Signifyin’—021920
Down in the Deeper than Deep South, where sun-blocking Trump signs adorn the dusty roads, and confederate flags hang from the steeples of evangelical churches, the announcement that the Equal Rights Amendment had finally met its two-third states’ approval didn’t sit well among the “Red-and Blue-necks.”
And the angst continues despite the fact the amendment is still in the reconsideration phase.
Congress first approved the ERA in 1972, but it took until recently for the necessary states—Nevada, Illinois, and finally Virginia—to ratify it.
When the amendment failed in 1977 to secure the required two-thirds states ratification, congress voted to rescind the deadline (which some scholars claim is contrary to the constitution).
Nonetheless, states inexplicably soul searched over the last three decades until finally securing the 38th vote.
And that’s just in time to produce headlines on the eve of the presidential race. It’s a particularly juicy issue given 45IQ’s misogynistic background and his mission to “Make America Great Again,” which is a euphmism for the “good ole (boy) days.”
Which is not to assume he stands alone in his misogynistic world where men who look like him resolve all pertinent issues regarding women.
While many women’s organizations, the media, and the Democratic Party could use the ERA to galvanize female voters, evangelicals and Republicans (including Mr. and Mrs. Daisy) will say it comes with unintended consequences and is contrary to biblical teachings.
While it might surprise many Millennials, some women are okay with the disingenuous and discriminatory status quo.
Don’t believe me?
Apparently, you’ve forgotten that 54% of White women voted for Trump in 2016, even after he told the world that they (women) are nothing more than sex toys and secretaries (with the exception of his daughter, who he said he would “date” (yuck, it’s creepy daddy time) if she were not related; which, I assume, means he would be attracted to her mind…yeah right!).
If you looked under the carpet in rural America, I’m sure you’ll find a tired, homely, and unappreciated woman who will smile into the camera and declare how she loves to be “placed on a pedestal.”
They take the salary and status inequalities with a grain of salt as they quote biblical scripture, positing how things were so much better “back in da day” when girls took mandatory high school cooking and sewing classes and envisioned themselves as homemakers, whether that meant Granny Clampett or Harriet Nelson (both of whom were popular television characters when the ERA was introduced).
There are even female politicians pushing that paradigm.
I recall our last lieutenant governor expressing concern about the ERA, and recently West Virginia Rep. Carol Miller decried the amendment saying it would open the door for government-funded abortions.
Wisconsin Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner said in an out-of-state newspaper article last week that equaling the playing field would cost women benefits they now enjoy, like cheaper insurance rates. (Which is a controversial subject if they continue to get paid 70% of what White men bring home.)
And some say once gender equality is the law of the land, women will be forced into military combat roles.
If and when the U.S. restores the draft, daughters would be equal prey for Uncle Sam’s draft selection board.
Contrarily, Black women overwhelmingly support the ERA for the same reason they supported the 13th and 15th amendments (we’re in bad shape if you don’t know what those entailed).
While White women are said to make 80 cents for every dollar White men make, Black people earn 10 cents less than White women!
Black women are also generally excluded from higher-paying jobs (except for government positions), and the few allowed in the boardrooms are required to wear pants or a tight dress to accent their mandatory wigs or extensions.
Since most sisters are better educated, more aggressive, and more disciplined, as soon as the door is cracked, they will enter.
Nonetheless, a sister still has to climb and/or jump higher, run faster, or adopt to a culture that’s often demeaning just to be rewarded 10 cents less.
The ERA, which is supported more aggressively by professionals and college-educated sisters, will benefit all of Black America.
Particularly—drum roll here—brothers.
No longer would we have to foot the bill for movies, dinner, or hotels.
That unwritten “custom,” is particularly unfair for underemployed men, who often earn less than sisters, but have to cater to them based on antiquated rules and Eurocentric etiquette.
In fact, brothers would benefit as well from no longer having to be the aggressors, or defender.
With the ERA, the sister will think twice about starting a confrontation with some dude at the club, or the racist police officer who profiled her boyfriend. Those two scenarios have gotten a whole lot of brothers whopped.
Of course, there are some drawbacks to the ERA for Black women. Cops will beat and shoot them with the same remorselessness they use to put brothas in their place.
