The epicenter of indiscretion is shrouded in amoral thinking and outrageous behaviors. It marks the decline of social values and is the beginning of cultural descent.
When we as African Americans indulge in decadent living, we make our children vulnerable to the Cult of Self and subordinate the moral development of generations to come. In short, we disrupt the process of social evolution. The natural inclination to assimilate and emulate our contemporaries exerts a strong pull on our sense of right and wrong, and before we realize it, we are speaking their language and not our own. The appeal is undeniable, but to succumb may mean certain destruction. The glare of the bright lights is both blinding and misleading and while we aspire to join the in-crowd, it may involve sacrificing our sense of self-worth and self-esteem to get in the club.
Our airwaves and with it our collective consciousness are mired in images that are deliberately marketed to the lowest common denominator. The entire character of the African American community is under siege and regressing to a slavelike state of being — identifying with inferiority and shackled by contempt. The voices over the microphones in nightclubs, on radio stations and the messages blaring from iPods are decimating our future and jeopardizing the present. Those songs and recordings are the outcry of angry, fatherless and perhaps technically orphaned youth who don’t look forward to graduation as an accomplishment because they’ve been directed to take another route that circumvents ambition and drive. They’re taught not to aspire, but to instead seek out celebrity like lifestyles and told pimping is good and criminal hustling is all right, although it will lead to tarnished records and dreams deferred.
This is where the need for instant gratification and artificial stimulation lead to indulging in cocaine, marijuana and alcohol. So the songs ring out and offer ready-made excuses like blame it on the alcohol and encourage listeners to “get high.” That deluge of negative messages begins early and eventually gives way to abhorrent practices and illicit activities eliminate job opportunities and diminish life prospects. The misguided become ensnared in the lie and entangled in the behavior that perpetuates promiscuity and lewd lifestyles that impede social, psychological and financial development. They become relegated to mediocrity and ultimately accept failure and defeat.
Instead of determining our status with a rating system of gold chains, cars and time spent in jail, we should look to accomplished scholars and honest businessmen for examples of the good life. Earning a Ph.D. was once a worthy and noble pursuit, but now it’s met with verbal disapproval and cynically called a player hater’s degree. We’ve stopped aspiring to elevate ourselves and our lifestyles through education and academic accomplishment. Those among us that get acknowledged have been actors playing rogue police officers, actresses portraying whorish women and mothers who neglect and abuse their children. The demise of the African American community and culture is what sells and garners attention. That erroneous thinking is propelling an entire collective thought that neuters black men and destroys the reputation of black women.
It is truly tragic that we no longer aspire to rise above our circumstances and be better. And it’s more tragic that we make excuses for our lack of ambition and effort. In this highly technological world we live in, we should note that every tweet and text is embedded in a mainframe that you don’t have access to and is embedded in posterity. Many of us don’t realize that until we are exposed in court or in some legal proceeding when the records of sexual misconduct and malicious solicitations can be used against us.
Tom Burrell authored a book titled Brainwashed, which speaks to the subject and the social hypocrisy and the damage — although sometimes self-inflicted — to men and the male psyche. The injuries to the African American culture caused by racist systems are not exclusionary. Respected African American congressmen and lawmakers were subjected to racial slurs and spat on after they voted to pass a bill to improve health care for our brothers and sisters who were without it.
We need our dreams to breathe life into futures and the possibilities of what can be. We have to be great and aspire to be greater.
Peace
Munson Steed, Publisher
