Jigabod and the Black Esteem

"Are you racially insecure?" If you watch the Chappelle Show or any of his standup acts, this is probably a familiar phrase to you. Usually when it's said, the people in the audience laugh. It's a laughable concept; yet, it's so relevant it's not even funny.

I don't like writing racially exclusive messages because I feel we're all in this together. But this time, I have an important message for my Black people. You see, I took a step back and gave a long look to us the other day. And I reached a conclusion: Black people, we have a self-esteem problem.

Recently, I saw a video for a song called "Fry that Chicken" by a cross-dressing Black man who goes by "Ms. Peachez". In the video, he parodies the familiar "obese, chicken-frying, big-momma-from-the-hood" stereotype; the song has a southern-fried, almost snap style beat to it, which isn't very flattering to the Southeastern region.

To be quite honest, I haven't been that ashamed in quite some time...

The first thing that came to mind was that Dave Chappelle Pixie skit, where minstrels in Black face were singing about how all Black people love chicken. The point was that some of us reconsider doing things we normally do to avoid living up to a stereotype. It was an ingenious, funny, brutally-honest skit. But at the same time it was nothing to laugh at; it made clear to me something very important. As a whole, we as Black people have a distorted self-image and a low self-esteem.

You don't believe me? Take hip hop for instance. If a man is wise, he takes his money and invests it for the long term, right? Well, what do our affluent artists do? They buy stuff. And they don't buy it for themselves; they buy it to get "more haters". The more "haters" you have, the better you're doing apparently; their whole self worth is attached to people outside of themselves. Then rappers start calling each other "god" to try to esteem each other higher than the Highest, and it's all unwarranted prestige; how can you be a "god" and have no control over your own destiny? Why would a "god" carry a weapon? Wouldn't a "god" be able to control his environment? But so often, the opposite happens: we let our environment control us by reacting to it.

If you know anything about low self-esteem, these examples emulate a very realistic reaction that people with low esteem have: they overcompensate for their low self-esteem with exaggerated outward displays. Like young girls going through the motions, right? You've seen when young girls get overly-dressed to draw attention and feel more womanly or important, right? It's the same thing here. And so many of us fall victim to it that it's not even funny; how much is the outfit you're wearing right now? Did you buy it because you really wanted/needed it, or because it would impress the people around you?

But the Black Esteem goes further; something very interesting hit me the other day. I'll take you back to the "Fry That Chicken" video. Most people I talked to, when they saw it, the words that flashed across their minds (and out of their mouths) were: "Look at this Coon/Uncle Tom/Minstrel/Sellout/Nigga". Like I said before, dude even reminded ME of the minstrel pixie from Dave Chappelle's skit remastered for 2006. But, here's where it gets interesting. There's a movie out right now, "Jackass 2". Basically, it's a bunch of White dudes acting a total and complete fool for a full length feature.

You know what's funny about that? You don't hear any White people getting pissed about it or acting ashamed of it, do you? You know why? Because they're not trying to impress anybody or raise consciousness; they're the majority and the established culture of this country so they don't hafta worry about things like that. But as Black people, we're sensitive because we feel we hafta prove ourselves to other races; our image has been so distorted that we're constantly trying to prove we're not some negative stereotype.

But there's a very tricky thing about that: you see, stereotypes don't account for all, but stereotypes DO account for SOME. To pretend that not a single Black person in America fits a negative stereotype is an example of us not being real with ourselves(and I say in America because stereotypes are very different in other parts of the world and we need to catch up). Blacks come in all types just like Whites come in all types; the difference is, Whites have no one to try to impress and we feel like we hafta impress everybody.

Well, Black people, I'm gonna tell you like I tell every other teenager with self-esteem problems: as long as you care so much what other people think, you'll never realize your own full potential. You're gonna constantly become what others, even people that hate you, want you to become. Perfect example: the pixie in Dave Chappelle's skit sang and danced, and on the surface there's nothing wrong with singing and dancing. But when a minstrel sings and dances, it's offensive because it's done in mockery of Blacks, like that's all we know how to do or like EVERY Black person must be able to sing and dance. But Black people, take a step back for a sec... SINCE WHEN IS SINGING AND DANCING DEROGATORY?! If Whites sing and dance, it's called talent; if we do it, it's called cooning???

The key is, Black people, you gotta learn how to do YOU. SO WHAT we're not the majority? SO WHAT people think ill of us? Quit politicking; if we let the opinions of others control us, we're gonna be manipulated for the rest of our existence. We hafta have the strength to totally be ourselves regardless of how people take it. The only time you're in the wrong with your actions is when you do what you do to entertain critics. To be blunt and succint, you're just as much a coon if you minstrel to impress White people as you are if you dress up in a suit to impress White people. Why? Because you're not doing it for you, you're doing it for them.

Black people, we're never gonna get "it" back until we're not afraid to be ourselves regardless of what people think. If you eat fried chicken, if you don't eat fried chicken, it doesn't matter; as long as the decision to do it or not do it has nothing to do with impressing someone else. If you buy watermelons, if you don't buy watermelons, doesn't matter; as long as the decision to buy is yours and contingent on nobody else. If you sing, if you dance, DO IT TO DEATH; If you don't, cool... Just as long as you're doing it because it's what you love to do or not do.

As a writer/MC, I chose the name Jigabod as an expression of self-love; it's only to say that I embrace all that I am, for better or worse. Yeah, it hinges on a racial slur, but if I don't live my life for those people, then what does that mean to me? Not a damn thing. At some point, we gotta get tired of this popularity contest and just be. And I promise you, for those of you who still worry about our image in the eyes of the world, if we allow ourselves to be ourselves then the best in us will eventually rise to the surface, and we're gonna see a side of ourselves that was never allowed to breathe before.


This is not a message of hate; White people, you're just as cool with me as anybody, and the same to any other race. But as much as I love everybody, I don't live to impress anybody. I'm not gonna be racially insecure; I'm gonna be me, oblivious to all outside perceptions. And to every other Black person reading this, that's what you hafta be too; if you claim to be free, then liberate yourself.

Say it Loud... B-J