Taxicab Depressions

I am so pissed off about this Trayvon Martin bullshit… Nevermind that an innocent man has been hounded, threatened, and vilified by the media and the low-information idiots that believe this deceitful nonsense they spew, our government personnel and our tax dollars were used in collusion with the biggest racists in the country like Al Sharpton and the Black Panthers, to whip up outrage in the black community, and it is all based on a lie… the lie that somehow, even though the local police and the FBI found zero evidence of racial bias, that George Zimmerman is a rabid racist that executed an angelic and innocent child.

Anyone with an internet connection and the reading skills we used to insist upon from the average eighth grader can learn in a matter of minutes a number of facts that show that Trayvon Martin was a troubled teenager that was already on his way to gladiator academy, he just had not taken an adult charge yet. The reason he was in Sanford that night is because his mother sent him away for getting in trouble at school, where he was caught with drug residue, burglary tools, and stolen women’s jewelry. The school resource officer listed the jewelry as “found” property rather than “stolen” property in an effort to keep his crime stats low. Trayvon assaulted a bus driver, and his cell phone was full of photos of drugs, guns, and fighting videos. The now famous Skittles and juice are mixed with a bottle of cough syrup to make a ghetto drink called “lean”, a cheap high that produces psychosis, aggression, and paranoia, and in his autopsy, it was revealed that this fit, athletic, and muscular teenager had serious liver damage, an indicator of heavy “lean” usage. His social media reinforces this picture of a violent, drug-using gangsta wannabe, and he apparently had nude photos of minor girls on his phone as well.

Someone with a Twitter handle of NO_LIMIT_NIGGA probably isn’t on the way to a medical degree at FSU or nights and weekends management at Best Buy.

Yet a huge percentage of black people seem to be able to overlook all these facts and make the gigantic leap that this violent, drug using, tattooed, and criminally inclined minor child was innocently walking to Dad’s place with candy and a large juice when a crazed racist gunned him down for no reason whatsoever. Rachel Jeantel has said that Trayvon was almost home, but for some reason doubled back to confront a man he was supposedly afraid of, and she says that Trayvon threw the first punch.

Still, they somehow believe that Trayvon was defending himself against an aggressor when he himself had no injuries, other than a 9mm hole in his chest. Even though Zimmerman’s nose looked like a bloody sweet potato and the back of his head was gashed and bleeding, and a witness placed Trayvon straddling Zimmerman, pounding his face and head, they cannot accept the simple fact that ALL the evidence supports Zimmerman’s account of the incident. This is not about race, it is about facts and evidence, and if the races were reversed and a black man shot a criminal Hispanic teen, the legal outcome would have been and should have been the same.

Al Sharpton picked another loser, just like Tawana Brawley and the Duke lacrosse whore. Why does anybody ever listen to this racist douchebag? Hasn’t he been exposed as a complete fraud over and over again? And yet, this shameless hoaxster has a national TV show. But now, after all this racial shit has been slung for months, race hustlers like Sharpton and Jackson are married to it and can not let it go, because that would mean admitting that they perpetrated a hoax. They can’t say they ginned all this up to stoke racial strife, knowing it was all a lie. But that is the truth.

Of course, I will entertain the possibility that I could be wrong about Trayvon; I never met the kid. Maybe a we lost a brilliant surgeon or a scientist or a concert pianist that night, but I highly doubt it. You’ll never see a civil suit or a civil rights case against Zimmerman; the rules of evidence are much different, and all Trayvon’s social media and cell phone pictures will be exhibits A through Z, to be compared against the character of a multi-racial man that tutored black kids, fought the local police for justice in the case of a black homeless man, took a black girl to prom, and has already been completely exonerated in this matter. The racist shit is completely unsupported by any evidence; indeed, all the available evidence impugns the character of Trayvon Martin, not George Zimmerman.

On the night the case went to the jury, I started casually asking what people in my car thought about the case, taking a little informal poll. Most thought he was not guilty, a few seemed to believe the “murdered little kid” meme. I picked up four guys, three white and one black, heading to a business class hotel. I asked them what they thought about the case, and the black guy said, “Oh, man, don’t get me started…!”

My first thought was that I had a black guy that would reflexively side with Trayvon, but my prejudicial attitude proved incorrect. He said, “Damn, man…. Did you see that guy’s face? Shiiiit… I’da shot that little nigga myself!”

