Deion did the awkward thing most Black people have to do at some point in there lives: defend their Blackness. He did it at a press conference announcing his arrival at Colorado State likely to defend against the position that he sold out.
It’s a Black thing.
The thing about it, though, Deion Ain’t Black.
Deion stopped being Black a long time ago. Not sure if it was the $2 million signing bonus in Atl or the $11 million he made in the NFL, but definitely around the time they started calling him Primetime Deion ‘stopped being Black’.
Deion is the capitalist version of Blackness. It’s the fight in the Mc chicken wars to perpetuate the race to the bottom of being ‘Black enough’. Dashikis and Air Max’s. Black history facts in February. Black power in a European suit. It’s everything that drives corporate profits at the expense of the reality of being Black. It’s not the Flint water crisis Blackness or George Floyd. It’s not the type of Black connected to the Black identity. And it isn’t a Deion Sanders problem, it’s the Black dilemma.
The Black Dilemma
Black people equate success with money, but are arguably the most oppressed by it. And it’s not money that’s the issue but the corporate capitalist model that frames success through a material lens. A Eurocentric perspective. that’s often at odds with the history and culture of Black people. It isn’t the content of character approach of Martin or the self-determination of Malcolm. It’s the value and significance of worth through possession. It’s the source of a lot of Black trauma, but remains the means for how we view and value ourselves as Black people.
It’s also part reason for Black flight. We don’t look at ourselves or our community as inherently valuable, so we look to outside sources to bring in value. The stadium renovations are good examples of how corporations, like Wal-Mart, are usually counted on to be positive renewing forces for a problem that’s inherently internal. We don’t love ourselves. And it shows.
We’ve become empty vessels. It doesn’t matter how much is poured into the city if we spend all our time and resources on people and things that don’t pour back.
It’s time-out for dragging another Black person on Twitter. It’s time-in for recognizing the shared trauma of the Black community. Seeing each other’s pain through the struggle. Offering a hand-up, a open ear. It’s time to start connecting to our traumas and the places working to heal through them.
No. Deion ain’t Black. But if we want him and the other wealthy African-Americans back, it’s time we reclaim our identities.
