening situation. Well, the mere fact that you are black is already a strike against you that you can’t hide, but maybe this “solution” might help hide you a little bit better.
So here is what I propose: I propose for black people to simply slap a “I SUPPORT TRUMP” or “BLUE LIVES MATTER” sticker on your car or maybe go out and buy you some t-shirts that say the same. Why? Simple. It might literally save your life. Think about this: most of you out there reading this work for white people. Most of you go to work & immediately turn off your blackness to conform to the predominately white environment that pays your salary in order for you to sustain your livelihood. You do this out of pure survival because you know that if you start getting too black at the job, more than likely you will be let go. You know that as soon as you clock in, you immediately code switch to sound like a “proper knee grow” to the best of your abilities until 5 pm comes around & you can go back to being black again. What I’m getting at is, your blackness can be offensive especially at your place of employment where the majority of the people working there are white….but you go to work & put on your act anyway because you have people to take care of & bills to pay. So why not apply this strategy in your daily life when you are out & about literally surrounded by white supremacists & cop apologists at every corner?
A lot of black people have a serious fear of being pulled over by the police, rightfully so. We’ve seen enough videos over just the last few years to justify the fear. What if you were pulled over by a cop in this climate of extreme fear and as the cop is walking up to your car he sees a Blue Lives Matter bumper sticker on your car. What if him seeing that sticker somehow changes his whole demeanor towards you even after discovering that you are black? What if upon him speaking to you about the traffic stop you put on your “proper knee grow” voice to complement that Blue Lives Matter sticker? What if just a sticker & a proper knee grow voice that shows appreciation for the police just happens to be the very thing that saves your life during that traffic stop? What if? Now understand, I’m in no way telling you to go full blown coon just for the sake of cooning. I’m simply expressing a simple option that may possibly save your life. Yes, I know this isn’t a full proof tactic hence Philando Castile, but maybe. When I was in the Army there was a phrase that was constantly thrown around by our superiors in order to help us get through a day of pure bullshit. That phrase was, “Just play the game”. That phrase was briefed to us in order to get us lower ranking personnel to understand that we are working in a system that is designed for us to lose if we challenge the bosses head-on. So we put on our happy face & did what we were told so our paychecks wouldn’t become jeopardized. When the big bosses came around, all they saw was a bunch of “happy” non-threatening workers supporting the mission even though most were only “happy” because we still had bills & mouths to feed.
Here’s what I’m getting at…
I’m definitely NOT advocating for any black person to become a coon. Please understand that. I am however definitely advocating for black people to become hyperaware of your surroundings & do things to help protect yourself as much as possible especially when you are out & about by yourself. Sure we can get a gun, which I recommend as long as your paperwork is legit, but even that won’t completely protect you because these white supremacists have no clue what your ideology is behind that weapon. But what if you visually displayed to these white supremacists that you share their ideology of white supremacy JUST as a mechanism for self protection, not because you believe it. What if out in public these diehard Trump supporters or cop apologists saw your Trump/Cop bumper sticker or your Trump/Cop t-shirt and instead of them looking directly at you to let you know you are their enemy…they smile at you. Think about this for a second, remember all of those black people at those Trump rallies that DIDN’T get kicked out? What did the vast majority of them have in common? Most of them had on some Trump apparel, some Confederate flag apparel, or something that signaled to these white supremacists that they were on their team. Notice how none of them to my knowledge were kicked out or physically assaulted at a Trump rally. They were welcomed with open arms because they VISUALLY displayed to those white folks that they were on their side. Unfortunately, the vast majority of those knee grows probably were on their side in ideology as well. Now, I’m simply telling you to consider using that tactic while out in public (especially if you live near an area where some shit could possibly pop off) just as another way to possibly protect yourself. Just literally PRETEND to be a Trump supporter or Blue Lives Matter advocate the same way you pretend to be the happy go-lucky proper knee grow at the job. Is it a guaranteed strategy to protect you? Absolutely not. But in this day & age we need to consider every strategy we can in order to literally survive with these extremists running around.
PS: I’m mainly suggesting this for when you are out & about either by yourself or in very small groups. That’s it. Anyways, be safe.
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