I used to drive a guy named Dante with some regularity… He was a black guy around 28 or 30 years old that looked a little “ghetto”, with baggy pants and neck tattoos, but he had a family and worked some long hours as a cook to provide for them. I remember mentioning once that so many girls downtown looked like they were on their way to a porn audition, and he replied that he had a young daughter and hoped she wouldn’t turn out the same. He told me about going to a cookout at his cousin’s house, and her eleven and twelve year old girls were listening to Young Jeezy and shaking their asses, what is called “twerking” in the hood. Look up Jeezy on YouTube if you like, but trust me, he is part of the problem.

I told Dante that this happens as you mature and try to raise kids, and I reminded him that I have a daughter, too. Suddenly you realize that all those ho’s in the clubs probably had a Daddy that cared about them at one time, if they don’t now, and he would probably be mortified to see his baby behaving like this. Dante told me that he picks up extra shifts and works doubles to provide for his kids and make sure that the bills are paid, and I told him that is precisely what a real man does. He then told me that his cousin had three kids from two fathers, neither of which was around, and she was on Section 8, SNAP, and the whole spread of benefits that single black mothers can get. But she still does hair and nails in her garage for cash under the table, and she is in the clubs blowing money every weekend. He complained that he works more in a week than his cousin does in a month, and she gets all these government checks when she could have a job at a salon and get mostly or completely off welfare. But there he was, grilling up steaks she bought with food stamps.

I asked if he thought she was gaming the system, and he said that she obviously was. I said, “You think people should take care of their families, not rely on the government”, and he said yes. I said, “You think a man should provide for his family, even if it means busting his ass and sometimes going without?”, and Dante said damn right. I said, “You think a man has a duty to raise his kids right, to see them educated well and to give them a better life than his, and make sure they are not be polluted by nasty rap and a porn culture?”, and he said yes. I said, “You believe a man should pay his bills, pay his taxes, and not overspend, to live within his means?”, and he said yes again. I said, “Do you think the government should do the same?”, and he said hell yes.

I grinned at him and said, “You know what you are Dante?”, and he looked at me quizzically.

I said, “You are a conservative. You should vote Republican.”

Dante laughed and said, “Oh, man, I don’t know about that…”

I grinned at him and said if he talked to me for thirty more minutes, he’d be a Tea Partier and start listening to Rush Limbaugh, which he thought was hilarious, but he admitted that I gave him some things to think about.

Another night I was driving Dante home again, talking politics and current events, and somehow race got injected into the discussion, though I don’t recall the context. Dante said to me, “What are you, man?”

I wasn’t sure what he meant, and I said, “A taxi driver?”

“No, man… what are you?”

I still wasn’t following him. “A conservative?”

“No, man, what ARE you?”

I thought for a moment and I said, “An American? A father? A husband? A taxpayer? An artist?” Dante was shaking his head. “I dunno what you are asking. What are you?”

Dante said, “I’m a black man.”

I was a little taken aback… Dante seemed truly surprised that I didn’t self-identify by race. I said, “So fucking what? We are both men… we are both Americans… why would you lock yourself in a prison of skin? Why do you view the world through the prism of skin color? Why would you let something that superficial stand in the way of making a better life for you and your babies? You talk like you have some physical disability, like you were born without legs or something. Black men have risen to the top of every field in America… why not you? Does your black skin somehow prevent you from being Head Chef, or even owning your own restaurant, if you work for it? Tell me you don’t really believe that bullshit, Dante…”

Dante just said something like, “I don’t know, man…” but he seemed very thoughtful as he got out of the car. I don’t think a white man had ever spoken to him like that before. I regret that I haven’t seen Dante since… I hope he landed a better job, and that’s why I don’t see him anymore.

After he got out of the car, I asked myself, Why don’t you self-identify as a white man?

And the response came to me almost instantaneously: Because I wasn’t raised that way.

Racism is a learned behavior.

So I was reading about the Zimmerman trial and the racial uproar over it a few nights ago, and I stumbled upon a series of tweets from MSNBC’s Toure’, one of the most sanctimonious race-hustlers and grievance mongers in America today. Toure’ puts forth the theory of “white privilege”, which is apparently some invisible energy field that surrounds white people and protects them from harm and misfortune. It is apparently particularly useful in job interviews, police interactions, hailing a taxi, and dealing cocaine. Toure’ compares white people to a fish in the ocean that is completely unaware of the water that surrounds it, but like that water, “white privilege” encompasses, supports, and protects white people, to the detriment of non-whites. The fact that white people are unaware of any such “white privilege” doesn’t negate the fact that it is there, and even though he offers no empirical evidence for its’ existence, the fact that you don’t recognize it is simply proof that you are indeed a racist. Nice little circular argument he’s got there.

