Black On Black Crime!

     After 42 years, and even some time before, I've had suspicions and beliefs that black men don't work very well together when one is in an authoritative position.  I've worked many jobs and a few of those were led by  black men, who were older than me, but I suspect age isn't a factor in this phenomenon.  Anyways, in my opinion, each one of these men exaggerated the power of their position when leading other black men.  I've experienced all types of personalities in bosses but I've noticed significant differences when being led by a black man.

     When being led by another black man, I get the impression that he is intentionally trying to separate himself from his black peers and establish that he is superior beyond his job title.  I've witnessed black bosses micro-manage other black employees while they allow their non-black counterparts to operate with impunity, even to the point of the non-blacks performance causing economic loss.  I once had a black supervisor who was given a job by his superiors to reorganize an entire warehouse full of obsolete computers in three days time.  He then came to me, vaguely told me his vision of how the warehouse was to be arranged, and then left me to do the job.  No big deal.  I'm good at organizing and I work well alone.  I did a phenomenal job by myself and even had a day to spare.  When my supervisor came back, after being missing in action, he was stunned by the degree of organization and tidyness the warehouse was in.  Fifteen minutes later, his superiors came in to inspect the warehouse and were greatly impressed and told him as much.  He accepted their compliments like a good dog getting a pat on the head, never once mentioning that I was the one responsible for the state in which the warehouse was in or that I even assisted in it getting that way.  Not only that, but his superiors questioned him on something HE forgot to do and he turned around, in front of them, and barked at me like a drill sargent, to get this project under way.  Because I carry myself as a professional, all the time, I allowed his comments and attitude to roll off of me like water on a duck.  However, because I was raised amongst some real, hardcore, thugs and gangsters, I later, when we were alone, pulled him to the side and told him if he ever talks like that to me again, me and him were going to have some problems.  He understood where I was coming from and he eventually thanked me for all that I had done.

     I have again found myself in a position of being led by black men, this time in college and they are some of my instructors.  Again, I get the impression that they are holding me to a higher standard either because I am black and they don't want anyone thinking they are giving me preferential treatment, or because I am black and they expect more from me than my non-black counterparts because society has dictated that we, as blacks, must work twice as hard as non-blacks to achieve the same level of success as they enjoy.  Whatever the case may be, I get the impression of being treated different by black instructors than I do from non-black instructors.  This post was inspired by the grade I received from the only black instructor I had this term which was a B.  I believe this is an unfair and inaccurate grade and I also believe it has roots in reverse discrimination.  I worked hard to achieve a 4.0 GPA or close to it and I received A's in my other two classes which, by the way, were more difficult in every way, than the one I got a B in.

     Here's a twist to this story that I know you never saw coming as I didn't when my instructor told our class this personal fact.  He is a "card carrying" member of the KKK.  Yes, you read it correctly.  And yes, he is a black man.  He told our class of how, many years ago, he saw an application somewhere to become a member of the KKK so he applied and was accepted and even has paid monthly dues.  I actually found that story amusing, if a bit disturbing, until I received my final grade.  Now, that revelation isn't funny anymore and I am again questioning the ethics of blacks in higher positions over other blacks.  I tell you, black on black crimes don't always involve gold chains and 9mm's!