WHAT I REALLY WOULD LIKE TO TEACH BOYS IN MENTOR PROGRAMS

You know that if we had told those young kids who came up to the campus once a month to learn some Black History "Hey guys, we invented the traffic light and open heart surgery and all, but what's more important to YOUR life as a teenager is that you don't make babies with a chicken-head" I would have been crucified by all of the female administrators. NOTHING unites women of ALL colors more than a psychological castration.

Most of the time I have had a problem with a male I could just speak my mind, man to man (or boy to boy when I was a kid), sometimes slug it out, and then it was over. That's it. I doubt that if I got into an argument with my white male supervisor I'd have to worry unless I REALLY got out of line over NOTHING. I've criticized decisions he's made a couple of times, he's gotten a little loud, then he says sorry and/or I say "cool man, it's okay", HE DID WHAT HE WANTED ANYWAY, and we go back to work and it doesn't show up in my review. In fact he told me to speak up more often because he wants the feedback (I'm still not going to TOO often because hey, dude IS my boss.) BUT: you know what would happen if I had beef with a female; "HE HARASSED ME! I'M SCARED OF THE BIG BAD (BLACK) MAN!!!" Hell REALLY has NO fury like a woman scourned (ask Bill Clinton)! And if I EVER pissed of a female boss (particularly if I were the only Black, or only Male), I'd be tortured for all of the days of my working life. If I got fired, I would actually be better off because then I could sue!!!!!

Want to talk about sexual harassment??? At a summer job, I moved away from my supervisor, a sister, who tried massaging my shoulders during a meeting in front of the whole staff (not because I wouldn't want her to do that, just not in FRONT of anybody, I mean, hey, she looked GOOD, but I'm not an exibitionist--if she'd approached me when we were alone, as I usually got to work an hour or so early back then, well....) I ended up with the worst assignments, at the worst times, outside in the worst heat. Another woman who supervised me decided it was her duty to blow on my neck while I was sitting at the computer. I just ignored her and she went away. The KICKER is still an ex-girlfriend I had in college who felt it was her duty to go around and tell the whole campus I knocked her up and left her, after the dude who ACTUALLY knocked her up LEFT HER.

Of course can say "Hey Bruh Man, you picked 'em. Your fault." True, not an argument there. BUT, I am living proof that there are OTHER evils that a brother needs to face other than a white person not hiring you or a racist cop on 495. Somehow it doesn't feel as personal when the redneck or wanna-be-redneck cop is eyeballing me or I know some white dude is giving me a line because he wants his office to be lily white. I'm not just talking about drive by shootings, crack, assault and peer pressure because many of these can be avoided by awareness of your environment (I wish that were ALWAYS the case, though)

I'm talking about the evils that a female can do to a male because she is female. She can keep you from seeing your children if you piss her off, slander your good name and make false accusations against you. She will sleep with you, and him, and your buddy, and your brother, and your cousin. She will spend all your money and take your house and your car even though she earns more $$$$ than you do. If there is a domestic despute, even if she attacked YOU, YOU will be taken away (I saw that happen to a guy I worked with--his WIFE went off and the cops took HIM down to the station).

I wish some of these mentor programs would talk about this type stuff. I certainly wish I had the COURAGE to do so back when I was talking to young kids. But if they did, I bet the women that help organize and finance these programs would destroy the men who were leaking out the truth.

Lord knows women have their share of problems with men! Lord knows racism is as real as the air we breath! But Racism never tried to use a man's child as a weapon or accused him of being a pervert because Racism felt JILTED (I mean feelings hurt, not the lynch-mob paranoia that happened in "Rosewood" and other places). A six-year-old white boy was not suspended from school in the midwest on frivilous sexual harassment charges because of his skin color.

Brothers need to beware of the War on Drugs, The War on Crime, The War on Black People AND become hip to the War On Testosterone.