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Black folks have been at each other's necks recently! First, it was Kanye and Kyrie. And now it's Coach Prime and Brittney Griner. It seems that, if you have an opinion, you usually fall STRONGLY on one side or the other of each of these "situations."
We've heard the phrase that "Black people are not a monolith" many times. We are individuals with differing experiences and priorities that we don't always agree on everything. Even though that's definitely true, the zeitgeist (the spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time) feels to be changing within the Black Community at large.
A move towards Black Tribalism
These conversations about Black celebrities have revealed deep rifts within the Black population. Although it pains me to think about, I believe we're at the beginning of the fracturing of what we consider the "Black Community." The issues and disagreements about celebrity events serve as proxy for how we think about broader issues of race, history, community, economics, and even geopolitical happenings.
It's my belief that we're moving towards Black Tribalism. Tribalism is a social system where groups form around common goals, geography, culture, religion, or other shared beliefs.
In the past, when speaking about "the Black community," it was said with the notion that Black people moved with one accord and with a single goal. That's not the case anymore - for good or bad.
Should we begin to label ourselves based around shared views about family, community, education, economics, etc.? In other words, should we divide ourselves into subgroups within the "Black Community" hierarchy to better pool our resources for the advancement of "like-minded" Black people? These are questions I've been grappling with recently. I'll talk more about Black Tribalism in a future post.
Black Quiz
Where do you stand? Choose an answer from below and comment your answers!
