Watch for the Hook

I was once called racist for stating that the greatest benefactors of the fight for civil rights for every US citizen and affirmative action were foreigners and Caucasian women. Well, census data confirmed the thought three (count it off 1-2-3!!!) times within the last 20 years. Walking through blogs that inspire me (or, at least, inflame me), I noticed this post at The Root. I grew up in northern Louisiana, a place that has a long and storied history of racism and color-struck mentality, and have an INCREDIBLY thick emotional skin, but I have my limit.

This artist reached my limit.

Controversy sells in media-minded America, but respect and dignity still remain chief among human qualities. Keith Adkins, the blog contributor who posted the story, spoke volumes with his feeling that "non-Black artists have a heyday playing around in Black...[and] like to get down and dirty and obscene when it comes to how they examine this country (or media's) interpretation of Black culture and how its marganilized and dehumanized; [we're] always fair game for something."

Have some character for Christmas, Yazmany Arboleda. Brown and black are more closely related than some historians want to admit despite medical and anthropological evidence that opposes their politics. Skeeting on your cousin to make your neighbor laugh and pay you is one mile down the road from genocide. Social critique isn't posting a gigantic likeness of a Black man's penis next to a presidential candidate's likeness; disrespect is. Thanks to this artist, my worst nightmare has come to life: I agreed with an federal agency's decision to shut down an artist's speech.

Thanks, Yazmany. Much obliged.