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Oh shit.
Sometimes we can be too subtle with the message on here. And I'm trying to do a bit better. So let me be clear. Whiteness can be alluring. But Whiteness is not freedom. It's a different kind of cage.
Whiteness would have us believe that our only choices are to stay oppressed or to take on the trappings of Whiteness. Those are the only options we are given, and it's not a coincidence. Creating a future that is unconstrained by white supremacy is liberation work.
Whiteness also constrains those who are privileged by it. They must spend their time and energy maintaining this system of oppression as well. And it turns people into monsters instead of freeing them to pursue their highest and best use.
All of that brings us back to the current critique of black folks like Jay-Z. Who has achieved his success within the confines of Whiteness and by the express permission of Whiteness. He has a choice to try to break that cycle or give in to it. He is choosing.
What we are seeing is how Jay's choices result in him being constrained. As Whiteness requires him to drive a wedge between his success and his people. They are making sure he knows which side he's on. They're gonna make him watch as he becomes complicit just to chase the bag.
They're also working to convince Jay that anybody can do this. Rather than the reality that he was chosen to be an exception. So he'll start carrying the message that we're just lazy, or it's because our fathers left, or it's because we buy too many sneakers.
Any excuse besides acknowledging the centuries old system of oppression that is staring us all in the face every day. People want excuses. The truth can be too much.
Hov's early music was the soundtrack to my formative years. He told me you Can't Knock the Hustle. He told me it was Politics as Usual. But I didn't think it would go down like this. It makes me sad.