I don’t really know anything about Toure’, other than his “national” TV show has fewer viewers than the population of Orlando, so he isn’t really reaching any real audience besides liberal ninnies and racists predisposed to agree with him anyway. But hey… maybe he has some street cred… maybe he grew up on the mean streets of Oakland or LA or Chicago or Miami and knows what he is talking about. So I Googled up Toure’, and the Wikipedia entry for him reveals that he is a graduate of the prestigious Milton Academy, an elite private boarding school in Massachusetts.

You gotta be shitting me… This smug, effete douchenozzle went to the same private school as Teddy Kennedy and Buckminster Fuller? Toure’ is “down for da hood”? Toure’ understands “the struggle”? Toure’ speaks for the downtrodden blacks in this country, still held in bondage by racist whites? Toure’ has the gall to lecture us on “white privilege”?

What an astounding crock of shit. While Toure’ was being fitted for his 9th grade navy blazers and short pants, my 9th grade year was spent in Sears jeans, throwing newspapers and loading trucks at the newspaper plant to help pay for my clothes and lunches, growing up in a lower middle class neighborhood that was roughly 40% white, 40% black, and 20% Cuban/Mexican. I know more about the plight of poor blacks than this well-heeled liberal poser. Keysha and Tyrone on the corner do not even know what a boarding school is, you race-mongering dipshit. Methinks Mr. Toure’ is confusing “white privilege” with “rich privilege”, which has apparently served him very well.

Nonetheless, Toure’ and his despicable ilk are now fully invested in the “racist” narrative, and that is problematic, because a thorough investigation by the Sanford police and the FBI that interviewed dozens of people revealed that George Zimmerman is not a racist; indeed, all the interviews indicate just the opposite. So, they have started a new meme; that is, while Zimmerman is not a racist per se, he still “profiled” Trayvon as a black criminal, and killed him for no reason other than a latent racial prejudice. I’m not sure I understand that, but I have to admit that I don’t understand most of the bullshit liberals and race pimps talk about. I guess that means that Zimmerman is racist-light… you know, like Whoopi Goldberg saying Roman Polanski didn’t commit “rape-rape”… Zimmerman isn’t a racist, he just acted like one, and the magic word here is “profiling”, since they can’t say “racist”.

“Profiling” is an ancient evolutionary survival mechanism, and human beings would be long-extinct without it. When encountering a stranger, one involuntarily makes an evaluation as to whether or not this person is a danger to themselves, their family, and their community. Everyone profiles every day, and a taxi driver that does not profile will be robbed in a month, if not killed. I make the decision as to whether or not you are getting in my car within two or four seconds of seeing you. I profile by attire, by grooming, by demeanor, by sobriety, by destination, and by behavior. Race doesn’t enter the picture. A black man in a coat and tie will get in my car before a sketchy looking white guy wearing a hoodie, every damned time.

The older I get, the more I profile by dress and appearance. How you present yourself tells the world who and what you are, and I for one tend to believe you. If you dress like a businessman, I will believe you are a businessman. If you dress like a whore, I will believe you are a whore. And if you dress like a gangsta, don’t be surprised that you can’t catch a taxi. You made a deliberate, conscious decision to dress and look like a criminal; what did you expect? I once had a cop tell me that he doesn’t worry about guys with their pants below their ass, because they can’t run. Sorry, but I am more discriminating, and I do not apologize for “profiling”.

But Toure’ and all the other shameless race hustlers on TV keep whipping this dead horse, screeching about racism, profiling, and “social justice”, when real institutional racism has been gone for decades. When an actual racial event occurs, it’s newsworthy only because such events are exceedingly rare, or at least they used to be. But now, there has been a rash of assaults and beatings of whites and Hispanics perpetrated by blacks, screaming “justice for Trayvon”, and these attacks have been completely ignored by the arsonist media that started this fire. Thank you, President Obama, thank you, Eric Holder, thank you, Al Sharpton, and thank you, NBC and CNN. You have successfully set back race relations by two or three decades.

I grew up in a mixed neighborhood. I had the most painful ninth grade crush on a beautiful black cheerleader/honors student named Melanie… I can still see her smiling face in my mind in glamour-shot soft focus. I graduated from a predominantly black high school, I mean like 80 or 85 percent black, two blocks off MLK Boulevard. I dated a black girl for a while in the 90’s. I owned a home for ten years in a predominantly black neighborhood. And I was NEVER accused of being a racist until Barack Obama started running for President.

Being a politics junkie, I remember watching Obama’s impressive “red states and blue states” speech at the 2004 DNC, and I said to my wife that this man could be President one day. I remember Jesse Jackson crying on TV and people saying they couldn’t believe a black man had been elected President in their lifetime, and I thought, “Why not?” Blacks had reached the pinnacles of business, academia, sports, science, medicine, arts… Obama’s election didn’t surprise me one bit.

