A few months ago I was in a clubhouse room which had the above title and a lot of interesting points were made. I also watched the above YouTube video by SaRa Garvey which also talks about the same topic. First off, I will need to clarify that black people are not monolithic and we have various different cultures across the globe. The culture of the Maasai people of Kenya will be different from a black Brazilian, which is also different from a black American. In this post I will be specifically talking about mainstream black culture in the Western world, so when I reference "black culture" this is what I mean.
A lot of negative behaviour is pushed to the forefront when it comes to black culture. These negative degenerate behaviours have become normalised. One example is music. We have rap/drill songs where black men promote criminal behaviour such as the murder of other black men, drug dealing and gang life. The use of derogatory terms such as n**** is normalised. These are glamourised and can have a negative influence on younger impressionable children. Unfortunately, there have been young black men who have been murdered over drill/rap songs. When there are black musicians that make positive, or conscious content their music does not get pushed to the forefront by the Record labels. These labels are quick to put money into negative "black" music and make these mainstream instead. However, if a rapper were to use derogatory terms against people of other races, or other communities, the record labels will quickly shut it down. The question is why is it acceptable to make negative music in relation to black people but not other communities?. I believe there is an agenda, but it is sad that there are black rappers who willingly partake in the destruction of their own communities. There needs to be a change.
There is also the hyper-sexualisation of black female bodies. We are so used to seeing black women with large butts shaking their ass/twerking in music videos while being practically naked. Music with overly sexual lyrics has also become normalised. In order for female artists to become a huge success it seems that they have to be hypersexualised, whereas women that aren't like this find it very difficult to make it far in the music industry. Most mainstream female rappers are oversexualised. One of the most successful rap songs last year was W.A.P. (Wet ass pussy) by Cardi B and Megan thee Stallion. Unfortunately we live in a society where sex sells. It would even make sense if there was a balance with positive music but there isn't. There is also the promotion of the BBL body type where women with exaggerated assets are promoted in the media. Black women are more than their bodies and this image should not be used to represent us to the world, it is disrespectful and reduces our value to just our physical bodies.
Hyper-consumerism and materialism is a big issue. I am not against black people buying luxury brands. What I do not like is how much black people in the media constantly promote these brands (usually for free) to show off how rich they are. Look at the "Versace" song by Migos, promoting the brand, while Versace never paid them a penny for doing so. Any increase in sales Versace received, Versace benefitted from. Many rappers reference European brands in their songs but I rarely see them promote black owned brands. The majority of the money in the black community goes straight into other communities. I personally feel there is an unhealthy obsession with European designer brands, the Rolex's, the Bentley's, the LVs', the Birkins by Hermes, meanwhile black people are economically at the bottom across the board (globally). It is as if some black people attach themselves to European symbols of wealth in order to feel validated and important. There needs to be a shift in how we view wealth. Generational wealth should be the goal, not making Bernard Arnault (the owner of LVMH) and his descendants richer, they own numerous designer brands such as Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Dior, Fendi, Moet, Hennessy plus many more. If you look at their executive committee there is not a single black person in sight. In order for the black race to progress we need economic advancement and this happens by practicing group economics just like other communities do.
Another area I will address is the promotion of broken families, namely the"baby mama and baby daddy" culture which is becoming more and more normalised and is more common in black communities than other communities. When you have unprotected sex with someone, you are choosing who the potential mother/father of your child is so you need to choose wisely. I understand there are times when the relationship doesn't work out, it happens. But I am referring to the many instances when GROWN adults choose to have unprotected sex with someone they know would not be a good mother/father, someone they can't see themselves having a future with or someone they don't know properly. The sad thing is that the child will be the one to suffer from the poor decisions their parents made. What I dislike are those that have numerous children by numerous people (i.e. Nick Cannon, Future etc) creating more broken families. This behaviour is very detrimental. Children need both their mothers AND fathers. Mother's should not be raising children on their own and playing the role of both parents, it is not their job. I am a big advocate for strong black nuclear families. Cultures where nuclear families are normalised are more successful such as the Jewish and Indian communities. The family structure is the foundation of any community, if you want to destroy a community you destroy the family structure (and you can see the consequences of this in certain black communities). Many wealthy people are married and have children because they know the importance of legacy and passing down wealth to their children. Creating broken families does not create wealth, it's more likely to promote generational poverty.
We need to stop justifying and promoting degenerate behaviour as it is not conducive to the advancement of the black community. We need to hold those that do this accountable for their actions. There are many black people who have strong family units, who have professional careers such as lawyers, doctors, engineers, investment bankers etc, those who own businesses, those who own multiple properties, those who help their community and those who practice group economics. Representation is extremely important and these are the type of black people we need to see pushed to the forefront, this is the kind of black representation we need. I am sick of seeing the worst in black culture representing us. This narrative needs to change, the young generation of black people need to see positive black role models they can aspire to, we need to create generational excellence, not generational degeneracy.