Stop Making Excuses for Subpar Black Businesses

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So I got a comment on a recent video I did titled Switching From a Black Barber to a Hispanic Barber.  The video was basically about me expressing my disdain towards a black barber who has been cutting my hair for about 8 months or so and now I’m kicking him to the curb to go back to this hispanic barber who used to cut my hair.  And the reason I’m kicking the black barber to the curb is because his overall barbering skills just aren’t up to par in comparison to the hispanic dude.

So a person named Michael left this comment for me on that video.  Michael said the following,

“Gee calling out the pro-black babblers is one thing, now you’re out to disrupt another black person’s business simply because he didn’t give the special treatment.  You admitted yourself that he still gave you a decent cut.

That’s classic throwing your own people under the bus and it’s simply low key contempt that you have regardless for black people in general.

Many other ethnicities deal with people of their own that they may not like their business or service, but they do not air their dissatisfaction on social media so others outside of their ethnicities can shit on them or not support their business.

What you are doing isn’t only exposing particular black people, you’re contributing to the general negative perception of black people even if they are good and honest people.  And it’s committing the cardinal sin of affecting other black business just simply by painting a picture that black people in general do not give the best service.

Dude there was absolutely no justification to talk negatively of the black barber on youtube.  Keep it in the house and simply switch over to the Dominican barbers. Dominicans don’t throw other Dominicans under the bus even when they got an issue with one another.  This is self racial hate behavior and low key contempt to black people. Just stop it and get help.”

So that was a comment from a person named Michael.  Shout out to Michaela for the feedback.

So let’s get into his comment point by point shall we.

First, Michael says, “Calling out pro-black babblers is one thing, now you’re out to disrupt another black person’s business simply because he didn’t give the special treatment.  You admitted yourself that he still gave you a decent cut.”

Ok Michael, if you go back and listen to the video, never once did I mention this black barber’s name nor did I mention the name of barbershop.  So unless you just happen to be a client at this same barbershop as me and you know who this barber is and you know who I am or you just happen to actually be this barber commenting under a fake name, then there is no way in hell anybody who listens to that audio I recorded is going to find out who this barber is.  So please explain to me how I disrupted his business when I never mentioned his name or the name of his shop. Then you say I was trying to disrupt his business because he didn’t give me the “special treatment”. Look, I’m not exactly sure what you mean by “special treatment” but here’s the thing Michael, when I go see my barber with the plans of paying him $25-30 for a cut, I expect to get my money’s worth.  Meaning, I don’t expect my barber to give me the feeling that he’s rushing my haircuts because he can’t seem to keep up with his time slots…that’s not my fault. It’s not my fault this barber is booking his appointments 30 minutes apart and then trying to rush through my haircut when he sees another client coming. NO. I expect you to show my hair all the love that is required to make my cut look fresh and crisp.  That is your job as a barber. That is what you went to barbering school for. Your job is to have me getting up out of that chair feeling like I’m that nigga out on these streets based off of the haircut you just gave me. I am not supposed to be sitting in the chair getting the feeling that you are rushing through my cuts or I have to remind you to do certain things to my cut considering I get the same haircut every time I come to see you.  I’m not the barber. HE IS. Michael, if I was a lawn care guy who cut your grass every 2 weeks or so would you be satisfied with my lawn care skills if every time I showed up and I rushed your lawn, I didn’t blow the grass clippings of the sidewalks, I didn’t edge up the lawn and you had to come out there and remind to do basic simply shit like THAT SHOULD ALREADY BE EXPECTED DUE TO ME BEING IN THAT CHOSEN PROFESSION? HELL NO you wouldn’t tolerate that, so why should I tolerate that from a black barber?  And so what if he gave me a “decent cut”. I didn’t come into the shop looking for a “decent cut”. I’m in the shop because I want my shit to be fresh to def and crisp. What black person in America do you know goes to a barber looking for a “decent cut”? What the hell kind of foolishness are you on?!

Next you say, “That’s classic throwing your own people under the bus and it’s simply low key contempt that you have regardless for black people in general.”