But I always wanted America’s first black President to be great… at least Top Ten. Sadly, Barack Obama has been the most abject failure, and history will paint him as one of the worst Presidents ever. He had a chance to be in the pantheon of the greats, but he has been the most incompetent executive in decades, and the most racially divisive President since Woodrow Wilson. I will never forgive him for the damage he has done to race relations in this country.

I was working on this piece on my iPad last Sunday when Tyler popped up in my window. He is a young black guy about 22 years old, a sous chef at one of the nicer restaurants downtown, and you only have to talk to Tyler for two or three minutes to know he is one whip-smart young man. I really like this guy. Every time I drive Tyler home, we talk about something political that he didn’t know and doesn’t believe, which he then goes online to look up when he gets home, and he is always thunderstruck that he didn’t know it. Just doing my part, educating the electorate, one voter at a time.

So Tyler has had a few beers already, and wants me to take him and a coworker to another bar. They get in, and I ask Tyler if he knows what tonight’s topic is, and he says, “The Zimmerman trial?” I told ya he is smart….

So I ask him what he thinks, but his friend blurts out that the Zimmerman trial was bullshit and that he should have never been put on trial. I ask Tyler what he thinks, and he says, “I just don’t know how he can get away with killing a little kid. Trayvon was just walking home, and he got shot. Didn’t the cops tell him not to get out of the car? You shouldn’t be able to shoot a kid for no reason…”

I said, “C’mon, Tyler… You are smarter than that…”

Tyler’s friend interrupts me and says, “See? See? I told ya… this whole trial was total bullshit…”

Tyler says, “Shut up! Shut the fuck up! I want to hear what this guy has to say… He’s like some philosopher taxi driver or something… he fucks up my shit every time I talk to him…”

I laughed and said, “I’m no philosopher, Tyler… I just tell you the truth. That’s something that is exceedingly rare these days. Your problem is that everything you know about the Zimmerman trial you know from watching the news on TV.”

Tyler says, “Oh, man, I don’t have time to watch the news… I just know what I hear people talking about.”

I said, “Well, no wonder you are so misinformed… You are getting your bullshit second-hand. You are listening to stupid people regurgitate the professional lies they heard on TV. You aren’t even getting first-rate bullshit.” And I spent the next seven or ten minutes of the drive explaining to Tyler who Trayvon was, who Zimmerman was, and what happened that night. I said, “So you got a jury of six women, most of them probably Moms that can’t imagine losing a child, and most them probably don’t carry a gun and might even be scared of guns, and yet they couldn’t find one single reason to convict Zimmerman of anything? That sounds really, really, really not guilty, doesn’t it?”

“Let’s suppose that this wasn’t a jury trial, and it is Judge Tyler presiding and deciding this case… who do you think you would believe? The violent, drug using, tattooed, criminally-inclined gangsta wannabe suspended from school in possession of stolen property and burglary tools, or the tax paying, civic-minded, multiracial man that took black kids into his home and taught them to read and made himself a giant pain in the ass for the Sanford PD in defense of a black homeless man? Which story sounds more likely to you, that a feral teenager into MMA fighting and drugs attacked a citizen, or a crazed racist decided to hunt down and kill an innocent black boy, and called the cops right before he did it?”

Tyler just shook his head and said, “Man, you mess with my head every damn time I talk to you.”

It was a slow night, so I decided to get out of my car and stretch my legs and have a smoke with Tyler in the parking lot of the bar. Tyler got a sly smile on his face, like he had busted the flaw in my logic, and he said, “OK, if what you say is true, then why are all these people lying? Why would everybody lie about all this shit?”

I said, “That’s simple… money and politics. ObamaCare is becoming more toxic every day, Obama seems to have a new scandal erupting every other week, and the Democrats are looking at some serious losses in the 2014 election, maybe even losing the Senate. Every minute the media spends talking about Trayvon and racism is a minute not spent talking about the economy and the rest of Obama’s failures. So they are gonna beat this dead horse for months and they are going to use phony racism to try to get out the black vote and try to minimize their losses. They want to say that they are the alternative to racist white Republicans, so vote for them, FOR TRAYVON.”

Tyler said, “But where is the money in lying about Trayvon?”