Just think brothers, with the ERA women would have to alternate taking out the garbage, washing the car, or filling her gas tanks on the weekend.
She can get out there and shovel the snow with you, cut the grass and chase that mouse, beetle, or drug dealer.
And when she hears the noise in the middle of the night, you can say, “your turn!”
Eventually, all bathrooms will be labeled as “family,” meaning we wouldn’t have to complain about our bathrooms are being neglected while the women bathrooms are sparkling clean.
Brothers should also start demanding a wedding ring of equal carat weight to what we shell out for sisters.
Parenting would be an equal activity, so we’ll be more in tune with our children. And that attempted hair braiding by a Milwaukee brother for his daughter that sparked an Academy Award wouldn’t be a novelty. Once the ERA becomes “da official law,” brothers will have to start using lotion on their rough hands and learn to braid, because equal rights will mean equal parenting.
Of course, that problem will not be widespread in the central city since Black marriage is on the endangered species list.
And most young sisters have never had a door opened for them since these young brothers already treat them like another dude.
Common courtesy and gentlemanly behavior were rooted in a culture that seemingly gave way to the culture of gangsta rap, drugs, and dysfunctional Black families where there is no one to pass on our cultural nuances, including the principles of basic civility.
The result?
People driving through funeral processions, putting their butts down on bus seats while an elderly person struggles to stand and even referring to Jesus as ‘my nigga’ (n-word).
I recently observed a “man” allow the door he walked through to slam into his mother’s face because he doesn’t realize he’s supposed to hold it for her.
What was worse is that she didn’t say anything!
The ERA could eventually lead to a new paradigm in which men no longer walk on the outside nearest to the streets, but who cares?
Equal means equal as much as illegal aliens really means illegal alien.
Those customs may disappear around the country. But not at my house.
Or among my children.
My boys have been taught to be gentlemen, and that applies whether they are with a lady, a woman, or a Neckbone.
And when I mentioned this concept of “equality” to my wife, she didn’t hesitate to give me a look that clearly denoted: “don’t EVEN venture down that road!”
Black women have never been allowed to stand on the pedestal unless they were cleaning it for Mrs. Daisy.
Throughout our history, only a small percentage have been traditional housewives. More often than not, they worked a job and returned home to care for their children, husband (if they still had one) to clean and cook.
And she still made half of what Whites earned.
Since the establishment of the welfare state (with regulations that kept men out of the home), Black women have assumed the additional responsibility of being the head of the family.
That dichotomous paradigm screwed up (in the Black community) the entire socio-cultural ecosystem, creating a culture of poverty that should have solidified Africentric gender customs as they did following slavery, but instead helped to eliminate it.
Now that I remember, while my mother set the standards for my siblings and me, it was my father who reinforced them through his actions.
And since most Black boys today don’t have a full-time father to emulate…well, you fill in the blank.
Helping to fill that void are gangsta rappers who refer to sisters as bitches (b-word) and hoes (T.H.O.T), and you have a culture far removed from what I grew up in.
As a young teen, I remember hearing of a program started by community icon Marie Gains, who started what you might call a “finishing” or etiquette school for illiterate southern families who had migrated to Milwaukee from the Deeper than Deep South.
Maybe we need a similar program today.
Or maybe another Million Man March where we can discuss the importance of respecting our women, placing them on the throne beside us; serving, respecting, and defending them.
We would commit before our brothers and Nyame to pay tribute to the sisters, for their sacrifices and responsibilities. For being the mothers of our nappy haired nation. They deserve to be treated with reverence.
They should stand beside us, not behind or in front.
Most bibles refer to them as helpmates, although because of the chauvinistic culture of the time men treated them as slaves or second-class citizens, a status many men would like to continue to this day.
Actually, the bible I was brought up on is different from what they preached from in the Confederate south. Mine was about liberation and love, while their version endorses misogyny in the same chapters where God supposedly endorsed slavery.
But that’ s another story.
From my perceptive, the most critical and knowledgeable disciple was Mary Magdalene, who was not only Jesus/Yeshua’s most loyal and trusted confidant, but also a liaison between heaven and earth.
And while she couldn’t be equal to Him; she was paid far more than the other disciples and stood in His shadow.
Hotep
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