{"id":7259,"date":"2023-01-19T12:47:30","date_gmt":"2023-01-19T12:47:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/?p=7259"},"modified":"2023-01-19T12:47:30","modified_gmt":"2023-01-19T12:47:30","slug":"black-or-black-ish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/19\/black-or-black-ish\/","title":{"rendered":"Black or \u2026 Black-ish?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Lafe Tolliver<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Lafe Tolliver, Esq<\/em>
\nGuest Column<\/em><\/p>\n

With dubious credits to the political imposter, George Santos, the issue of being \u201cish\u201d with one\u2019s cultural and historical heritage has made its rounds in the talk show forums.<\/p>\n

Rep. Santos, in his effort to win voters in his Long Island district, boasted of\u00a0being a Jew, but when confronted with factual information that he was not, defaulted to saying that he meant to say he was \u201cJew-\u201cish\u201d since he associated with Jews and identified with their historical plight and culture.<\/p>\n

Of course, the outcry from the Jewish community was rightfully loud and scornful of a usurper trying to pimp off their history in order to win an election.<\/p>\n

Without morals or any conscience, George Santos stuck with his \u201cJew-ish\u201d roots until he was found out to be a scoundrel of the first order and has been barred from attending any Jewish functions.<\/p>\n

As to what will happen to his scurrilous lies, multiple investigations are underway by various agencies to discern who really is this George Santos personality and from where in fact did his sudden wealth materialize.<\/p>\n

When I think of the outrage that his comments caused about the use of that hyphenated word, \u201cJew-\u201cish\u201d, I remember the sitcom called \u201cBlack-\u201cish\u201d that had a successful television run for several years.<\/p>\n

That sitcom created by a Black person and with many of the scripts written by Black writers created an upper middle class Black family living in white suburbia and trying to both maintain their \u201cBlackness\u201d but yet trying to meld into their surrounding community.<\/p>\n

You know, trying to mix oil and water. They are both in the same container but still maintain their own distinctive characteristics and way of circumventing the American landscape which is still either indifferent or hostile to all things, Black.<\/p>\n

The sitcom had some really positive portrayals of Black people living the \u201cgood life\u201d and some that were exposures of the macro and micro aggressions that still plague this society.<\/p>\n

Most of the comic relief, to me, was done by the parents of the father of the household. They were the safety nets and ballast that provided needed balance to the kids of the sometimes clueless parents.<\/p>\n

There were times I chuckled at the wisdom of the parents given to their\u00a0child, the father; and to the sometimes absent-minded doctor daughter-in-law, Rainbow.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, the writers, understanding that the show had to be \u201cfunny\u201d in order to draw the viewing audience back again and again for subsequent episodes, were both hot and cold in depicting Black life in America.<\/p>\n

In some of the episodes, it was painful showing that Black life, no matter how insulated, had to interface with the larger white community and some of those interactions were true to form and others were \u201cloopy and dopey.\u201d<\/p>\n

To better ascertain where you, the reader, stands on the issue of being Black and\/or being Black-\u201cish\u201d answering the following scenarios with a B for Black and a B- standing being Black-\u201cish\u201dat the end of each question.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0WHICH OF THE BELOW IS WHICH?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Going to white museums at the near exclusion of Black exhibits_______<\/p>\n

Wearing a Black Lives Matter! Sweatshirt to the grocery store_________<\/p>\n

Boys or Men letting their pants drop way past their waistline__________<\/p>\n

Afraid to go out in public with your hair in twisties___________<\/p>\n

Having a collection of classical music but no Miles Davis________<\/p>\n

Voting Republican________<\/p>\n

Seeking out a white church to attend __________<\/p>\n

Giving your kids with names that have a hyphen in it________<\/p>\n

Celebrating Kwanzaa________<\/p>\n

Knowing how to use several forks at a dinner table______<\/p>\n

Carrying a Gucci bag__________<\/p>\n

Knowing at least one verse to the Black National Anthem_______<\/p>\n

Driving out of your way to support a Black business___________<\/p>\n

Thinking that Elvis Pressley was a great entertainer___________<\/p>\n

Vacation choice is either Ghana or Rome_________<\/p>\n

Embarrassed to be seen eating watermelon in public____<\/p>\n

You can name at least five all Black colleges_______<\/p>\n

Straightened hair is all you will be seen in_____________<\/p>\n

You eat Bar-be-Que with a fork and knife__________<\/p>\n

You get nervous in a large crowd of Black people________<\/p>\n

Have seen videos of Stephin Fetchit_______<\/p>\n

You celebrate July 4th<\/sup> as if it were your freedom day____<\/p>\n

At the malls, you are wary of eating in the food courts_______<\/p>\n

Well, the above is your test. If want to get the answers to the above questions, simply send me a non-traceable money order for $19.32 (includes handling and shipping) and I will give you the directions to meet me at a local park bench to\u00a0exchange your money order for the answers.<\/p>\n

Contact Lafe Tolliver at tolliver@juno.com<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Lafe Tolliver, Esq Guest Column With dubious credits to the political imposter, George Santos, the issue of being \u201cish\u201d with one\u2019s cultural and historical heritage has made its rounds in the talk show forums. Rep. Santos, in his effort to win voters in his Long Island district, boasted of\u00a0being a Jew, but when confronted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55,18],"tags":[],"wf_post_folders":[158],"class_list":["post-7259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial-opinion","category-headline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7259"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7260,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7259\/revisions\/7260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7259"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=7259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}