What is the fascination with being a “real nigga”? Why does that seem like that is all these young people want to be one? Why is this still a thing?
Black people are the only race of people I know that take pride in being called a derogatory term, and then making it a good thing. I have been told in the past, “yo Marv, you aint a real nigga”, and my only response to that was “Thank you”. My younger self would have taken that as an insult and then proceed to show how real I am by doing something ignorant; because after all that is the definition of nigga right? If you think about it, you hear people talk about all the drugs they have sold, people they have robbed, guns they have, and people they shot, ect… then they finish their speech with “because I’m a real nigga”. Why do you want to be a real nigga, why is doing all the above things cool? Why is it a good thing to be poisoning your community? Why is it cool to be robbing the people in the same neighborhoods you grew up in? Why are you considered real because you shoot guns around your block and possibly kill some of the same people you went to school with? This in my humble opinion is the reason we cannot advance as a culture or as a people; since I have a College degree, I am not considered real, but the guy who went to jail for selling drugs is the realest person you know? That’s the kind of backwards thinking that will forever keep us down however, if you let one of these so called “real niggas” tell it; they will blame it on other races, cops, their environment, or a multitude of other things. Although all of those things play a big role, they never blame or look at themselves, they never think they can better their situations; they never want to believe that the world is bigger than the block.
Personally I take pride in not being considered a “real nigga”, I have worked hard and continue to work hard to be a successful man, and Father. I have a set of guiding principles, and if they do not fall in line with what the world considers a “real nigga”, then so be it, I am not a follower anyway. I am trying to figure out that why is it in 2015 we want to be considered niggas still, and to achieve the goal at becoming so good at it so that we can call ourselves “real niggas”. It is not a badge of honor, you never hear White, Asians, Latinos, ect,… people strive to be called the a derogatory term, then become so good at it so they can be called real. If we want people to change their mindset about us, then we have to change our mindset about us. If we want people to respect us, then we have to respect us, in case you’re missing the theme of this EVERYTHING STARTS WITH US.
Bottom line is being a real nigga is not a good thing; you can be real and not ignorant at the same time. You can take care of your responsibilities, pay your bills, and take care of your kid (s), and still be real. That my friend is called being a grown up, that is what we do when we decide to move out of our parents’ house, have a family of our own, and have responsibilities. Even though I don’t agree in principle with Gandhi, he had a quote that has stuck with me, and I try everyday to live by, “You must be the change you want to see in the world.” I want to see a world where it is not considered cool to be ignorant, where the neighborhood drug dealer is not considered the hero. I want a world where because your grandfather hated other races, doesn’t mean that you have to.
As always I hope this was informative and brought some light to the issues at hand.