Frederick Douglass once said, “I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence”. There is no doubt that my beliefs will cause “my own abhorrence” as I am half Native American and half black with an unpopular opinion in a politically correct society. I pride myself in being up to date with news, but as of late I've noticed a sobering trend in black society. I'm not saying this applies to all African Americans, but it seems as if we are the “victims of victimization”.

Victimization in this instance applies to those that are made out to be a victim for so long that they too begin to believe it. For instance, I ride a predominantly black bus, however, the bus driver is white. Any time a black student is called forward on the bus for doing something wrong they try to weasel their way out of it by saying, “it's because I'm black isn't it?”. How can an entire race come so far in the last hundred fifty years, to just playing their race to reduce the chances of being reprimanded or to gain something they don't actually deserve.

In “A Brief for Whitey” Patrick J. Buchanan touches on a few things that prominent blacks have said regarding whites, including a conspiracy theory that whites created HIV/AIDS to kill blacks. My only rebuttal to that is how do they account for the other ethnic minorities and whites that are also affected? In fact, the CDC estimates that, when it comes to subpopulations white men(MSM) with HIV/AIDS outweigh black men(MSM) by nearly one thousand. He also goes on to say “Was ‘white racism’ really responsible for those black men looting auto dealerships and liquor stories, and burning down their own communities, as Otto Kerner said — that liberal icon until the feds put him away for bribery.”

I find it hard to believe that we as a whole can blame the shortcomings of our race on an entire people because our ancestors weren't afforded as many opportunities as they could have. As citizens of a nation with free will (within good reason of course) it seems inconceivable that rioters do as they please with their only justification being that the actions of others caused it.

Since 1894, mississippi has incorporated the confederate flag into the state flag. Although the confederate flag has been known as a symbol of racism, it really isn’t. The flag was adopted by the confederate states upon their succession from the union at the beginning of the civil war, which, contrary to popular belief was fought because southern states felt like states’ rights were not a priority to the Union. Looking past that even the flag has been a historic symbol and marks the beginning of the civil rights era. After having the flag for so long, why was it necessary to attack the flag now. Though whites make up the majority in mississippi at 59.7% not all voted in favor of the flag. Also Mississippi has the most black elected officials of any state. Mississippians voted in favor of the flag just like they did back in 2001.

In short, victimization has made a strong impact on African American culture in a detrimental way, not just affecting how we act as a race but how others view us. Just look at Beyoncé’s latest performance at Super Bowl 50, she was able to get away with paying homage to the black panthers without any legal backlash. If anyone were to use something racially driven against us, we would be offended, so why is it okay for a celebrity to do the reverse? Be it racial conspiracy or a simple issue of flag design, the double standard has jaded those unfamiliar with the facts and increased racial tensions.