I went to church this past Sunday and I realized that the church was 80% women and 20% men. Now the men that were in attendance were of a certain age, mostly seniors. I began to wonder when did black men stop believing in God?! Now I am not saying that every black man on this planet doesn’t believe in God, what I am saying is why is that as a child I remember seeing Black men having a major presence in the church… now the numbers are vastly dwindling down. Today I hear more and more black men saying that they don’t believe in God and that is troubling to me. I asked one dude recently, “Do you believe in God?” His response, “I don’t believe in organized religion” My response, “That wasn’t what I asked you” and he became uncomfortable and danced around the question/answer so before I left it alone I made one last remark, “That was a yes or no question”. Now this is just one example of many examples…
Most Black men no longer stand behind black women either. I hear a lot of black men say black women being just as fucked up as them… and to a certain extent that is true. However, men in general (not just black men) are supposed to be the head of the household. When you are the head, it means you are the leader, which means you are in control. Why are black men not using the power to set a standard? If the Shepard is corrupt, won’t the sheep become lost?
Let’s look at college attendance as well… forgive me because I don’t have the exact numbers but I do recall seeing something like black women to men in college are like 6:1. As a black woman who has a college degree, I don’t feel as if it’s something looked upon as an asset, but more of a hindrance in finding a husband. It’s like being overqualified for the job… you kinda have to dumb yourself down in fear that your potential mate will feel inferior to your educational achievements. I could be dumb as a bag of trail mix with no morals and multiple kids by different fathers and still land a husband based on the size of my ass and breast. I hear more and more men saying, “I want to put a baby in you”… meanwhile I am over here thinking… “What happened to marriage… you don’t want to commit but you wanna fuck up my life but impregnating me with your basterd child while you move on to the next chick?!”
In parting I am not some bitter black woman who is looking to put black men on the roast… I am just seeking answers so we all can work on a solution. I love black men! I just simply want to know what do Black Men stand for? If not God, If not Family, If not education… then what…BET?!
When did God turn into the enemy? When did education become not relevant to survival? When did vanity become more important then morality and family values?
Fly Guy says:
This will be a tough one…I think alot of positive foundation was lost beginning in the 60s and 70s with the introduction of heroin into the communities. For the first time, families saw family members completely distance themselves from work, school, etc and dig down into their own drug habits. The result was a shortage of parents, guardians, and role models. The crack epidemic in the 80’s did nothing to help, and became the ultimate nail in the coffin for many young ppl’s productive futures. Crack created this insane small-scale wealth that in turn created a desire for all the material shit folks could get their hands on. Blk folks and their obsession with being “clean” and “sharp” was amplified during the 80’s and its era of excess. Everything was bigger - cars, breasts, homes, planes, jewelry. The current media does nothing to help blk men who see their value as a man based on what he can buy and flaunt. Unfortunately, the connection to buying power and education is rarely made so there goes schooling right out the window. I cant really say much about church and its lack of blk men. Church habits start with someone at home making you go to church as a child…my mother stopped sometime after I started school (due to church being almsot an hour away) so by the time I became grown, it was never instilled in me. Even now when i go occassionally, i first view it as an unwanted chore, until i find myself enjoying the sermon of the day.
Long comment but who else to do it but Mr Swagger?
-www.mrswagger.com
September 10th, 2008 at 6:51 am
Wes says:
Good post… Just based off of people (men and women) that I know, a lot of them DO believe in God but don’t feel they need church in order to have a relationship w/ God. That I can understand, b/c I, myself, don’t attend half as often as I did as a child. But I do make it a point to show up every now and then, it doesn’t have to be every Sunday but it’s ok to make an effort once in awhile.
September 11th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
mrsFAB says:
Like Wes, I don’t go to church as much as I did when I was little, In fact, me and hubbyFAB are looking for a church home now. I still have a relationship with the Lord. I don’t know why black men these days don’t believe in God or just don’t have faith in him. It was once rare for any black person period to say that they did not believe. Boy the times that we live in…. God help us!
September 12th, 2008 at 7:36 am