Despite Racist Names, Some Truth in Willie D Song ‘Coon’

What’s in a Name?

Nigger. Darky. Monkey.  These are all racist names that bigots have used to demean African-Americans for centuries.

Uncle Tom. Coon. Sambo.  These are all racist names that African-Americans have sometimes used to describe other African-Americans who are not a mirror image of them philosophically and personality-wise.

And while I revile anyone who uses the aforementioned racist names to describe my people, rapper Willie D did make some valid points when it comes to some African-Americans who always see wrong in the actions of their own brothers and sisters, but never see wrong in the actions of our oppressors.

In the controversial song “Coon,” Geto Boy emcee Willie D rapped, “If you’re selling out your people, you’re a coon.  If you hate your own kind, you’re a coon.  Bootlicker shuck and jive, you’re a coon.”

Unfortunately, the year 2015 seemed more like 1965 than the post-racial nonsense that many people preached after the 2008 election of President Barack Obama.

Countless African-Americans were “murdered” at the hands of out-of-control law enforcement officials.

So many were tragically killed that only a diehard racist would deny that a racial problem exists in the mentality of some police officers.

Nevertheless, there were several African-American talking heads like Stacey Dash, Charles Barkley and others who saw Black people as the problem in almost every situation.

No matter what demographic group one belongs to, good and bad apples exist in every bunch.

There is no way all White people can be right 100 percent of time and all Black people wrong 100 percent of the time.

Likewise, there is no way all Black people can be right 100 percent of the time and all White people wrong 100 percent of the time.

God made us all imperfect and told us that we all sin and fall short of the glory of God.  He did not say y’all sin and fall short of the glory of God.

However, people like Dash must think that Bible verse only applies to Black people.

I am all for African-Americans thinking for themselves and not as a group.

After all, none of us think the same on everything, so there should not just be one Black perspective on anything.

However, if a Black person is always critical of the Black community and never critical of any other community, something is wrong.

There is no humanly possible way for us to be at fault all of the time.

And if a Black person talks bad about the Black community constantly, then they must think negatively of themselves because they are a part of the same community they regularly trash.

Willie D should not have resorted to using racist names to get his point across.

But he should have also extended his criticism to those in the Black community who constantly speak out against the White man, but do nothing to help the Black community.

Many in the Black community speak a good game when criticizing White folks and get applauded for it.

However, many of those same people do nothing to actually help or support those in the Black community.

Barkley, Dash, Stephen A. Smith, Don Lemon should not have necessarily been called racist names in Willie D’s song. 

But if the community uses racist names like coon to describe some of our brothers and sisters for speaking negatively of our community, then the same racist names should be used for those who say the things we agree with but do nothing to back up their empty rhetoric.