Thursday, January 24, 2008

Black Enough


It is no secrete, by now, that I am not a guy who is into sports. I'm just never got into them growing up. I don't like basketball, football, baseball, golf, cricket,
synchronized swimming, tether ball, none of the biggies. However, I do love me some tennis. I don't know why. Maybe because that
was the only sport that I played in college, in order to get my wellness credit. (Remember when they use to call it P.E.?)
That being said, I will only watch tennis when black folks are playing. Needless to say, I don't watch a lot of tennis. Yesterday,
Blake Lewis lost out to some white boy (Federer, I think his name was). I believe it was also yesterday that Serena Williams lost,
leaving me only Venus to hang my hopes on; or so I thought. This morning I was watching my DVR saved match of the men's finals at
the Australian Open, when I saw this match up between some guy, who was obviously white. I could tell by the long flowing locks of
blondish-brown hair. However, the other guy.....The other guy I was not too sure of. Was he black? His hair didn't move when he ran, not unlike a black man. His skin was dark, not unlike a black man. And he had a black man's carriage, if you know what I mean. Still, I wasn't quite sure if he was "black like me", so I decided to watch him play. The kid's name was Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and he was playing some kick ass tennis; taking out the world's No. 2 seed, Rafael Nadal. I found myself mesmerized. I was like, "look at this boy play!" Hell, he could be black, damn it. His features were about as blackish as Black....I mean, Blake Lewis. As it turned out, Tsonga is not black, but French (but there are Black folks in France). I'd have to have a look see at his parents to make a judgement call, but for my purposes, Tsonga was black enough. I'll be continue to watch his ass play and counting his wins on the black side.

So, my question to you is....Does this make me a racist? I don't feel as if I am a racist. I treat all people the same. I love everyone equally, but when it comes to my folks against their folks I want my folks to come out on top. Is that a racist state of mind? I know that if I read this same sentiments on a white person's blog I would label them a a racist and not think twice about it. They'd be racist and I'd be calling Al Sharpton. So, am I a racist? Do I need to look it up? I know I'm prejudice, I believe everyone to fit that label...but racist? That's a totally different matter all together.

-One Man's Opinion. Peace.

24 comments:

Jazzy said...

Rooting for someone that looks like you does not a racist make you.

Now if you went back to the White boy's hotel room and hit him over the head with a stick to give a Black player some kind of "player's edge", odds are most would consider you a racist!

D-Place said...

I don't think you're racist. I actually do the same thing that you do. I wonder if that's a Leo thing or just a Black thing. At any rate to hell with those Y-Ts! Oh that was probably racist.

dejanae said...

ur a mess
and if that makes u racist, then hell
so am i

Mz.Bria2U said...

@Twin, teach me something. Since when is "french" a race? That's his citizenship! Did they designate 'french' as his race so as to not focus on the b/w issue...be that as it may, my girl Sheila of Black
Tennis Pros
has him on her site (check out "Slide" pics) and he's black. He's a black frenchman.

Twin, you're alright. A smidge crazy, but still alright.

@Opinionated-you're hilarious (if you went back to the white boy's hotel room...)

Darius T. Williams said...

Nah, doesn't make you a racist - that's why they have more than one channel...you have preferences.

Tafari said...

From Wikipedia - Tsonga has a French mother, and a Congolese father.

I do not consider your thoughts racist. Questioning race or origin for someone who appears to be ambiguous is something I think most people do regardless of race.

When I saw the photo, I knew he was a Negro.

Bygbaby

Anonymous said...

That doesn't make you a racist.

I don't care what it is, if a black person is involved, I'm pulling for the black person. Just yesterday I was rooting for the Johnson Family to bet the Plate Family on Family Fued.

Mz.Bria2U said...

There u have it folks!!
Congolese IS DEFINITELY BLACK!!

It's all good! I hope Tsonga goes all the way! He the underdog no longer :)

dc_speaks said...

lol@if you have to ask then......ok im just joking. i share the sentiment. I had trouble cheering for certain teams for the same reason.

Do i cheer for the black quarterback or the black head coach? It's what it is. a preference of whom you would like to see win.

DO YOU!

One Man’s Opinion said...

So, diva, is it wrong that I was considering doing that very thing?

Yeah, D, "Y-Ts" probably is racist, but I like that. LOL...Power to the Leos...I know I am a zodiacist...LOL

My Twin is always trying to put me in my place...Me and her are going to have to have a long talk.

Thanks for the insight, bygbaby.....cause that boy know his hair is nappy. LOL. But nappy hair does not a negro make....LOL


LOL..Southern Gal took it all the way to the Family Feud.

Hey, ladies and gentlemen, as you may or may not know I am having trouble with my wireless internet, which means that my lab top is now achored to one place. Now, being the lazy bastard that I am, I do not alway find myself wanting to be in that one place with my lab top, so if you find me not posting or not leaving messages on your blogs, it is not that I am not here, it is just that I hate have to go to the lab top and the lab top will no longer come to me. I HATE THIS DAMN THING! Of course, I probably shouldn't have dropped it, but that is besides the point, damn it!

