Maze Jackson: You Know How They Are

Maze Jackson
Maze Jackson

You know how “they” are.  How many times have we heard that statement in regards to some other race?  You know how them White people are about you coming in their neighborhood.  You know how the Jews are about “money.”  You know how those “Mexicans are about working.”  You know how those Arabs are about those Sharks and J&J Fish Restaurants.   You know how those Chinese are about the Beauty supply stores. And you know you know how those Koreans are about they’re nail shops!
Stereotypical?  As hell…and I wish Black people could be stereotyped similarly.  Many people would be shocked to hear me make such generalization, but those generalization are based in fact, and the fact is that each of those generalizations, whether politically correct or not, lead to a better life for all of the group mentioned and their families.
We say, “You know how they are,” like we are one of someone’s feelings, when the reality is we are hurting ourselves.   In all reality, the only time “how they are” doesn’t have some positive outcome for the “they” is when it’s applied to Black people, by Black people.  Think about it, when it comes to Black neighborhoods, public safety, education, young people, our leaders, just say, “you know how THEY” are and inevitably Black people will be nodding their heads in agreement because we all know “how THEY are.”
Well I am ready to be how THEY are in our community.  I want Blacks, Whites, Asians, and Latinos to come to the Black community and say, “You know how THEY are!”  I want them to come to the Black community and say, “You know how they are about their neighborhood, you know how they are about their children and their schools, and you know how they are about the type of businesses that come to their community!” could you imagine how differently our communities could be?
I mean think about it, almost everything that we know about “how they are” leads to a better quality of life for everyone except for Black people.  What are you saying exactly Maze you may be wondering?  That sounds kind of discriminatory.  It is!  We as Black people need to start discriminating, because everything that other people want to bring to our community is not always good for our community.  We are still so shell shocked from the word discrimination that anytime it gets used, Black folk are automatically against it, even if the outcome negatively affects our community.
So, by not being positively “how they are” for our community, Black people are often times referred to negatively with the same phrase.  In 2015, I’m suggesting that we redefine the meaning of “how they are” for and in the Black community.  When people refer to Blacks, and use the phrase, “you know how they are” instead of the story being poverty, violence, and incarceration, let’s make it about self determination and the economic redevelopment of our community.  And if whoever isn’t talking about that, WE can tell them, “you know how WE are!”
 
#mazesaid
 

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