When a person evokes the term
“slave mentality”, it generally refers to a situation where a black person
believes they can’t make a decision without the approval of a white
person. It is where black folks don’t trust their own decision-making
abilities and prefer to defer to a white societal expectation.
Well there is a new type of “slave
mentality” permeating American society today. It is the “slave master
mentality”. It is the condition where rich white men believe
they are the masters of black men. They believe their wealth and stature
give them the authority to tell black men how they should behave. And it
matters not that many of those black men are also wealthy and have stature in
their communities, the new white masters believe they have a right to dictate
what is appropriate behavior.
Take the Dallas Cowboys. The
white owner has told the team which is dominated by young black men, that if a
player chooses to protest during the national anthem, that the player will be
benched.
The first point that needs to be
made here is that the protest has nothing to do with the national anthem or the
United States flag. People need to do research before discrediting the
protest by players.
Slavery has long been outlawed in
the United States, yet it appears the new slave masters still believe black men
need to be subservient. What needs to be understood is that the
relationship between team owner and team players is a partnership, not a
dictatorship. Imagine the problems an owner would have if black players
chose not to play because they weren’t being treated as partners.
Those
who harbor this new “slave master mentality” need to check themselves.
This is 2017, not 1817.