I said, “Are you kidding? Money is pouring into Al’s and Jesse’s front groups… they know this is all bullshit, but this is how they get paid. And Trayvon’s parents are making tons of money, too. They are millionaires now, Tyler. They got one or two million in a settlement from Zimmerman’s home owners association, no doubt after threatening them with protests or worse, and now they have started some bogus “foundation” in Trayvon’s name, and the money is rolling in. You know Trayvon’s mom trademarked his name within days of finding out he was dead, right?”

Tyler shook his head and said, “What? What kind of mother does that?”

I replied, “That’s a good question, Tyler.”

I told Tyler that Obama and Holder and Sharpton and the other race baiters in this country always seem to call for a “national discussion on race”, but when you bring up black crime rates or the disintegration of the family or abortion or out-of-wedlock births, they start screeching that you are a racist, and shut down the discussion they assert to want to have. And when asked what they do want to talk about, they have nothing besides meaningless, politically-correct platitudes… bullshit like “embracing diversity” and “developing greater sensitivity”.

Well what the fuck is that? I have been “embracing diversity” for my entire life. I’m not the problem here. And why do I need to be more “sensitive” about the Trayvons of this world? I am a taxpaying, law abiding citizen. I don’t need “greater sensitivity” for the Trayvons in this world, I need heightened awareness and need to watch my back for them. I don’t speak in meaningless platitudes; I deal in reality, and twenty years in an OFA reeducation camp would fail in teaching me political correctness, because that is the language of liars.

I was standing right in front of Tyler, chest to chest, two feet apart, and I said, “You know who I am, right, Tyler? Do you think I am a racist?”

“Naw, man…”

I said, “So, you and me standing here, face to face… we are just two men, just two Americans, completely equal, and I can talk to you straight up, say anything I really think?”

“Yeah, man… Anytime…”

So I started riffing to Tyler about what I thought would solve most of the racial problems in this country… it was kind of a improv jazz, stream-of-consciousness verbal riff… bullet point, concrete things that would help poor blacks and help end the constant racist drumbeat that has been going strong since Obama started running for President. The so-called black leaders in this country say they want a “national conversation on race”, so let’s open a dialogue.

What would I advise black Americans do to improve their circumstances?

Stop being black. Stop being niggas. Stop being homeboys and gangstas and ballers and pimps and yo’s and OG’s and playas and mack daddies and rappers and bruthas. Stop being bitches and ho’s and twerkers and babymamas and welfare queens.

Stop self-identifying by your skin color. Stop being African-Americans, and start being AMERICANS.

Stop buying thumping stereo systems and spinning rims and gold grills and flatscreens and 22k chains, and start buying classes at your local vocational school. If you wish to improve your condition, you must prioritize spending.

Speak proper English. This isn’t being a sellout, this is just smart. Have you noticed that most successful black people don’t talk “black”? There’s a reason for that. If you speak like a hood rat, what chance do you have to get a good job? Leave ebonics and ghetto slang behind. Practice. Your goal should be that when someone speaks with you on the phone, they don’t know what color your skin is. That isn’t to say that you can’t drop a “nigga” among friends, but deal with the world on the world’s terms. This isn’t racist; if you talk like an illiterate white hillbilly, the odds are stacked against you, too. Be a realist. Play to win.

“You know what the most dangerous thing in America is, right? A nigga with a library card.”

Actor Michael Potts as Brother Mouzone in the HBO series “The Wire “

This is a fictional line from a cable show, but there is searing truth in it. Learn to read, and read as much as you can. Not trash novels and rap music magazines, read things that improve your mind and advance your career goals. This is even more important today than it was twenty years ago. In the computer age, if you cannot read and write and speak with clarity, your job prospects are dim. Look at Rachel Jeantel. She sounds like an idiot, but I don’t think she really is stupid, I think she has been failed by her family and her school system. She barely speaks English and she can’t read cursive? What? Every single teacher that gave her a passing grade in her educational life should be fired immediately. They have utterly failed at their most basic task: to prepare Rachel for her adult life. Rachel Jeantel cannot even work the drive thru window at Burger King… The people in their car won’t be able to understand her on the speaker. Don’t be Rachel.

Get a job. Get a shit job, if that is where you have to start. There is no shame in honest work. Bust your ass. Do things that are “not your job” without being told. Help others do their job. Work extra hours. Pick up extra shifts when you can. Impress your employer. Learn every facet of the business you work for. Make yourself indispensable. Ask for the raise. Earn the promotion. Move up. Always be on the lookout for a better job. Leave your last job with a glowing recommendation. Impress your next employer even more.

You might be saying, “Well, I’ve tried to get a job, but no one will hire me.” Bullshit. If you can’t find a job, then CREATE one for yourself. Don’t take no for an answer. Obama hasn’t completely gutted this country yet; this is still America, and nowhere on the planet do you have a better opportunity to be a success. You CAN do it, if you really work at it. Almost everyone has a marketable skill, even if it is only a strong back and a willingness to work. Everything else can be learned. Let me give you two examples from my own life.

