Colin Kaepernick and Beyoncé are Geniuses. Part 1
Colin Kaepernick and Beyoncé are Geniuses.
Here’s what I mean when I say they’re geniuses; when I want to know about the history of the civil rights movement (or any other important subject,) I always try to find a rich NFL quarterback or a relentlessly hyped pop singer as my prime sources.
“I bet they know!” I say to myself. Probably because they’re rich and famous. Plus, even though they’re light-skinned Blacks, with an obvious cracker or two in the woodpile, they still manage to have that authentic Black thing going on. That way they’ve got all the bases covered when it comes to racial sensitivity and insight.
Now, I might want to ask myself, if I were even remotely inquisitive, whether anything they’re saying about racist White cops killing unarmed Black men, motivated primarily by racism, is true. That, however, would mean that I couldn’t just accept it as true because I read it on my favorite site such as “The Huff Po” or some other allegedly objective news organization that is dedicated to the truth no matter who it implicates, as long as they’re White and Republican.
Here’s the fly in the ointment; if Colin and Beyoncé are wrong, maybe the Huff Po is wrong. But, I don’t really have to worry about being confused, because the usual race-baiting apologists will be trotted out to reinforce the narrative. So no concern about the truthfulness of this particular storyline is necessary, we'll just take their word for it.
I realize that if you're someone who thinks this way, you’re either foaming at the mouth by now or I’ve tweaked your interest. Especially, if you saw “Roots,” tune into MSNBC on a regular basis, or you’ve ever taken a social science class in college. In which case, your whole world has just been rocked. This is doubtful, though, since most people tend to take the easier route. The mental anguish that comes from challenging one’s own dogma, is just not their thing. So, closing one’s mind as swiftly as possible, whenever alternative thoughts lurk nearby, takes precedence over the truth any damned day.
So, why don't we take a look at just one of the media's usual lies, like Mike Brown, “Hands Up! Don’t shoot!”
According to credible, Black eyewitnesses at the scene and ALL of the actual forensic evidence, it was total bullshit. That, however, assumes that most of Beyoncé’s and Colin’s fans know what the word “Credible” means. This is not a racial slight. It’s simply a recognition of the lack of knowledge regarding how reason works and why. That would be true of Americans across the spectrum. It's also how we end up with the storyline that Mike Brown was a big, lovable kid who was shot down in cold blood by a racist White cop. That was the overwhelming media narrative from the beginning, even before any facts were known.
Thankfully, minutes before the police shooting, Mike Brown was videotaped strong-arming a convenience store manager who had the temerity to ask Brown to pay for a handful of cigars. Clearly, Brown, the lovable lug was probably just giving the store manager a hug by manhandling him like a sack of garbage. And not, I repeat, not, stealing with an absolute disregard for either the law or the store clerk, whom the 6’4’ 300 lb. Brown towered over. The fact that the Obama justice dept. attempted, initially, to squash the video, should tell you all you needed to know about how Obama and crew view justice. But, no matter. Because the lie was out there and being hammered relentlessly by the media. So people could pick and choose their version of the truth based on their personal priorities, racial or otherwise.
Here’s the thing; a handful of high-profile police shootings, given relentless coverage, in a nation of three hundred and twenty million people, is meaningful evidence of nothing. That wouldn’t represent a scientific sampling big enough to be seen as even marginally credible (oops, there’s that word again.)
Do I expect most people to stand back and scratch their heads and say “Hmm? Let me rethink this.”
Not on your life. It’s just easier to take sides.
What does this have to do with Colin and Beyoncé?
If they are wrong about White cops hunting innocent Black men (and they are) what they’re saying is as racist as any KKK member. Worse, still, because they have an audience of tens of millions of youthful fans. They're also filthy rich, made so by the same country they malign as incorrigibly racist. Let's face it, these ain’t no low-rent crackers or poor Black-folk acting out their rage and disenfranchisement.
One more thing, don’t give me all that garbage about slavery unless you’re willing to look at the role played by Muslims and their fellow Africans in the largest slave trade ever. One that killed far more Black folk and lasted longer than the “White” slave trade. You'd think Colin, being a genius and all, might've considered that before converting to Islam.
