Respect

The dictionary definition of respect: esteem for or a sense of the worth or excellence of a person, a personal quality or ability, or something considered as a manifestation of a personal quality or ability. We all know what it is but don't necessarily know how to exercise it with self or others.


The reason I picked respect is ironic. Before I even logged on to this blog I was having a conversation with a friend about just that, RESPECT! In particular respect for self in a relationship. The conversation arose because in relating to one another as people; Black, White, Asian or Hispanic, we will always misconstrue things because of cultural differences and indifference. Some of us are more passionate about issues of race relations because we have to be since we are highly impacted by it! Those who remain indifferent are the privileged ones without a need to think about race relations or its impact on them.

My incident occurred because a male friend thought he was being funny and wanted to make me laugh by sending me some objectionable emails of things I felt to be way inappropriate. My (white) friend told me that a (black male) friend of hers was making some obnoxious remarks that she found to be offensive but not his girlfriend (white girl). My remark was that this girl is in part, the reason why some black women do not respect the validity of interracial dating. Women like that continue to promote the black man's inability to grow and be a better man. He finds comfort in the simple headed white girl willing to put up with his less than desirable qualities that no self respecting black woman would put up with! There is nothing wrong with two people getting together because they are genuinely feeling each other and invariably end up falling in love! The problem lies in the cold fact that there are some black men out there running for the safety of such white women because they do not want or desire growth. By the same token, there are white women willing to deal with black men like that just to prove that they are the almighty queen B...with the LOOK AT ME I HAVE A BLACK MAN ON MY ARMS ATTITUDE!! Honestly, that kind of shit is just sickening...respect for self also means upholding everyone in your life to a higher standard of treatment towards self! How can you claim to respect your self when you allow your mate to disrespect you or those you care about? I guess my Caribbean roots just won't allow me to accept that kind of behavior! I told my male friend never dare send me such offensive emails or we don't need to talk! Oh well, if that shit hurt his feelings! Men (especially the black man) need to think about their approach towards women. They are already targets of legal injustice all around, they need to carry respect for self most of all! It shows plain as day when a black man respects himself for he will not find any humor in disrespecting women (no matter their color) because of his mother, grandmother, sister, auntie, and wife! As for me, no man will disrespect me without feeling my wrath and eventually the coldness of my back turned to them...