Page 4 - Florida Sentinel 8-6-19

Editorial/Column
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She Needs A Thug In Her Life
f you ask the average young woman who she finds more appealing,
the choir boy or the gangster, 8 times out of 10 she would probably choose the latter. This is mainly due to the fact that, historically, women have always been attracted to men who carry a little edgi- ness in their demeanor.
Like elementary school- aged girls who become fond of their mischievous male playmates, some grown women tend to go for guys who don't mind engaging in reckless behavior. They get off on the adrenaline rush that comes with dating men who play hard, make money fast and who won't hesitate to throw a punch or pull a trigger if the situation calls for such a response.
Consequently, their ado- ration for this kind of knuckle-headedness is also the reason why so many young men, particularly Black men, go out of their way to embrace a hardcore persona..... They have been raised to believe that, in order to obtain a mate, they have to show a willingness to throw caution to the wind
and become as lawless as the next so-called "thug."
The thing that most of these men don't find out until the proverbial s--- hits the fan is that the women who they were attempting to impress are seldom prepared to deal with everything else that comes with the package.
While she may not mind reaping the benefits that come with her street hustler boyfriend's bounty, and may take pride in bragging to her friends about his exploits, sticking around after the fall isn't typically something she's equipped to handle.
The court dates, the sen- tencing hearing, the back- and-forth letter writing, those are things she can do without. For her it seems eas- ier to find a replacement thug than to ride it out with the one who will be gone for a decade or better. And, more often than not, that's the route she usually takes.
Of course, the irony of it all is that this woman, who once couldn't get enough of bad boys, eventually be- comes fed up with going through the replacement cycle and arrives to the real-
ization that there's actually nothing wrong with having a choir boy share her bed. His life may not be as exciting, but to her it evens out be- cause she no longer has to worry about continuously being left alone.
Unfortunately, for all of the thugs she inspired over the years, her epiphany comes a little too late. While she can look back at her past dealings in the streets as an immature phase, the men, who risked it all to prove their hardness to her, are still locked away, dealing with the consequences of their actions and are finding it extremely hard to get over how badly they played themselves for what amounted to nothing.
This isn't to say that women are the sole reason why prisons are filled up. After all, every person is ulti- mately responsible for his or her own poor decision-mak- ing.
But, even with that being the case, I can't help but wonder how much better off our communities would be as a whole if every girl in the hood let it be known from the very beginning that she would rather have a hard- working, educated, square in her life instead? I mean, it's definitely a fantasy scenario worth thinking about....
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bul- letin Publishing Com- pany. You can contact Mr. Barr at: cbar- ronice@gmail.com.
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C. Blythe Andrews 1901-1977 (1945)
C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. 1930-2010 (1977)
The Pied-Piper Of Baltimore
obody denies Donald Trump is at it again . . .
master of negative metaphor, counter-puncher par excellence, he has taken upon himself the task of ridding the City of Baltimore of its rodent infestation.
And by doing so, by comparing one of America’s mightiest statesmen, Elijah Cummings, to being that of a rat.
The comparison was obvious. The question became one of racism. By inferring Cummings’ comments were rodent-like, unfair and racist, was Trump in ef- fect using the “N” word?
And if so, was the “N” word inference aimed at Cummings specifically, or Baltimore’s Black populace in particular, or the City of Baltimore in general?
Much like the legendary Pied-Piper of Hamlin, Don- ald Trump will hereafter go down in history as the Pied-Piper of Baltimore, not a title to be proud of.
As for Elijah Cummings and Trump’s left-handed accusation of his being a rat, a close colleague was fond of saying, “It doesn’t matter what you call me, but what I answer to...”
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PAGE 4 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2019