November 21, 2007
Sadly we have reduced
ourselves to the least
common denominator.
There was a time when we—
Black folks—would have
never thought about cussing
in front of our parents or
grandparents; or actually any
adult.
And it didn’t matter how
old you were, you still knew
that there were some things
you were big and bad
enough to do, but cussing in
front of adults, especially
your parents, was not on that
list.
Then to cuss at them!
Well, you could end up
huddled in a corner and
trying to hold a loose tooth
into place, hoping it
wouldn’t come out—back in
the day!
But it’s a new day and
Black folks have lost their
minds and gone totally to
another side.
You’ve heard folks talk
about “acting white.” Well,
when I see a Black person
disrespecting a parent, I
immediately think about
“acting white,” because
Black folks know better. But
you’ve watched kids on tele-
vision saying whatever they
desired to their parents,
without any repercussions.
Train a child...
Growing up we were not
allowed to call anyone a
“fool” or a “liar.” As much
as we liked the songs:
“Funky Broadway” and
“Make it Funky,” the word
“funky” had better not be
heard coming out of our
mouths.
Then there’s this thing
called yelling. I was not
ready to commit suicide, so I
never yelled back at my
mother. Heck if she called
me from half a block away, I
would run up to her as fast as
I could and breathlessly say,
“yes.”
Now I will admit, several
decades later, that I would
sometimes mumble things
under my breath, but not
often because my mother
had bionic ears and she
would stop in her tracks and
say, “What did you say?”
Of course my response was,
“Nothing.”
That is if I were lucky.
There were times when she
wouldn’t ask. Out of
nowhere she would come
charging around the corner
like she was a member of the
WWF and flatten me before
I could finish my sentence.
But today, these youth are
an entirely different story
and so are the majority of
parents.
I remember coming home
from college one year. I was
in the bathroom and I was
popping my fingers to the
music as I handled my
business.
My mother said, “I bet
that’s Tracy in there prancing
around.”
The way my 14-year-old
sister said “no,” well every-
thing I was doing came to a
complete halt as I sat with
baited breath and waited for
my mother to come down the
hall and put her foot in my
sister’s butt.
Lo and behold, nothing
happened. Then my mother
said, “Well I thought it was
you because anytime music
comes on you’re up popping
your fingers and prancing
around.”
Hold up, wait a minute.
Something was definitely
wrong. Had someone come
and taken my mother away?
This couldn’t be the same
Earline who was almost
responsible for me needing
an eye transplant because I
didn’t duck fast enough to
avoid a flying object.
Where was the woman
who I saw sitting on my
brother because on the one
day when he decided to play
hooky from karate school
she went to see him practice?
When he got home she gave
him a chance to tell the truth,
but no, Daryl said he was at
karate school. So, she told
him to come into the back
room and show her what he
learned that day.
Believe me when I tell
you my mother was Jim
Kelly, Bruce Lee and Jackie
Chan all in one! And Daryl
never played hooky again!
Even today, I won’t say
certain things in front of my
mother.
I guess that is why I am so
offended when I see Black
children on television saying
whatever they want to in
front of their parents or other
adults. If I have one criticism
of some movies or shows
depicting Black families, it
has to be when we overstep
those boundaries that black
children used to know
existed.
Today they don’t exist.
Say what you want. You are
grown. You are expressing
yourself.
And if that isn’t the
biggest crock of Sugar
Honey Iced Tea, well, then I
don’t know what is!
Sisters, watch your
mouth. Mothers, grand-
mothers and other adults;
hold these young people
accountable.
At least some young
people will have the decency
to say, “excuse me,” “my
bad” or something—that is
unless they are acting white!
Footnote- Last week, I
talked about your feet and
how to buying the correct
shoes. Well, when you leave
the store, please remove the
price tag, not just from the
inside of the shoe, but from
the bottom too!
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