Daily thought: BHM-Black men now and historically

Black men in America live life as a target. Growing up in America as a Black man means that you probably did not have a father in the home.

Concluding that a Black man probably did not have a father in the home is not just some random statement; Most of us are aware of the census taken every 10 years and decade by decade, statistics generated from that census continue to reflect that the majority of Black mothers are single-mothers.

This article will not go into the details of how important it is for a father to be active in the rearing of their children and remain in the home of his children as that is far too dynamic.

This article will high-light the struggle of Black men and spotlights a few within the slide show who remain as positive role models.

Moreover, if growing up fatherless is not enough to slam your ego and self-esteem against the wall, ad poverty and oppression to the mix and you find a basket case of pain that they'd dare not share with some random interviewer.

If oppression, poverty and a fatherless home is not enough to make you understand the struggles of a Black man, add racial profiling to this list of targets.

Racial profiling may sound just like a word to describe the frustration of racism but it is far more dynamic than a few words.

Here's an example of such: your son walks to the neighborhood market one evening just for a snack and to have a nice stroll through the neighborhood. He's maybe two or three weeks out for needing a shave and a haircut so he decides to wear his hooded sweat shirt to keep warm and mask his need for a shave. Your son never makes it home again because he is gunned down by officers who patrol the area and mistake him for a potential menace.

If that example seems too far of a stretch then do research on the murder of Trayvon Martin.

Here's another example: your son, child's father, brother, friend, old neighbor or just the guy you saw commuting on the local metro transit system everyday goes out to celebrate on New Year's Eve. On the way back home via the local transit system, transit officers cease the train of this person you know or see in daily passing and after being roughly man-handled by the officers he completely submits by raising his hands over his hand.

However, power-seeking, racial profiling bias and frustration move the officers to grab the young man, place him in what is medically known as a prone position, lie him face down on his stomach with a knee in his back, handcuff him, stand up then stand over him and shoot him in the back in front of a mass crowd at the metro station.

If that example seems too far of a stretch then please do your search on the murder of Oscar Grant who was killed on the way home New Years Eve in 2010. There are several video images that reflect the story just as it was told here.

You may also want to review the following article: Daily thought: acceptance and empathy as it talks about the brain of an individual who can kill individuals in the context mentioned herein.

You may even want to visit Neuroscience and the Killing of Trayvon Martin ... - Open Salon to get straight to the facts about what might be going on in the mind of such an individual.

So thus far, we come to acknowledge that Black men in America are targets of racial profiling, that the majority grow up without their father in the home and to that we want to add the fact that the children, mother's and sisters of Black men are dismissed and defiled as ugly or worse.

In fact, Black men are encouraged to place the blame of oppression on the women in their life by the majority of the few role models they do have.

Historically, Black male slaves would be told to step outside of their quarters so that the master could engage in sexual activity with their significant others. I encourage any and all to refer to the Library of Congress and research such stories within the Slave Narratives, here is link if you wish to do so: Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project ...

Such humiliation was common in said form and other forms but all sought not only to over power, embarrass and break-down the spirit of Black men but also to create a distance between Black men and Black women.

Bill Cosby produced an essay saying,

"If only the poor were willing to work harder, act better, get better educated, stay out of jail and parent more effectively, their problems would go away."

Such statements place the blame on the community itself and hide the truth that oppression in itself reveals.

A similar statement was made by our current President Obama saying,

“I am talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit. Where were you when he was 2? Where were you when he was 12? Where were you when he was 18 and how come you didn’t know that he had a pistol? And where is the father?”

Whereby again, such statements allude to a probability that the single mother is at fault and dismisses the structure of society that does not nourish or acknowledge the position, condition and oppression that smashes the impoverished between many walls.

Society may even tell him/her that their mother is lazy if she does more to make sure she is successful in rearing her children by choosing to be at home so that she can monitor what is going on in his life when he is "2" or "12" or "18" all while broken heart-spirit, lost herself, carrying the burden left behind by the father who chose to live the stereo type because it was the easy way out.

The ceiling is coming down on Black men who have a small fighting chance from the beginning but are expected to perform like the daily, life-long trained champ.

If you are a great swimmer, you would never be established as such the first time you get in the water, you would have to work at it. Similarly, Black men in the Black community growing up fatherless, profiled and oppressed with only a mother to look to are lost when society tells them that their mother is ugly, lazy and/or incapable.

Many Black men grow into so much self hate that they desire to procreate with only non-Black women in hopes to create a more "acceptable" offspring. Self-hate can be heard in their fear of having a child with, "nappy-hair" or having a "dark-skinned" child.

Moreover, this does not mean that every Black man who dates and procreates with non-Black women has this issue but the majority do and will admit the reasons for their choice if not the issue itself.

The psychological breakdown is immense and will continue to take time to restore. Role models are needed in both genders within the Black community to extinguish the debilitating ideas Black men have about themselves and their mothers, sisters, cousins etc.

This daily thought is set forth in Black History Month to highlight the struggles Black men endure and to highlight notable men who continue to role model positive behavior. There is much more to be said and addressed in relation to this topic. Please review the slide show in honor of such men.

Please continue to check back as this list will be updated from time-to-time.