I went to the bank the other day to make a deposit. As I walked up to the desk to grab a deposit slip out of the container on the desk, I could help but notice the white woman who felt the need to move her purse as I found a spot to fill out my slip. In my head, I thought to myself "Move your purse, I could care less. Like Black people are the only ones who steal."
She took a spot in the teller's line and was shocked when she saw me join the line with a few checks in hand. This woman stood a few feet away from me at the teller's station and mustered a small smile at me. I didn't return one back.
Stealing isn't just reserved for black people. A comedian reminded an audience recently that black people steal small stuff and get caught. White people steal someone's life savings, stocks, bonds and elections. Do minimal time in jail and end up on the TV talk show circuit.
I really thought about this pronouncement. Then Bernie Maddock's name popped into my head and a few others. Lindsay Lohnan. Charlie Sheehan. These individuals who have broken laws and committed crimes are getting special treatment. If the situation were reversed; the book would be thrown at people of color.
I wonder how OUR people got the reputation for stealing. Is due to slavery? That we were so badly beaten and treated inhumanely that people stole bits of food for health, energy and to survive? Survival not only for themselves but family members?
I am angered by this stereotype because frankly, if slaves didn't steal some food to eat they died from dehydration or hunger. Slaves were treated like cattle and valued for their mating purposes. Stealing for us comes out of survival and not want.
We look for the "hookup" and to be "helped out" by our brothers and sisters. No one has really had our backs. Jim Crow laws treated us as one third a human being. Affirmative Action questioned our worth in the job market and so did others. Abolitionists helped us get free. The Jewish community later joined our cause for equality. The Civil Rights Movement brought attention to our plight and problems.
The stereotypes still have to go. They serve no real purpose but to divide us and scare each other. Another decade of hate gets passed down to a new generation. Black is beautiful, but why does our ethnic pride come with a price?
Posted By: Marsha Jones
Thursday, February 10th 2011 at 1:14AM
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