Stop Blaming Black People for Making Black Celebrities Activists

One of my favorite YouTubers released a video criticizing the Super Bowl 56” halftime show and the number of black celebrities that came to watch in the skyboxes.

Here’s one thing this YouTuber said that stuck out to me:

“What was the point of the knee?”

If you don’t know, the NFL is in hot water now for discriminating against one of two black head coaches in the league, Brian Flores. This isn’t mentioning the horrible track record the NFL has when it comes to racism.

Every prominent black celebrity showed up. Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Rihanna, Lebron James, not to mention the halftime show superstars. Even though I love most of the celebrities that attended the game, I have to be honest.

The reason why black celebrities still give power to the NFL is the reason why people can’t take black movements seriously nowadays.

What was all of this for?

What was the knee for?

What was the boycotting for?

All for us just to support the racist NFL again?

Now, I could go to the classic “stop appointing black celebrities as activists” comment that so many people go to, but I have a different perspective.

We can’t fully blame other black people for supporting black celebrities and making them the spokesperson of the movement.

Why?

Because most black celebrities use activism to make more money.

Think about it.

Kendrick Lamar is most known for his album, “To Pimp a Butterfly,” which centers heavily on race. Beyoncé’s last couple of albums were black as hell.

Jay-Z himself took a shot at the NFL in one of his collaborations with Beyoncé called Apesh*t.

Here’s a quote from his verse:

“I said no to the Super Bowl. You need me I don’t need you.”

He said that a couple of years ago to turn around and make a joint deal with the NFL and Rocafella records.

Heck, I’d be surprised if we don’t make black celebrities the leaders of the movement.

Black celebrities put themselves in positions to be the board directors of the movement.

No one is telling them to make albums centered around black issues. People aren’t begging them to make speeches about black issues. No one told them to take a knee in solidarity.

They chose to do this.

That’s why I just can’t trust any celebrity, including my favorite, Beyoncé, when it comes to black issues.

They’re too disconnected. They don’t understand how racism works in a nuanced way. They have surface-level politics. Overall, these black celebrities are more concerned about class solidarity than black solidarity.

They’ll do anything to keep their rich people cards even if it means inserting themselves in anti-black spaces.

But I have one small — okay, big confession to make.

I watched the Super Bowl.

Hey, I couldn’t help it. My home team (The Bengals) played and we haven’t been to a Super Bowl in 30 years.

But here’s the moral of the story:

Black rich people can do a lot more than your average black person. Sure, we can do the groundwork and get gears moving, but we simply won’t have enough firepower to burn like a rich celebrity.

Isn’t the NFL 70% black?

It’ll always baffle me as to why the black players (who are also rich) won’t take a stand when issues like this happen.

If you had the black players quit in solidarity, with the monetary support of other black celebrities, that would cause a whirlwind in the NFL.

But I digress.

I hope this cycle of supporting the master will end someday.

My hope is wearing thin for black celebrities. That’s why it’s best not to trust them.

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This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.

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