An
oldie re-featured by
The Onion because it is so f^cking timely.
Years ago, reading about the unique "Talk" that black parents have to give their sons as they start driving really drove home some points for me.
My brothers got in trouble a lot. In a couple of instances, it could even be argued that the police had it out for them. But they were never brutalized and they made it through their "troubled teens" alive.
My parents did a pretty poor job in many ways, but serious, long-lasting consequences never derailed their sons' futures. I mention this not to knock my parents (They had their own issues and I now accept that they did the best that they could.) but to refute all those arm-chair sociologists who intone the platitude "If black parents just did their jobs. . ."
I remember reading coded versions of that in articles praising certain black people who had accomplished remarkable things. The idea is that if the parent of [insert name of famous black athlete, entertainer, professional] could keep their kid out of trouble and help them to achieve some special goal, why are there so many young black people doing poorly in school, stuck in poverty or in jail?
Nobody ever asks why more white parents' kids aren't excelling to a remarkable degree. Tolerance for mediocrity is one of the unchallenged realities of white privilege.
