From birth, I've learned slowly more and more detail about the horrors that come of black history. Learning of the hate that was brought upon African Americans as if "American" stood no part in that nationality. Yes, laws have come to change this even more slowly than it took to digest my own history, yet while that speaks many accolades on its own that's not the issue I'm going to be speaking about.

I know heads will turn when I mention "Black Male Privilege" because we are so used to what many people know as "White Privilege," but that is not to say it isn't a common issue. You might think of how much of the incarceration today is primarily Black people. Often times that is usually male. That also has much to do with racial profiling and gender stereotypes. So no, black men certainly do not have it easy. The question is, however, do we have it easier than black women?

We have always existed with the only ones having less power than us, being women. African American men may not have been able to vote until 1870. However, women weren't able to vote until 1920 which was half of a century later. Imagine being a black woman having to endure through both hardships while still building up, supporting, marching alongside us, just to be pushed over to the side. Yet how do we treat them?

In the world today, black women are constantly referred to as "hoe" or "Bi***." It's hard to even listen to music without them being called a derogatory term. In fact, it has gone so far that us men have used the word "female" as a "safe means" to call them out of their name disrespectfully. But of course, not all black men are like this. There are some good ones out there. We should just ignore it because it will all be good if we just trust in them right?

WRONG! That is the exact same excuse we use when talking about the racial injustice between white people and black people. Dr. Kristian H explained this well when she said "You explain that they benefit from our racially unjust system, and simply not being overtly racist isn't enough. If they accept the benefits of the unjust system and do not try to dismantle it, then they are in turn part of the problem. Again, that is why this white analogy is so perfect." (Kristian H) She perfectly proves that we can be the biggest hypocrites, and day by day we go forth proving her right.

So yes, Black Men can be the White People of Black People. Essex Hemphill perfectly summarized it up in the poem "To Some Supposed Brothers" when he said: But we so-called men, we so-called brothers, wonder why it's so hard to love our women when we're about loving them the way America loves us. They share the same colored skin we do, they jump over the same hurdles except twice as much. The question is: Are we going to keep tripping them up?