Funny, how statements are repeated as fact for decades (dare I say eons) and upon further investigation, what was once thought to be accurate is simply not true. Even the title of my entry is not really true....the Joe Friday character from the Dragnet series never actually uttered the phrase, "Just the facts." It was the Stan Freberg parody of Dragnet, St. George and the Dragonet, when the famous statement is actually used....but I digress. Unfortunately, I have another example of an inaccuracy coming from one of my favorite blogs, Booker Rising. Rising, which is helmed by pundit/blogger, Shay Riley is an excellent resource for news and commentary coming from a much needed Black conservative bent. I definitely consider Ms. Riley a colleague in the struggle to present alternative political (and cultural) thought to the so-called monolithic Black community. But....(you knew this was coming) I was disappointed by a recent post (although it was a self-described "politically incorrect rant"....still) where Riley pontificates on the death of former NFL quarterback, Steve McNair. Here's a excerpt from the diatribe in question:
"The signs seem to be pointing to a murder-suicide by Ms. Kazemi. It may be impolite for me to point out some stuff in this sad tale, seeing how ol' boy unfortunately just died yesterday. However, I gotta tell it like it is: black men, black men, your lustful choice to chase tail - especially non-black tail - has been the downfall for too many of you. Jack Johnson, O.J. Simpson, Steve McNair, need I gone on? Especially when y'all get famous, y'all too often have these double standards where a black woman has to damn near perfect....but you'll trick with any ol' thing off the street - lack of quality, not bringing anything to the table, or mental state be damned - if she's non-black.
I see the media is calling Ms. Kazemi a “friend”, while the police "explore" what relationship they had. Puhleeze! Not much exploration needs to be done. Ms. Kazemi was his jumpoff. Mr. McNair does not visit a female "friend" at 1am and stay. He does not take vacations with a female "friend"...with his family nowhere in sight. Mr. McNair was chopping Ms. Kazemi down on the regular and taking away from his wife and kids to break her off. He set his jumpoff up in that condo. Oh yeah, and bought a black Cadillac Escalade for her…the same car where she got stopped for a DUI - while he was in the passenger seat – just three days ago). Apparently, they had some disagreement recently. Given her ex-boyfriend's statements, perhaps Ms. Kazemi was upset that he wouldn’t leave his wife and felt he was stringing her along."
I think Ms. Riley has fallen prey to the tired Black female stereotype of having anger and/or angst toward interracial liaisons involving Black men. Don't get me wrong-I would never make excuses for a male that decides to traipse around on his wife or bring dishonor to his family. But the constant reference to tribalism in her protestation......his Black wife and his Iranian girlfriend or allusions to non-Black women being the reason for the downfall of Black men of means is a specious if not over worn argument. Riley's critique reminds me of the Angela Bassett scene from Waiting to Exhale when her character was more perturbed about the color of her husband's mistress than about the infidelity. What if McNair's paramour were an Iranian man? These are the times that we are living in and one must wrestle with the absurdity of it all. Can we please deal with the facts and not the emotion? In this day and age why does knowledge of the woman's ethnicity (aren't Muslims America's new n%@ggas,anyway?) seem to give some Black women that extra burn in these matters? Another caveat in this issue (in the eyes of some Black women) also relies on the male being a high profile and successful person of color. Perhaps these so-called "ballers" should stop being viewed as the ultimate prize for Black women. May be looking at a man's moral bank account might be of greater value than his financial status-just ask our First Lady. What say you, folks? Am I wrong on this? A quarter (adjusted for inflation) for your thoughts.
For more of the Booker Rising piece, click on the link below:
Steve McNair’s Death: My Politically Incorrect Rant
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