Latest / Black Box Theory Podcast / Black Identity, Belonging, and the Lie of Inferiority
Transcript
- Thomas: Hey man, it for all my black people out there who hate black people or think you're better than other black people, let's get something straight. You are no viewed no different. Literally, yesterday Malcolm: You y you get profiled the same way as me. Thomas: we had Francis Tiafo and Ben Shelton, I think it's Sheldon or Shelton, I forgot, tennis match to go to the US Open championship match. What there they said the first time. That there are two black Americans at this level are going to the championship since Arthur Ash back in the 70s. And guess what? Ben Shelton, if you look at him off the I saw people on Instagram saying, Black question mark, is he black? Does he count as black? His father's black. Right? And it it's not being black is not necessarily about looks. You gotta understand, especially if you're in these United States of America. If you have an identifiable black person in your family, now let's say if your grandmother was mixed and everyone else beyond since then is white, maybe not. But if you have a black parent, a a black, like a all-black grandparent, you I guess there's other facts, specifically parents. If you're one of your parents, you are black. I'm sorry. You you are black. And and this guy, Carmelo Anthony, if this what he said was real, he's black. You can't deny it. So you saying you hate black people, where are you gonna get help from? The people that are super mixed and and biracial and even ethnically or or racially ambiguous, they don't get help from whatever side that's not black. When you're black, you're a part of the black community, whether you like it or not. You're not gonna get support from out from elsewhere. And and we didn't make the rules. America made the rules. Whatever the the one drop of blood, they made the rules. They've been here since the start of the country, before the country started. So whether you like Malcolm: Mm-hmm. Thomas: it or not, you're stuck. You you can't say you hate black people. Malcolm: That's not me, but a lot of times like the people that say that are are products of their environment, bro, they literally have become brainwashed to think that they're brainwashed to think two things. One, that we are inferior to any other race because we don't have the same social capital, the same economic status, the color of our skin makes us less or not worthy or not equal to any other race. and then also like they they also brainwashed by thinking that if if you hang around a certain group of people that you just don't become Us that that that that hey if I stay at the if I if I hang around these guys these country club guys for long enough, maybe they'll forget I'm lucky. No. You at the end I don't care how like how many Thomas: Yeah. Malcolm: like bro like I'm not sitting here saying that all white people or or other people are like inherently bad and and just always think that we are inferior, but to have the view that one that we are less while also thinking that just because you think that and you hang you you're you surround yourself with those people means that you are no longer part of that group. You're just the token you're the token black guy, bro. Like you're you you're you're you're you're Thomas: Yeah. Malcolm: still at the bottom whether you think it or not, you're still at the bottom of their totem pole. So it doesn't really matter how you view us, how much hate, self hate you spew and and how much like of these like, you know, the the the approach that you have about like us you know, in a societal and in racial context, but like then they bro Thomas: about safe blacks and all that. Malcolm: You're st you're st you still wanna you still one of us, bro, like whether you like it or not.