Publisher Be’n Original has written a response to an interview with Dr. Boyce Watkins on AllHipHop.com.The opinions expressed in this editorial do not necessarily reflect the position of AllHipHop.com or any of its employees
The depths to which a small number of Black celebrities are willing to prostrate themselves to equate Joe Biden to Donald Trump is unfathomable. Few are more exemplary of this than you Dr. Boyce Watkins, in your recent interview with Chuck Creekmur on AllHipHop.com.
To even interject opinions that would support voting for the proven racist white supremacist that is Donald Trump undermines the overall interest of Black American who are suffering at hands of those who consider themselves part of the president’s base.
If the expression of refusal to heel at the master’s feet and beg for something that should have always been ours is as you say slave talk, then you, despite all of your acclaimed knowledge and accomplishments, speak with the tongue of a house ni##er who has lost his taste for freedom.
You have allowed yourself to become so comfortable with the way things are, not only have you lost your will to stand up fight for your own humanity, but you have the audacity to wage war on the people who are fighting on your behalf. You have lost sight of the way things should and still could be.
Instead of using your voice to encourage Black voters to use the power to end the greater threat of Donald Trump’s advocacy for white supremacy and police brutality, you would have us come to his table and plead for what he has consciously rebuffed throughout his term – days before an election.
This man has given a dime while taking a dollar throughout most of life and has likely never acted selflessly for the betterment of… Well, anyone else. Even if a dialogue regarding the socioeconomic hardships we endure was to be had, he’s one of the most deceitful and dishonest figures in modern American history. He lied about a virus that has needlessly brought to end the very lives of over 200,000 people and continues to play it down, knowing that it disproportionately affects Black Americans. This is the person we should believe? How has the sheer idiocy of this notion evaded you?
In the words of the fearless cultural soothsayer Remy Ma, are you dumb?
Why would anyone with a modest level of intelligence have confidence in a known racist to act within our best interest or simply believe a single thing he says? Why would you?
The answer is that you don’t. You know better, but your concern isn’t about protecting the culture or the well-being of our people, Black people. This is about your sophomoric need to create a moment. You are willing to place your aspiration for relevancy before the culture and its people. It is this kind of indifferent selfishness that impedes the unity we so desperately need to improve our lives. Instead of working in conjunction with other Black intellectuals who make use of their respective platforms for the good of us all, you used your moment to disparage them.
Where’s your dignity? As someone who experienced racism and intellectual oppression as a child growing in Kentucky, have you come so far that you no longer relate to the trauma of slavery? Why else would you make such thoughtless and depravedly irresponsible references?
Whatever the reasoning, whether you are simply clout-chasing or trying to usurp Jason Whitlock as the favorite pet of Trump-supporting conservatives, some soul-searching would do you well. You appear to need it now more than ever.
The bottom line is that we do not have another four years to hope and pray that Trump does the right thing. He has already shown us who he is and we believe him. Why don’t you?
And by the way… Historically speaking, only one kind of indentured servant would feel so empowered by his proximity to the master’s bedroom that he would chastise those who wanted to be free. Ironically, he would refer to other Black folk as slaves, too.
About Be’n Original:
Be’n Original is a prolific journalist and industry executive who has contributed to several leading media outlets including The Source, XXL, Vibe, King, and Yahoo! He is currently the publisher of Urban Magazine and also one of the original columnists on AllHipHop.com.