Make up your minds. Biggie or Barack, you can't have it both ways

I'm going to let everyone in on a secret, come closer, Black people do some things differently than white people. Yep, you heard me right, I said it and it's true. The latest scandal to come out of Kansas City schools is the now infamous YouTube video of the young black kids, dressed in Black T shirts, military fatigue pants, standing at attention, reciting individual lines, fists clinched at the chest. What should have been a small matter, dealt with between the Teacher, the students, the parents and school officials, has been blown out of proportion. The media, the Internet, the far right and way left conspiracy theorists, have all run with this thing, making much adieu of nothing.

At the risk of being misinterpreted over my opening line, and at peril of digging myself a deeper hole, I'll try to break it down for you, as I see it, for whatever that's worth. Culturally, inner city African Americans are far removed from the average white suburbanite, or white city dweller for that matter. Say it aint sooooo,Joe. Take drill teams for example, if you have ever watched a mostly white suburban drill team, and then watched an inner city, all black drill team, there is a huuuuuge difference. Nothing wrong with either drill team, but you can bet your pom poms the inner city drill team will be more animated, flashier, theres a big difference. Go to a nice suburban Methodist church, then attend an inner city church, big difference. It's cultural, they are both fine for what they are, but the way the people react and worship will be way different.

I know, I'm long winded and seemingly off topic, so go read a twitter or something if you want short and cute. The cultural thing is real, recognizing that, does not make one racist, criticizing someone who is culturally different, likewise does not a racist make. So I'm not calling out everyone who has jumped on the bandwagon, condemning the video, I am not calling them all racist, although I'm sure that is a factor in some cases. I however have no problem calling a large percentage of the alarmists, morons, chuckle heads, and retards.

There are two camps of opinion over the video. The alarmists see young black males, dressed similar to the Militant Black Panther Party, sans shades and Berets. The boys in the video are military in their demeanor. They are chanting, pledging allegiance to the Black guy with the funny name who , god help us, may soon be the leader of The United States of America. The video has gone viral, and the "I told you this would happen.Wait until he gets in the White House, we're all gunna be fucked," crowd, have gone ballistic. To this group, I say, settle down Clem, this ain't exactly Armageddon. It's Jr. High students, not the reincarnation of Huey P Newton.

The polar opposite side of this coin, is the African American camp, who will automatically raise the cry and use this as an indictment on society in general and whites in particular. They will act totally clueless and shocked that anyone could misinterpret the video. I'll have to call bullshit on that group as well. I really don't have an opinion on whether or not the video should have been made, or if it should have been made on school grounds. I honestly don't have an opinion on if the teacher was wrong or right. And I'll tell you why; they weren't my kids, and I don't have any kids who go to that school. That's what they call minding your own business and let other folks mind theirs as well.

What I do have an opinion on is the end result of all of this pissing and moaning over a harmless video. Lets say for argument sake, the video was ill advised, shouldn't have happened. Since the story is now all over the news, all over the web, what are the repercussions? For starters, we cant have it both ways. I'm not shy about pointing an accusatory finger at the African American community, I'm quick to point out the preponderance of negative role models, the idolization of gangsta rap. And I'm not alone, there is plenty of criticism, no shortage of folks ready to point fingers and affix blame. So you would think that a group of black youths, chanting about being Architects and lawyers, swearing allegiance to a Senator and possibly the next president, would be greeted with at least an air of optimism. It's a start, beats trying to be Fiddy.

You would think from the reaction that these kids were worshipping Satan. From the furor that has resulted over this video, you would think these boys had channeled the ghost of Nat Turner, and the chant was kill whitey, rather than , I want to be a doctor. I find it more than a little telling, that the folks who are the most worked up over this, dont even have children in a Kansas City school. Would the reaction have been different, the shock and outrage tempered, if they kids weren't wearing the Military pants ? No, I dont think it would have. Short of standing in a circle, singing Kumbaya in matching sailor suits, it wouldn't matter what these kids were wearing.

We can't have it both ways. We can't bitch about the lack of positive role models in black culture, only to turn around and complain about the method of delivery, when the role model is a positive one. And now we are full circle, it's back to a cultural thing. Inner city kids will never be Blue Valley kids, and they shouldn't have to be. You can argue until you are blue in the face, that the teacher was wrong to allow the video, that the kids came off militant and threatening, that the clinched fists and military vibe is reminiscent of the Black Panthers. At the end of the day, these kids chose to idolize and emulate a positive role model, rather than some rapper or neighborhood gangsta. Rather than giving credit for it, they were criticized. You have to ask yourself, had this video been made by suburban white kids, dressed in khakis, praising John McCain, would the reaction been on the same magnitude? Probably not. We cant have it both ways.