[Opinionated] Yes, I Am Pro Black. No, I Don't Hate Everyone Else [Written By Shae McCoy]

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Image Credit: Shae McCoy

When you think of the words Pro Black, what are the first thoughts that come to your mind?
Considering myself Pro Black, I think that the terms have been misunderstood by my generation. When I hear Pro Black I think of my love for black people, culture, and how I am against any mistreatment of black people. I support blacks and our fight against white supremacy and other injustices of the system. Does any of that imply that I hate other races of people? No. It means that I am able to celebrate the culture of my own but, I am not limited to opening up and learning the culture of others as well. Nowadays, I see the terms associated with hate, not only with other races but within our own race. In Baltimore, there are people here that are simply followers of the movement versus the people who are really about change and use their Pro Black-ness to encourage change.
You cannot be blind and lead people who are blind. Tell your black friends that having friends of other races and ethnic backgrounds doesn’t make them any less black than they were when they were born. Telling people otherwise just furthers the problems that we are out here screaming to the top of our lungs, protesting, and marching about. My issue is that we all talk about sticking together and caring about one another yet, the moment we feel like someone isn’t Pro Black to our standards, they instantly become a coon or someone beneath us. Don’t get me wrong, there are some questionable folks out there but, even then we should be educating people instead of condemning their character. Yes, with condemning someone their public presence will be destroyed but, what do we really get out of it? We have to continue to build our people up so that our army can be as strong as anyone else’s.  That means we have to demonstrate some form of UNDERSTANDING with each other. We have to understand that a lot of us are not closed minded which means that we are going to have White, Chinese, and Mexican friends. We will also defend those friends when they are attacked. That is what FRIENDS do for each other. Doing so does not mean that we lose our BLACK card. Don’t think that because you are black and I am black that I will defend your wrong doing. If you are WRONG then, you are WRONG. That goes both ways. If I have a white friend who gets out of line, I will correct that. That is no place for anyone else to intrude on our friendship. Yes, I am pro black but, I am not hateful. Yes, racism definitely exists but, we cannot condition ourselves to hate everyone because of it. Let’s work on opening our minds just a little further.