Mizrepresent said...

Nah, you're not racist. You root for who you want, and most of us do the same, whether it's sports, American Idol, ANTM, or politics (sometimes). It's a matter of choice and you have the right to choose who you want to celebrate and who you want to win...what's racist about that, no hate to be seen.

sidebar- My nephew plays pro-tennis, maybe one day you will catch him on the screen, oh yeah...and don't forget to root!

the poet Shazza said...

You aren't a racist, you are a Nationalist. Not in a sense of supporting a country but a NATIONALITY. You are proud to see something good happen to someone that looks like you.

In a world where we are still celebrating FIRSTS, there is nothing wrong with a Brotha and Sistah being supported to a win or a victory or a goal.

Think about it this way .. whenever you hear about a crime being committed you HOPE that the person isn't BLACK .. so why can't you HOPE that the Brotha wins doing something positive? Same energy different direction.

I'll be cheering for the Brotha mayself and FUQ anyone that calls me Racist for it ... ALLER LA FRANCE !!!!!

MsKayotic said...

It doesn't make you a racist when you choose to root for people of your color. White folks be doing it all the time. Racism is the act of showing hatred towards another group. You are not acting. You're cheering.

It's all good.

That Girl Tam said...

Black Enough...ironic.

For many years growing up I wasn't "black enough". I was too yellow, hair too straight, too long and my mother was WAY TOO Chinese. LOL...

I don't consider your thought process racist. White people do it all the time...I don't consider THEIR thought process in those regards racist either. It is what it is...preference.

Where ya been man??

We're pregnant...again

So should I call you Uncle OMO? Because Uncle Nigger sounds racist! HAHAHA...

One Man’s Opinion said...

Always, Miz....

Shazza, always the the positive insight...Thank you.

Tam..."We Pregnant?" What?

mp1 said...

you jinxed the boy!!!! damn u!

Karamale said...

i gotta second "twin's" comment. lots of people seem to confuse black and black american, as in, "he not black, he puerto rican." he might indeed be from puerto rico, but if he was from willacoochee, georgia with that same al b. sure! look, he'd be black. that makes him a black puerto rican. in miami, some dude had the audacity to say to me "i'm not black, i'm 'aitian!" i looked at him like, "nigga?!?!...if i'm black, then you DAMN sho is."

then again, since all most foreign blacks see of black americans on tv is flava flav, i wouldn't be so quick to holla black either.

Karamale said...

btw...i was raised with the one-drop rule and i'm stickin to it!

James Tubman said...

tsonga does his thing

he was in the top eight in the us open last year

he's black too

there are black people all over this globe

and yes you are a stone cold rascist lol

just kidding

in order to be a racist you have to have the power to disnfranchise white people

therefore, my friend, you are not a racist

BronzeBuckaroo said...

He is a BROTHER. Damn, my yella behind is white compared to him. And those parts of me hidden from the sun are a lot paler.

You aren't a racist, brother. If you are for wanting the best for your people, then I am one, Langston Hughes is one, and many black folk who cheer at their kinfolk being a success without succumbing to self-hate or selling out are racist.

I am not going to be all political correct and say I blankly love white folk. (I have the good sense to know all white folks are not the same; some are OKAY.) Rather, I much prefer to express my "affection" for white folk the same way Langston Hughes did:

"Do you think I love white people? Yes, I love them. I love them so much I wish God would take them all to His bosom, RIGHT NOW!"

That quote gets me every time I read it. It's the form Hughes' anger took toward white folks. Benign for the very people who in general he DID NOT like. Tired, hurt, sometimes angry, the more common phrase used under the breath of many of "us" on a particularly bad day with white folks is the vituperative wishing them away into the bosom of a more humid and hotter environment. Hughes wished them AWAY into Peace. I admire that. It's disgust and anger expressed without burdening the soul down. And, I have said it to myself enough times in certain situations. My views aren't any different than Hughes' for white folk.

Of course, many whites consider Hughes racist because he didn't kiss their asses in his work. In short, and more specifically, he didn't avoid being black and damn proud of it and his people.

One Man’s Opinion said...

I did jinx him, MP...Damn it...

Karamale....He be black enough...I saw his dad...looks black to me...LOL

Tubman, are you sure that is the diff. of Racist, because I looked it up...


Thanks for the comment, Buckaroo...Love the qoute...Want even ask about your paler parts...

All-Mi-T [Thought Crime] Rawdawgbuffalo said...

Read AFRICA MUST UNITE by Kwame Nkrumah. He defines acism, and as a person of color, u do not have the power to make other bend and accept and adopt you standards - so no u are not a racist. Thanks for the idea for my next post

James Tubman said...

it's a superficial definition

you can't compare the dislike of a black person to a white person

the white person always always always has more power

Anonymous said...

I think Tsonga is one of my favorite tennis monkeys. He's a very good tennis monkey, but hasn't done as well as he could have.

He needs to increase his training. There's a great new technique that increases endurance. It's kind of like the stick and carrot, but since he's a monkey and not a donkey, a stick and banana works much better.