If you equate me talking shit about my anonymous barber as throwing black people under the bus, then so be it.  I’m not about to play this game with black people anymore in thinking that we can’t call out other black people for shitty, subpar or average service.  If you are my barber, I expect you to give me the best damn haircut you ever gave every single time I sit in your chair. Why, because like my brother said on that video, I have to walk around for the next week or 2 with my hair either being on point or people clowning me because my shit ain’t on point.  So if you equate that to me throwing black people under the bus or having contempt for black people, then you are absolutely right then. Out of all of the businesses in America, I demand that black people be the best when it comes to cutting hair. I demand it. We’ve made entire movies about black barbers. Black men have a hierarchy of trust amongst certain people in their lives and most black men put the trust of their black barber damn near as high as they trust their mother or God.  Why in the hell should I tolerate anything less than what we refer to in the IT world as the five 9’s. In the IT world, every IT company strives to ensure that their IT equipment is up and running 99.999% of the year (which equates to about 1 hour or less downtime per year). I expect my barber to cut my hair to 99.999% perfection everyt ime I’m in his damn chair. I don’t give a damn about his health or personal problems when I’m in the seat and he’s cutting. I expect my shit to be fly…not DECENT.  That is his job and that is what I am paying him for. I am paying him to make my shit fly…not DECENT. So if black barbers serve as a proxy for black people in terms of black people willing to dish out “decent” or less than service, then I will continue to have contempt for black people in general because at the end of the day, giving out subpar or “decent” service and black people accepting “decent” or subpar service is NOT about to help black people effectively compete in the greater scheme of things.  That’s the problem with too many of you knee grows now. You are just comfortable with “decent”, subpar and average shit in every facet of your lives from you living conditions, to your employment opportunities, to your educational accomplishments, to your women to your kids….and then you have the nerve to wonder why black people in America are looked down upon the way they are by EVERYBODY…too include other black people.

Next you say, “Many other ethnicities deal with people of their own that they may not like their business or service, but they do not air their dissatisfaction on social media so others outside of their ethnicities can shit on them or not suppor their business”.

Man, who told you that lie?  There are entire websites and apps built around customers critiquing businesses.  You ever heard the app called Yelp or the website called Angies List. These two companies, all they do is have people make positive or negative criticisms of people’s businesses.  It’s gotten to the point that business owners have threatened to sue people who leave comments on these websites due to the possible impacts these comments may have on the business.  So miss me with that foolishness. Everybody critiques businesses bruh. A literal industry of critiquing businesses publicly has been in existence for at least the last decade now. Everybody does it. Everybody regardless of race, ethnicity etc. Everybody. Plus, if your business or service sucks, then it needs deserves to be criticized. Hell, if your business is great it deserves to be given positive criticism as well.  

Next you say, “What you’re doing isn’t only exposing particular black people, you’re contributing to the general negative perception of black people even if they are good and honest people. And it’s committing the cardinal sin of affecting other black business just simply by painting a picture that black people in general do not give the best service.”

Alright, so you say I’m contributing to the negative perception of black people even if they are good and honest people.  HOW SWAY? Because I got on the microphone and said that I’m displeased with the overall quality of my haircuts my black barber has been giving, that’s somehow contributing to the overall negative perception of black people?  HOW? How about this Michael, how about my black barber cut my damn hair to make my shit fresh to def like he’s supposed to then I wouldn’t have to be making YouTube videos talking about why I’m firing him and replacing him with a hispanic barber.  What, just cause he’s black I’m supposed to lie and cover up for him because he’s the one slipping on the quality of my haircuts? So you want me to be more worried about what other groups of people may think about black people than you want me to be worried about my damn haircuts that I’m paying this man good money to give me?  Is that what you are telling me? If so, it’s not about to happen bruh. Then you say I’m committing a cardinal sin of affecting other black business by painting a picture that black people in general do not give the best service. Well once again, if black people and black business owners don’t want that stigma affixed to them, then guess what, niggas need to give the absolute best service every single time a patron of their establishment steps foot in their place of business.  How are you blaming the customer for critiquing a black business owner because the customer isn’t thoroughly impressed with the services of the black business owner? How in the hell are you shifting the blame to me? I’m not the barber. I’m not the paying client. If niggas don’t like the perception of black business owners providing subpar service, then black business owners need to step their game up and provide A+ service. What the fuck are you talking about B? You are literally telling me the paying client to basically shut my mouth to excuse away the subpar services of a black business owner.  Are you crazy?