I was a freelance photographer in the 80’s and 90’s, and freelance means you have to go out and hunt down work. When I didn’t have a paying gig to shoot, I would put on a tie and a nice shirt and go to some art gallery opening or some other event and just take photos of people, hand them my card, and tell them to call me if they would like to see the photo. I would go to a park and take a photo of a kid and introduce myself to their parent, and hand them a card. I could usually sell a photo or two for 25 or 50 bucks, but more importantly, I got my card in their hand, and many times they would call me later to photograph their wedding or do a family portrait. I actively sought out the work, I didn’t wait for the phone to ring. And remember, this was in the days before digital cameras; I had to develop the film and get prints, then set up an appointment to see people. Today, you can show someone the image on a digital camera, charge their credit card on your smartphone, and email the image! I would have done really well with that technology 25 years ago.

I just moved to a new home a few months ago, and my grass was getting tall because I was just too busy to mow it. A young guy named Chris knocked on my door one day and asked if I would like him to cut my grass… ten bucks, front and back. He got right on it, he did a good job, and when he was finished, I said, “You said ten bucks, right, Chris?” He nodded. “I say twenty. I like to encourage this kind of entrepreneurial spirit,” and handed him a Jackson, and a cold beer, too. Four months later, I still pay him double (and encourage him to raise his rates), and Chris is now cutting the lawns for at least ten or twelve of my neighbors. He just cut my grass the other day with a brand new lawnmower he just bought. He is on the brink of building a real business, and he did it by asking for the work.

What is the lesson here? Get off your ass. Go make work for yourself. Don’t ask yourself if you want to cut lawns, ask yourself if you want to own a successful business that you built with your own sweat and your own hands. Ask yourself what it is worth to better yourself.

Now would a good time to ask yourself what you want to do with your life. Be realistic; being a millionaire rapper or Beyonce’s bra fitter seems like a long shot. What would be a dream job for you, one that matches your skills and interests? Do you want to cook? Do you want to own a plumbing business? Do you want to build houses? Do you want to go into medicine? Do you want to be a web designer? Do you want to build fly custom whips? All of these things are possible, but you have to have a solid goal. But more important than a goal is a plan. Are you willing to cut lawns and sweat in the day so you can go to school at night? Are you willing to work a shit job for a year or two to save the money it will take to launch your own business? What will you do to make it happen? What will you give up to achieve that goal?

In the age of the internet, you have even fewer excuses. You can learn about damned near everything online now, for free. Let me repeat that, EDUCATION IS FREE. In the 80’s, I taught myself photography by practice, buying books, and studying the work of others. In the 90’s, I taught myself about marketing and advertising the same way. In the 2000’s, I taught myself web design, HTML, and PHP programming from books and reading online. You don’t even need the library card Brother Mouzone was talking about… The library is in your iPhone. Why aren’t you soaking up every drop of information on it that pertains to something you can use to better your life?

Now that you have a goal and a plan, stop listening to friends and family and anyone else that says you can’t do it. Ignore them. Rise above them. Work harder. Focus on the goal. Do something every day that brings you closer to that goal. Definitely stop listening to race hustlers like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson and Toure’ and Michael Eric Dyson and Tavis Smiley and Ben Jealous and Cornell West… they have nothing to sell you other than a bullshit excuse for failure. When you see them on TV, change the channel. They won’t help you; they want you to fail, and then to blame others, particularly whites. This is how they make their living.

Don’t listen to Jay-Z and Kanye and Young Jeezy and all these other rappers that are selling the gangsta life. They are the ones glorifying the shit that will put you in prison or shot dead in the gutter. Jay-Z may have 99 problems, but money and security ain’t one, and he doesn’t give a fuck about you, your family, or your success.

Be a man. Respect yourself, and respect others. Don’t demand the respect of others, earn and command their respect by your actions and manner. Respect women. Put on a fucking rubber. Don’t bang some girl you know you won’t marry and leave her with the choice of aborting the child or raising it in poverty and government dependence. 70% of black kids are born out of wedlock. Without the discipline of a father and the structure and security of a family, kids naturally gravitate to dropping out of school, crime, and gangs. White people can’t fix black families, and neither can any government program or TV race hustler or liberal politician lying to you to get your vote. Only black men stepping up and doing what is right can fix that. Black men must lead by example. So if you care about the condition of “your people”, be a man.

