Please Keep The Coonage to a Minimum, Thanks!

Above: A cartoon where 50 Cent mocks Rick Ross. Can’t this wait 8 years?

Barack Obama was sworn in as America’s 44th President on Tuesday, January 20th, 2009.  By doing so, he became the first Black Commander-in-Chief this country ever had.  Subsequently he, along with his family, became positive role models for Black people everywhere, and a demonstration to other races that our families can function just like theirs.

Now that he’s President, I have a plea for the rest of Black America: can we please, please, PLEASE keep the coonage to a minimum?!?

Forgive me if it sounds like I’m being racist towards my own race.  It’s just that Barack has only been in office for 12 days, and I’m already starting to see Black people acting a damn fool!

In less than two weeks into his term, I’ve seen:

• Another senseless rap beef escalate, this time between Rick Ross and 50 Cent
• A husband and father of 5 kill himself and his family after being fired from his job (as a result of underhanded dealings)
• A song about hustling drugs in the trap (OJ da Juiceman’s “Make the Trap Go Aye”) become one of the biggest songs in Atlanta
• Lil’ Wayne go on TV and, in an interview with Katie Couric, proclaim he’s a “gangster”
• Car chases (a regular news story here in California) involving Black people running from the cops…

And the list goes on and on.

Sigh…

Again, I ask: can we PLEASE keep the coonage to a minimum?!?

Our ancestors spent decade upon decade trying to prove to White people, as well as other races, that we had enough poise, dignity, and respect for ourselves and others to hold high offices. They had to fight to be able to teach in mostly White Schools, get seats on judicial boards, become Senators, Govenors, politicians, and CEOs of companies. 

All during this time, coonage was still going on.  Brothers leaving sisters with babies and not being there for their children.  Women selling their bodies for crack money.  Musicians making songs that promoted all the wrong things into the Black (and White) communities, presenting them as “cool” things to do. 

And nobody did anything to stop it. 

The general belief was that it didn’t matter if we continued to show this type of “walking contradiction” amongst our race.  Who cares if some of us wanted to better our community while others wanted to strip it down? It’s not like the government really gave a rat’s behind about anything Black people did, nor did they care to help us try and better ourselves.

Well, guess what?  Now we have a BLACK President.  The rules have changed.

Now, I’m not one of those people who believes that Obama is going to personally go into every rundown hood in America and start handing out money.  Nor do I believe that his focus will simply be on “Black” issues.  As President, he has to make sure his decisions help not just his own race, but the American people as a whole.

With that said, though: if there IS an issue that needs attention, and the issue just happens to be one mostly involving Black people, how is he supposed to convince the House and the Senate to pass something for us when we’re out there acting a damn fool?!?

Suppose there’s a school in Queens that’s about to be shut down.  They decide to write to the President and ask him for funds to keep the school open.  How is he supposed to convince Congress to lend the money when the kids at the school are all wearing saggy pants; the teachers are constantly using fowl language towards their students; and every other girl there is pregnant by a brotha who’s got 3 other baby mamas at the same school???

I beg you, Black America: PLEASE KEEP THE COONAGE TO A MINIMUM!!

The moment it was announced that Barack Obama was President, I felt I had a responsibility to step my game up.  Because, no matter what excuse I may have had before for not being able to do something, it disappeared the moment a Black man did something no one up to this point thought would be possible.  The rest of Black America needs to step up, too!

At the very least, having a Black man as President should make you proud to be Black.  As such, you should also want to represent the very BEST that your race can be.  The rest of the world has already been fed propoganda about how dumb, stupid, ig’nant, violent and irresponsible us “Coloreds” are.  It doesn’t help our image if we’re actually HELPING them believe this crap.

With Barack in office, Black people as a whole are starting to get a good image makeover.  We all need to do our part to make sure this continues to happen.  If anything, do me this favor: as long as President Obama is in office, do your part to…

KEEP THE COONAGE TO A MINIMUM.  THANKS!

-Aaron P. Taylor