Source: Courtesy of the Daily Rap Up Crew podcast / YouTube screenshot
Dr. Umar Johnson cleared away the narrow-minded talking points made by hosts of the Daily Rap Up Crew podcast about Black women’s roles.
More specifically, the Pan-African psychologist spoke to the causes and consequences of many Black women’s hyper-independent roles in their households and communities. While Dr. Umar passionately promoted Black love, he highlighted that Black women are incorrectly and disproportionally held responsible for the poor selection pool of male suitors presented to them. Dr. Umar also noted that the responsibility has been unfairly put on Black women to raise strong Black men into ideal bachelors.
“At the end of the day, if I’m going to call myself a man, the ultimate responsibility for the reconstruction of the Black community rests with me,” he stated. “Yes, they [Black women] have a role. Yes, they have responsibility. But as a man — as a leader — to say ‘I can’t fix this shit unless she changes’ — that’s not the definition of a man.”
When one of the podcast’s hosts retorted, they asked whether Black men are obligated to deal with “masculine” Black women who have children with other men. Dr. Umar promptly interjected and emphasized that there are systemic reasons why many Black women are in the position they’re in.
“Why is she masculine? Because she had to raise the kids alone, I’m telling you, mistakes made by Black men systemically gave rise to the conditions that allowed her to be masculine and made her end up with a man that you consider to be less than he should be. And I’m telling you, Black men are responsible for her being masculine because we have not helped her raise them children.”
Dr. Umar called it “insensitive” and “disingenuous” to criticize Black women for how they’ve held down the Black community for decades — even if imperfectly.
“The Black woman has been the be-all, end-all in our community for half of a century, and now we want to turn around and say she didn’t do it perfectly enough or remained feminine enough when she had to absorb our responsibilities plus her own.”
The Pro-Black activist noted that individualism and a victim mindset prevented Black men from mentoring Black male youths and subsequently strengthening the Black community. He clarified that Black men needed to have a vested interest in the success of Black boys outside of the ones they have familial connections to.
Elsewhere in the debate, Dr. Umar also raised a critical eye to the rise of gender wars between Black men and women. He continuously emphasized that women shouldn’t be held solely responsible for the poor dating pool that Black men have subjected them to.
“And we are complaining about the women who are making babies with the irresponsible men that we [Black men] didn’t raise correctly. That’s bullshit! That’s wimp-ass, weak man shit! Take responsibility for our shit. Stop scapegoating them [Black women].”
See clips from the heated debate below.
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