You know, I thought I was done with Isiah v. Anucha, but a conversation with my girl, Show, made me realize I had some excess feelings about this case.
In case you hadn't heard, Anucha whupped Isiah in court, costing the Knicks about $12 milllion. Hey, for $12 mil, a brotha can pinch me on the ass, call me this, that and the otha, tell me HO WHERE DA REPORT AT...but cut that check.
I THINK I'm kidding.
Anyway, what this case has brought to light is the sexism that remains a vibrant force in the black community. So many black men think that Isiah was railroaded, that Anucha should have just taken one for the team, and don't understand one of Isiah's most egregious errors was trying to run the executive office of the most storied franchises like Re-Ro's Chicken Shack.
There seems to be this unwritten code in the black community that says black women should accept subpar treatment from black men when it furthers "the race." If a black woman has to be harassed on her job on a daily basis so this foolish black man can stay in power, then so be it.
A lot of black men also believe calling black women certain things and relating to them in a frank, sexual manner is just "how we do." We are officially keeping it wrong. Damn that Isiah was inappropriate and unprofessional, Anucha should have given him a free pass because he was black.
For real?
Black folks desperately need to confront our "free pass" mentality. We've gone through a lot in this nation and outside of it, and because we have, we seem to think that we should be able to get away with whatever. We should be allowed to be disrespectful, immoral, tasteless and crude because .... well, the white people are.
The SO (Significant Other) brought up a very salient point when we were discussing this issue at length.
"Why do black people always bitch about how the white man is treated but as soon as we get into trouble we want to bitch even more because we're not treated like them?" he asked.
Good question. As a people, we rail about inequalities and inequities, yet we are equally offended if we are not put in a position where we can benefit from inequality and inequity. We know the damage inequality and inequity does, so why are we forever trying to profit from it?
As for Isiah v. Anucha, instead of asking why she's trying to "bring down" a powerful black man, why aren't black folks pummeling Isiah for trying to "bring down" a sista? They're both black people who have become very successful in their respective fields. No doubt that she has had to go through as much, if not more, than Isiah to gain entrance into a New York boardroom. So what makes Isiah's experience and accomplishments worthy of protecting, but not hers?
A lot of black pundits and black people have been silent about Isiah's wrongdoing because they don't want to "go after" the brotha. Meanwhile, this sister has felt little support from her own community and she's THE VICTIM.
On another topic, yet still related, Isiah v. Anucha sort of picks at the black cultural issue of how black men and women relate to another overall.
Too many black men feel as if it's OK to disrespect black women. All day long, black men are innudated with images of black women acting ho-ish in videos, they are innudated with songs that celebrate demonizing and degrading black women, and this directly coincides with how black men approach and talk to black women out in the street.
I can't tell you the number of times that a black man, thinking he was being cute, has said something overly-sexual and out of pocket upon first approach. Grabbing your ass in the club. Telling you they want to have sex with you before they can even find out your last name. Dry-humping you on a dance.
Black men have been programmed to be sexually aggressive. And unfortunately, black women have been taught to respond and accept that aggressiveness.
All of this is embroiled in the Isiah v. Anucha dynamic. It's a teaching tool. Wish we'd learn from it.
