The challenge of Being Black while living in America

For a long time, I thought that race was just a euphemism for the class issues we face, which I still believe to some extent.  However, race has morphed into an animal all it’s own.  As one of my friends stated while watching this, “whether you rich or poor, you are still a n–ga.”  That really struck a chord with me, because for all the struggle and progress, trials and tribulations we face, it is still in the back of your mind. 

Another thing that struck me, is the variety we have in our immediate families.  One family had a lawyer, a barber and a college student in the same house.  And one still found a way to get arrested and put on probation, when his brother was a DA.  That is how quick the tables turn for a black man, no matter where you from.  I think this is something that you will only find in the households of people of color. 

Inevitably, my thoughts began to wonder to the “Black Flight” phenomenon.  I began to wonder if other “blacks” or “the ills of the ghetto” (dunh-dunh-dunh) chased middle class blacks away.  If people are shooting around my house, and I have a family, I would probably move.  It is an unnecessary distraction.  I work too hard to provide for my family to put them in harm’s way in order to “keep it real.”