Black women, you have a great deal of power to help fix these problems. If a man does not live up to these ideals, shun them. Do not give them your phone number, do not give them a good night kiss, do not give them the time of day, and definitely do not give up the pussy. Raise your standards. Insist that they respect you. You are not a sex toy that has to shake your ass for some phony VIP in the club. Demand that they have a plan to better themselves, and do not allow them to derail your plan to better yourself. Do not accept excuses. Be selfish. Do not apologize for insisting on the respect you are due.

When you do start your family, go all in. This is the most important thing you will likely ever do. Instill discipline in your children. Insist on respect for others and themselves. “Yes, sir” and “no, ma’am”. Demand excellence. Go over their homework. Go to the PTA meetings. Ask their teachers questions about what they are teaching your children, and insist on results from those teachers. Know their friends, and steer them away from kids you know are bad for them. Do not let them dress like gangstas and whores. Be a dick. Do not accept excuses, racial or otherwise.

Buy a gun. Seriously, tool up. If you aren’t a felon or have some other disqualifier, legally purchase a firearm. Get some training. Jump through whatever hoops your state makes you jump through to get a concealed carry permit. Go to the range. Know what you are doing. Be proficient. Two reasons: First, you are statistically more likely to encounter a violent criminal, and you have a family to protect. That isn’t racist, that’s statistics, and math isn’t racist. Second, contrary to what you probably have been told, carrying a gun doesn’t make you macho or act like a cowboy, it makes you a more responsible individual and citizen. White people don’t have a problem with armed citizens, they have a problem with armed criminals. Join us. We need you.

Last week Tavis Smiley was on Bill O’Reilly’s show beating his racist drum yet again, railing about the death of Trayvon, using that magic word “profiling”, whining that black life has less value than white life, and somehow, the NRA must be to blame. He said, “I’m waiting to hear the NRA say that if Trayvon Martin had a gun, he might still be alive today.”

Well, Trayvon’s cell phone photos seem to indicate that he already had a gun, and I am pretty sure that the NRA does not support arming teenage criminals. Then, he ended the interview with this little nugget of genius: “Arm every black person in America, and then let’s see what the NRA has to say!”

Well, I have to say that I agree completely with Mr. Smiley in this particular instance. Let’s conduct an experiment in “social justice”, shall we, Tavis? Let’s arm every single law-abiding black citizen in Chicago with a handgun and two boxes of ammo, institute a robust Stand Your Ground law in Illinois, and watch violent street crime plummet 80% in six months. Care to take that bet, Mr. Smiley?

Next, can we agree to a two generation statute of limitations on grievances about racial shit that happened to your ancestors? Sorry, but I do not suffer from “white guilt”. I never owned a slave, neither did my father, my grandfather, or my great-grandfather. I never discriminated against anyone, I never denied anyone their rights, and I certainly never lynched anyone. I bear no responsibility for the actions of any other caucasians, living or dead, aside from myself. So I hope you will understand when I say that it is hard for me to feel really sorry for something that happened before I was born, something I had nothing to do with, and something that has little or no bearing on your current situation. I am not saying that there aren’t still some racists or that racism wasn’t bad, but I’m focused on the present and on the future, as you should be. Giving me shit about slavery is like giving me shit for the Holocaust or the Tudor conquest of Ireland… I wasn’t there, I don’t know anyone that was involved, and I had nothing to do with it. Stop telling me that “my people” are responsible for your problems.

And lose the double standards… If Fiddy Cent gets to say “nigga”, so does Paula Deen. No person should be hounded out business for saying nigga or nigger or niggardly when Jay-Z is getting rich and being downloaded thousands of times a day saying the same damn thing. Phony outrage is really getting old, and it does nothing to advance the cause of black Americans. It is the despicable default tactic of the race hustlers like Sharpton and Jackson and Toure’. Be above it.

Now you may be saying, “Well, what the fuck does this dumbass white taxi driver know about the problems of the black community? Who is this asshole to think he can lecture me about a black man’s problems?”

Well, you might have a point. I don’t have a TV show like Toure’, or a college degree like Michael Eric Dyson, or know anything about what it is like to live in segregation. So let’s ask a man that knows all about those things… a man that has been a hero of mine since I was eight years old… a man that grew up in the mean streets of segregated Philly in the 30’s and 40’s, and knows what real racism is…

“They’re standing on the corner and they can’t speak English. I can’t even talk the way these people talk: Why you ain’t, Where you is, What he drive, Where he stay, Where he work, Who you be… And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. And then I heard the father talk.

Everybody knows it’s important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can’t be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth. In fact you will never get any kind of job making a decent living.

People marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an education, and now we’ve got these knuckleheads walking around. The lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal. These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids. $500 sneakers for what? And they won’t spend $200 for Hooked on Phonics.

I am talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit. Where were you when he was 2? Where were you when he was 12? Where were you when he was 18 and how come you didn’t know that he had a pistol? And where is the father? Or who is his father?

People putting their clothes on backward: Isn’t that a sign of something gone wrong? People with their hats on backward, pants down around the crack, isn’t that a sign of something? Or are you waiting for Jesus to pull his pants up? Isn’t it a sign of something when she has her dress all the way up and got all type of needles [piercing] going through her body?

What part of Africa did this come from? We are not Africans. Those people are not Africans; they don’t know a thing about Africa. With names like Shaniqua, Taliqua and Mohammed and all of that crap, and all of them are in jail.

Brown or black versus the Board of Education is no longer the white person’s problem. We have got to take the neighborhood back. People used to be ashamed. Today a woman has eight children with eight different ‘husbands’ — or men or whatever you call them now. We have millionaire football players who cannot read. We have million-dollar basketball players who can’t write two paragraphs. We as black folks have to do a better job. Someone working at Wal-Mart with seven kids, you are hurting us. We have to start holding each other to a higher standard.

We cannot blame the white people any longer”

– Dr. William Henry ‘Bill’ Cosby, Jr., Ed.D.

Mr. Cosby is so much more succinct than I, and in spite of all the race hustlers on TV today that tell me how horribly, horribly racist America is, I’m pretty sure I’m on the right team here. I don’t listen to the people that peddle grievance and imaginary injustice for political ends. Neither should you.

Make no mistake, this is the most fucked up thing I have seen on a long, long time, courtesy of Van Jones, not only a racist, but a communist to boot. These despicable douchebags actually have the temerity to invoke King and equate him with Trayvon? Many black people in America have lost the right to speak Dr. King’s name, in my view. This was a man of dignity, of conscience, of law, of faith, of education, of equality, and of non-violence, who got fists and rocks and dogs and firehoses turned on him and never raised his hand, and you have the gall to suggest that Martin Luther King would in any way approve of Trayvon’s drug use, criminal behavior, and violence? You think MLK would be down for da NO_LIMIT_NIGGA?

Go fuck yourself. Martin Luther King is spinning in his grave. This man fought for, and was eventually shot for, just a fair chance, just simple equality for black Americans, and fifty years later, so many of them have squandered his legacy, just pissed it away. Rachel Jeantel would have a better education from a segregated black Mississippi high school in 1950 than the education she has today… she would at least be able to speak proper English and read cursive. You can thank liberal democrats, professional race hustlers, and teachers unions for that, Rachel. Martin Luther King would not approve of black gangs and illiteracy and rap culture and criminality and the disintegration of the black family and failing schools and rampant out-of-wedlock birth rates and the black holocaust that is abortion today. To suggest for a moment that Dr. King would support Trayvon Martin in any way borders on the sacrilegious.

Let me repeat: Go fuck yourself. You don’t have the right to invoke his name.

I have been writing this piece for seven or ten days, in little snatches between passengers, and it has officially spun out of control. Maybe a better writer could lash all this together in a more concise fashion, but writing is my therapy, not my occupation. It just seems that every time I open this piece, I have another thread I want to weave in to it. But it has to end somewhere, so let me close by saying that at the root of all the problems in the black community, you will find Democrat politicians, the teachers unions, and the grievance and victimization industry, locking people into poverty and dependence, while attacking and attempting to silence any black voice that speaks out against their racist orthodoxy, like Herman Cain, Deneen Borelli, Ben Carson, Allen West, and Crystal Wright. But worst of all are the Sharptons of this world, the race hustlers that have no other job, no other purpose, the ones who are all too willing to intentionally see an innocent man convicted or even killed, based on a lie, so long as it serves to enrich and aggrandize themselves, and advances their evil political ends. Shun them.

The sooner we can put people like Sharpton and Jackson and Toure’ behind us, stop participating in purchased phony outrage bankrolled for political ends, stop listening to news programming designed to divide Americans by race, and stop imagining racial injustice where none exists, the quicker we can all get back to building our families, just being parents, just being Americans, just being equals, just being men… grilling burgers in the back yard, having a cold beer, letting you brag over your new M&P .40 cal, laughing about comparative penis proportions, my painfully awkward dance moves, and why niggas can not shut the fuck up in a movie theater…

And watching our beautiful kids run around screaming and playing and blowing bubbles and chasing each other across the grass.

You know, the shit that is important… the shit that Martin Luther King dreamed about.