Written by Michael Thervil
It goes without saying the Black American Men had overcome countless obstacles over their time in America as well as achieving just as much as they have struggled – if not more. But with overcoming obstacles for centuries and achieving major feat after feat, the question still remains: “what does it mean to be a Black American Man?” For many Black American Men, it's more than a complex question. It's a loaded question. The question of what does it mean to be a Black American Man in the context of complexity means that you have been forced to unnecessarily struggle with nearly every kind of social ill America has to offer; from discrimination in corporate America, to dealing with over aggressive police and policing tactics, to systematically engrained income disparity practices, to discrimination in the military, and then there's the issue of how the general public, Black American Women, and how Black American Men perceive themselves.
The question of what it means to be a Black American Man is also a loaded one because oftentimes people around the world fail to pick up on the hidden issues that Black American Men tend to face. Outside of the surface social issues, there are issues surrounding intimacy and relationships such as having to deal with but not necessarily liking Black American Women intimately but still having to tread very carefully when dating and marrying women of other races and ethnicities. Even though those Black American Men who choose to date and marry these women they still have to deal with what W.E.B. Dubois was coined as a “double consciousness”.
The notion of Black American Men having to manage a double consciousness in terms of intimacy and relationships means that they have to be aware that the even though they are free to choose the person that they want to date and marry, they still have to be mindful of the American social norms and expectation that tell them that they are aggressive, violent 6 foot gorillas that are sexually deviant and thus unworthy to deal with any other group of women outside of their own.
This leads us to another example of why the question posed in this article is a loaded one; and it’s because whatever negative happens within “Black America” is automatically the Black American Man's fault. Even though this ridiculous logic applies to all men in American culture and society, it’s Black American Men who are most affected by this publicly approved abusive thinking because he lacks the authoritative status and control to change this demoralizing thinking in private or in the full view of the public.
The reason for their reluctance to establish their authority in society when confronted, is because he will be seen as an aggressive savage, who doesn't hesitate to become violent because he can't control his emotions. Although this is largely false, it’s the heavily ingrained public perspective that makes this false narrative true. Thus, Black American Men feel “socially trapped”. So, to combat this the Black American Man lowers himself to a docile creature – that goes along to get along, even if that means in doing so goes against his own self-interest.
But on a bittersweet note, to be a Black American Man is to be a creator, a survivor, and one that makes a way for tomorrow, even when it seems like the entire world is coming to an end and tomorrow will never come. Black American Men are more than the sexually charged images Hollywood displays on the big screen – even if Black American Men enjoy sex just as much as any man from any other race or ethnicity. Black American Men are the engineers, doctors, attorneys, astronauts, teachers, and the blue-collar workers at your local plant. Black American Men are the inventors, entertainers, and janitors - Black American Men are the heartbeat of America.
According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control), Black American Men are the best fathers in America. Like all men, Black American Men are the best thing after God. But to be a Black American Man, means to acknowledge that America chooses to be blind to all of these positive attributes and more and continue to survive and overcome all the socio-economic obstacles America can throw at us. And the reason for this is because Black American Men have no other place or country to go – for if Black American Men did, they would have done it already. This is part of what it means to be a black man in America. loaded question or not.
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