Responsibility… Seems like a basic concept. The definition of the word according to the English dictionary it is “The quality or state of being responsible: as a  moral, legal, or mental accountability “This is one of the most basic functions of human beings. We are responsible for our communities, our children, our finances, and our very lives to an extent. However, outside forces have disillusioned many people from the basic definition of what responsibility is.

However we are not fully responsible for everything, because we also have to abide by the laws of the land. Sometimes those laws can be hindering to a certain race, creed, or culture, I/E Slavery, Apartheid, The Holocaust, etcetera… Never the less our basic responsibility as humans still remains. This has been forgotten in the Black community in particular. The reason I say this is because it seems as if we instantly jump to the defense of another black man or woman without even knowing the all the facts of what is happening. Then when we do have the facts and possibly see that the person was in the wrong, we still defend the actions of that person. Now with that being said let’s take a look at why this occurs.

The first thing I would like to bring up is the slavery, and post slavery eras. During slavery we were no better than cattle with personalities. This allowed us to be scapegoated for many offenses that whites did not want to be responsible for such as, incomplete work, messes being left, infidelity, theft, murder, and other things. It was a time in which you were guilty simply by being Black. Now being that basic human function teaches self-responsibility, having the burden of the crimes and actions of others was more than difficult to comprehend.

We had to adjust to fact that we lived in a world of burden.

As time went on things got better but not right. As we fast forward into the 1920’s blacks were able to live separately from their white counterparts. In most cases they thrived on being able to live independently as others suffered through the great depression. We were used to being responsible for ourselves so it as easy to pick up certain trades like farming, wood working, and machinery which actually made many Black well to do people in a time that the nation was in turmoil. Again the responsibility shifted and Blacks were under siege. After learning that Black people were not as poor and destitute as whites who were living in the cities, the campaign to even the wealth began. Through groups like the KKK and local police, Blacks were terrorized through burning crosses, being raped and pillaged, even murdered all to let Blacks know “their place” in this country. Again we had the burden of carrying the sins of others as well as our own. Although it was not slavery, it was a time where the world was once again on our shoulders.

In the 70’s to now it has most definitely changed. We have debatably equal rights and have had many people to fight on our behalf. (Personally I believe that they saw a better opportunity/$$$ in having us become consumers instead of hoping they would go back to slavery days… But that’s me.)  However, it seems that after all this progress Black men and women are still targeted in crime investigation, and general blame in the US. That leads me to the topic of discussion. Are we to quick to defend our own people when things happen? The answer to that I feel is yes. We have suffered a long history of having responsibility thrust upon us without mercy. Even our children who our country claims to be innocent are not protected. In most cases around the country if a black child who is let’s say 9 is doing wrong it is highly likely to be arrested and treated like a criminal when a white child of similar age would be taken to their parents and scolded. I understand that there is a reason that we defend our own more times than not, because no one has ever really defended us. However at what point do we change things and make our lives and the lives of Blacks in America better? What I mean is when a black person does wrong we are the first to defend them whether they are right or wrong. Then if they are wrong we justify it. I know that we are angry and have been taught to be on guard at all times but think about how that looks from the outside looking in. If I were to constantly see an entire culture of people who defended murderers,  rapists, bad parenting, and people who basically live outside of society’s rules and laws… I would look at them and be disgusted. I would not want to associate with them nor would I want my children to pick up any of their habits or nuances. Yes we have been through a lot and have weathered the storm, but at this point in our lives it simply comes down to a matter of right and wrong.

I recently had a discussion with a few educated people on the matter of a father who had “over paid child support” and was now facing jail time. After months of court battles he was not only remanded to jail but is being forced to pay 11k in attorney’s fees. Of course he was defended whole heartedly by the other Blacks who were part of the conversation. Their as talk of flawed systems and racially biased sentencing… However this was not the case. The facts were he had been behind on child support for months; he had a history of not paying anything until a motion was filed and submitting payment to avoid jail, and sending text messages to his ex-wife saying that he wasn’t going to give her a dime. By the way… There was the whole VIOLATING A COURT ORDER thing. It finally caught up with him and he was sent to prison. Did they make an example of him? Yes they did. It needed to happen however, because you cannot dictate how you will execute a court order. You must abide by it without deviation. That is simply the law. Again after knowing all this he was still defended by the Black people in the conversation. Even the attorney’s fees that he had to pay were justified. If he had not taken them on this ride, and played his control game then they never would have been in court in the first place. Yet this action was still defended. Let me also bring up the horrific killing spree of the DC sniper. He trained a little boy to kill, hunted down many innocent people ripping them away from the families and people that loved them, plus had also committed kidnapping.

These are all serious offenses. Yet he was also defended but in a different way. It was all good when most Blacks felt that the police needed to catch this white man killing all these people. However, when we discovered that the DC sniper was indeed a Black man, we defended his actions through laughter, denial, and excluding the recent events from OUR conversation. There were a few jokes about finding out he was Black, and there was a sense of “Oh well…” about it all. IT is a passive aggressive way not admitting to the wrong that had been done. We were in a rage over George Zimmerman killing Treyvon Martin, yet the sniper who killed many people some of which being children got a pass?

This is what I am talking about. It seems that we have adopted a culture of non-responsibility in this day and age.

At one time in our lives we were responsible.

That sense of responsibility kept us wealthy and resistant to the effects of the great depression in the 20’s. Having a history of responsibility we should be thriving in today’s world because we have what it takes to take on burden, solider through and reap the rewards. Alas we have developed a sense of reverse entitlement if you will by this nation owes us for simply being black. It has even gotten us to the point that we do not hold ourselves in the same high regard as we once did. Now that is not to say that there are no gray areas in life… But right and wrong are easily identifiable. Be a better person. Distinguish right from wrong no matter if it is a black person that is involved. It will create a higher standard for us all to live by. If we are the kings and queens that we descend from then we should not only see ourselves as royalty, but make proper judgments as the rulers of civilization should, with honor, integrity, and an intellect that surpasses that of those beneath us. It will also teaches our children this “royal” way of thinking and will prepare him or her to take their rightful places the rulers of the world. If not, we will continue to teach them that it’s okay to fail and to behave as a “peasant” because we won’t ever blame you because you are one of us. My children will be royalty… And so should yours. Daily we talk about the entitled and how they are ruining the world. Sadly without even knowing it we have become what we despise though our own version of entitlement. Let’s break the cycle UI… And make decisions as the royalty that we are on what is and what is not worth defending.