Finally you say, “Dude there was absolutely no justification to talk negatively of the black barber on YouTube.  Keep it in house and simply switch over to the Dominican barbers. Dominicans don’t throw other Dominicans under the bus even when they got an issue with one another.  This is self racial hate behavior and low key contempt to black people. Just stop it and get help.”

I disagree.  I was absolutely justified to talk negatively about this black barber on YouTube because if you go read some of the other comments on this video, apparently it’s quite a few other black people who feel the exact same way I do about black barbers.  YouTube is a place where content creators like me come to express and share ideas and experiences and guess what, these dealings over the last 8 months or so with this black barber were experiences that I needed to share that I’m sure a lot more people can relate to.  And the reason we can relate to this video and probably why that video was right on time is for the very next sentence you typed where you told me that I need to “keep it house and simply switch over to the Dominicans.” This whole “keeping it house” is the damn problem.  Knee grows like you would rather turn a blind eye to some subpar service or flat out bullshit from a black business owner than address that issue publicly in hopes that maybe these niggas will eventually step their game up so that I don’t have to go to the hispanics. I’m not keeping a damn thing “in house”.  As a matter of fact, technically you can say I am “keeping it house” because the vast majority of the people who watch my videos, listen to my podcast or read my blog are black people. Then you say, “Dominicans don’t throw each other under the bus”, how in the hell would you know? Are you subbed to a bunch of Dominican content creators on YouTube?  Are you invited Dominican gatherings when they get together to discuss the quality of service Dominican business owners provide to Dominican customers? Michael, I’m assuming you’re black and spend most of your time around black people, so if that’s true, then how in the hell would you know what these Dominicans are doing amongst themselves? For all we know, there’s a Domincan YouTuber out there like me going in Dominican barbers talking about how he’s about to switch to a black barber and the majority of his audience is probably a bunch of Dominicans.  But unless you are subbed to his channel or blog, then how in the hell would you know what they talk about? You don’t. You are literally just repeating stuff random black people say on social media. Niggas (especially pro black babblers) love to hop on social media and say “WHY WE’Z GOTS TA PUT OUR BUSINESS OUT THERE LIKE DAT? THESE OTHER GROUPS DON’T.” Y’all kill me with that shit. Turn on any damn television show or talk radio show, people go in on their own people all the damn time in addition to going in other groups. But anyways, finally you say, “This is self racial hate behavior and low key contempt to black people.  Just stop and get help.” No. How about these black barbers step their game up and they wouldn’t have to worry about a nigga like me making YouTube videos praising hispanic barbers over them. You are telling me I am expressing “self racial hate” because I’m displeased with the level of service my black barber has been giving me this year. SELF-HATE…really nigga really. I’m a paying customer who’s not been getting the best service for something as sacred and precious as my damn haircut from a person who is a licensed professional, but you go the nerve to say I’m expressing self-hate because the nigga who cuts my hair hasn’t been giving me excellent service.  Really. Then I’m just going to keep on being a self-hater who has contempt for black people then because when it comes to my haircuts I am not about to drop my standards for that shit. I might let some other shit slide here and there from black people when it comes to other services I may need, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to accept subpar service and hold my tongue on a black barber not showing my hair the best service it deserves because a nigga like you doesn’t like black business owners being criticized. I demand black barbers to be the leaders and standard bearers when it comes to barbering. Nobody should be outdoing black barbers period. Nobody. But guess what, these hispanic cats are and these hispanic cats deserve my money. I refuse to give a nigga my money for a haircut when he isn’t going all out to make my shit fresh and crisp like the hispanic cats are doing for damn near the same prices. That ain’t my fault this knee grow lost me as a client and I’m sitting here writing blogs talking indirectly about him. That’s his damn fault for not maintaining his barbering standards that initially won me over as a client.

If you want niggas to stop talking greasy about black business owners then tell these black business owners to step their game up and they wouldn’t have to worry about niggas like me talking greasy.  I’m not about to sit around and protect a black business owner that’s giving me subpar service just b/c they are black. I demand damn near perfection from a black barber every time I’m in the chair. I demand it. I’m not compromising on my damn haircuts. So if these black barbers can’t give me damn near perfection ever time I’m in their chair, but the hispanic cats can for damn near the same price, then the hispanic is deserving of my money and I’m not about to feel shame for doing so and I’m definitely not about to adhere to some bullshit black code of ethics.  Niggas want my money, then out do the hispanics plain and simple. Till then, VIVA LA DOMINICANA!