I guess not.
Claude Hopper
Here’s what I mean when I say they’re geniuses; when I want to know about the history of the civil rights movement (or any other important subject,) I always try to find a rich NFL quarterback or a relentlessly hyped pop singer as my prime sources.
“I bet they know!” I say to myself. Probably because they’re rich and famous. Plus, even though they’re light-skinned Blacks, with an obvious cracker or two in the woodpile, they still manage to have that authentic Black thing going on. That way they’ve got all the bases covered when it comes to racial sensitivity and insight.
Now, I might want to ask myself, if I were even remotely inquisitive, whether anything they’re saying about racist White cops killing unarmed Black men, motivated primarily by racism, is true. That, however, would mean that I couldn’t just accept it as true because I read it on my favorite site such as “The Huff Po” or some other allegedly objective news organization that is dedicated to the truth no matter who it implicates, as long as they’re White and Republican.
Here’s the fly in the ointment; if Colin and Beyoncé are wrong, maybe the Huff Po is wrong. But, I don’t really have to worry about being confused, because the usual race-baiting apologists will be trotted out to reinforce the narrative. So no concern about the truthfulness of this particular storyline is necessary, we'll just take their word for it.
I realize that if you're someone who thinks this way, you’re either foaming at the mouth by now or I’ve tweaked your interest. Especially, if you saw “Roots,” tune into MSNBC on a regular basis, or you’ve ever taken a social science class in college. In which case, your whole world has just been rocked. This is doubtful, though, since most people tend to take the easier route. The mental anguish that comes from challenging one’s own dogma, is just not their thing. So, closing one’s mind as swiftly as possible, whenever alternative thoughts lurk nearby, takes precedence over the truth any damned day.
So, why don't we take a look at just one of the media's usual lies, like Mike Brown, “Hands Up! Don’t shoot!”
According to credible, Black eyewitnesses at the scene and ALL of the actual forensic evidence, it was total bullshit. That, however, assumes that most of Beyoncé’s and Colin’s fans know what the word “Credible” means. This is not a racial slight. It’s simply a recognition of the lack of knowledge regarding how reason works and why. That would be true of Americans across the spectrum. It's also how we end up with the storyline that Mike Brown was a big, lovable kid who was shot down in cold blood by a racist White cop. That was the overwhelming media narrative from the beginning, even before any facts were known.
Thankfully, minutes before the police shooting, Mike Brown was videotaped strong-arming a convenience store manager who had the temerity to ask Brown to pay for a handful of cigars. Clearly, Brown, the lovable lug was probably just giving the store manager a hug by manhandling him like a sack of garbage. And not, I repeat, not, stealing with an absolute disregard for either the law or the store clerk, whom the 6’4’ 300 lb. Brown towered over. The fact that the Obama justice dept. attempted, initially, to squash the video, should tell you all you needed to know about how Obama and crew view justice. But, no matter. Because the lie was out there and being hammered relentlessly by the media. So people could pick and choose their version of the truth based on their personal priorities, racial or otherwise.
Here’s the thing; a handful of high-profile police shootings, given relentless coverage, in a nation of three hundred and twenty million people, is meaningful evidence of nothing. That wouldn’t represent a scientific sampling big enough to be seen as even marginally credible (oops, there’s that word again.)
Do I expect most people to stand back and scratch their heads and say “Hmm? Let me rethink this.”
Not on your life. It’s just easier to take sides.
What does this have to do with Colin and Beyoncé?
If they are wrong about White cops hunting innocent Black men (and they are) what they’re saying is as racist as any KKK member. Worse, still, because they have an audience of tens of millions of youthful fans. They're also filthy rich, made so by the same country they malign as incorrigibly racist. Let's face it, these ain’t no low-rent crackers or poor Black-folk acting out their rage and disenfranchisement.
One more thing, don’t give me all that garbage about slavery unless you’re willing to look at the role played by Muslims and their fellow Africans in the largest slave trade ever. One that killed far more Black folk and lasted longer than the “White” slave trade. You'd think Colin, being a genius and all, might've considered that before converting to Islam.
I guess not.
Claude Hopper
