Charlamagne Tha God Pens an Open Letter on Racism

A Note From Charlamagne Tha God: I'm writing this because I simply feel like Racism is wack. I hate prejudice, and I need racist and prejudiced people to know that you will eventually reap what you sow. Being racist is a choice, hopefully this article will help people make better choices. The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed here do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of XXL.

Dear Racists,

Racism is wack. I actually look at racists the way racists look at the people they are racist against. Sub-human, savage, pariahs, who need to be eliminated from the human race. Why are you here? What do you contribute to the environment but hate? If that's your sole purpose on this planet, if hate for others is what becomes you, then you have no purpose. I don't understand after all these years why Black people are still fighting for respect? Why should we have to convince racist White people to simply respect us as humans? Has any racist White person ever stopped to say to themselves, "Why exactly do I hate Black people?" I would advise them not to wreck their brain trying to figure it out because they won't come up with a reason. What I don't understand is how come White people don't stand up and simply say, "Look racist White people, we need to do better and there is absolutely no room in our society for racism." I'm one of those people who know that White people aren't inherently evil, but when I don't see the ones who aren't inherently evil challenging the ones who are, it makes me question them. I know that White people look at someone like Dylann Roof and say he doesn't represent for all of us, but that's not true. He actually does. See there is this thing called racial profiling that we as Black people hate. We hate being lumped in with those of us who are out here committing crimes. And since society can't seem to differentiate between who the Black civilians are vs the Black criminals, we as Black people all have to suffer. Well, guess what White people. The time for you to suffer has come as well. Unless I actually have a conversation with you or your actions show me otherwise, I have to lump every single one of you in the same category and assume that you, too, are racist. Yes, White people. You can get profiled too. You can get stereotyped too. Isn't that ignorant? Doesn't just reading that line make you mad? Don't you think profiling and stereotyping someone based on the color of their skin is wack? Well, White people. Welcome to our world!!!

White people, your silence on racial issues isn't helping. If you're not speaking out against it, I have no choice but to assume that you're probably for it. White people have to denounce racism and prejudice when hate crimes like the shooting in Emanuel A.M.E. in Charleston, S.C. happen. Don't act like this is an isolated incident of just a crazy person. Don't try to blame this guy's actions on a dysfunctional relationship with his parents. Don't try to deflect from the actual issue—which is this disease called racism—and say that it was an attack on faith and not Black people. Don't be like Meet The Press host Chuck Todd and say, "We simply ask you to look at this as a color blind issue. It's simply gun violence." How is this simply about gun violence when Dylann Roof told us what this was about? He wanted to kill Black people!!! Gun violence has nothing to do with this one, buddy, because racist White people have been killing Black people for centuries and the gun wasn't always the weapon of choice. Anybody remember nooses? How quickly we forget.

These are the kind of statements that add insult to injury, and insult Black America's collective intelligence. Statements like this prove that either White people don't know, don't show or don't give a damn about racism in America. Simply stand up as a White person and say racism is wack. White people, we need to do better. White people need to challenge other White people about their racism, challenge them about this old, dated, played out concept that they are holding on to. This is a learned behavior that they keep passing on from generation to generation. If they don't challenge it, if they don't treat racists and bigots like they are pariahs and outcasts, then I have no choice but to assume that maybe, just maybe, they are all for White supremacy.

Look, we can't rewrite history. I don't hold White people of this generation responsible for slavery and I don't hold them responsible for the Jim Crow era, but I do hold White people of this generation responsible for not speaking out against those of you who still choose to carry on the tradition of racism that has rotted this country to the core. I applaud and appreciate White people who choose to stand side by side with their fellow Black Americans—key word Americans—and speak out against police brutality and the unjust killing of hundreds of Black people across America, the White people who marched with us in South Carolina and said take down that symbol of hate called the confederate flag, the young White people who can't understand the hate that Dylann Roof had for Black people and aren't afraid to say that he's a piece of shit and is not a reflection of the White race at all. I respect you because you are making it quite clear where you stand and letting us know that you are not here for that fuck shit called racism.

Do I believe that we are all one race, which is the human race? Absolutely. But that is no longer valid if we aren't treating each other like humans and following simple laws of life, like treating people how you want to be treated, loving thy neighbor and doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. And racist White people have to realize one thing: you get what you put out. This generation isn't like previous generations with all that marching. Protesting, begging and pleading to be respected is dead. That's out the window, and there is a whole generation of Black folks out here who don't know anything about a peaceful protest. There is a whole generation of Black kids out here who are about that bullshit. They are "'bout it 'bout it" fools. Oh, let me translate for White people that don't understand slang: "IF WHITE RACIST DON'T STOP KILLING INNOCENT BLACK PEOPLE, EVENTUALLY BLACK PEOPLE ARE GOING TO GET FED UP AND START KILLING INNOCENT WHITE PEOPLE."

That's where we are right now, America. Don't let those families of the victims in Charleston, S.C. fool you. I respect them for being better people than me, but all Black people aren't about forgiveness anymore. They are about blood. There are a whole lot more Nat Turners in the hood than Martin Luther King Jrs. Imagine Bloods not hating blue and Crips not hating red, but the two groups joining forces to hate White. The same way Dylann Roof didn't care about who he killed to get his point across, that's how a lot of Black Americans are feeling right now. And that within itself should scare the shit out of America. Who wants that to happen? I don't, because I don't believe you can fix a problem with the same thinking that created the problem. But it's bound to happen. You reap what you sow; that's the way the universe works. Do you really think Black people aren't preparing for war? We have no choice but to be, especially when all across America it seems like somebody has it out for Black people. Black churches are literally being burned to the ground. I'ma just assume those arsonists are racists, but what those arsonists need to understand is that shit don't scare nobody. All it does is infuriate and reinforce the need for countless Black people across America to exercise their Second Amendment rights. Yep—the right to bear arms. Because in 2015, if I look in my yard and there's a cross burning and a bunch of dudes in white sheets standing outside, I'ma let the chopper fly. Simple and plain. This is America. And in America, I can Stand My Ground, correct? If my life feels threatened, correct? Nothing more threatening than a bunch of crazy racists running around setting shit on fire and running up in churches killing innocent Black people just because. Shit is getting real, ladies and gentlemen. The tipping point is here. Can it be fixed?

I believe that it can, but remember this: the only people who can correct racism in America is White people. Black people aren't the ones who are racist, you are!! Black people don't have a history of violence towards White people, but White people certainly have a history of violence towards us. If Black people hate White people, it's a reaction based off the years and years of oppression and discrimination we have received at the hands of racist White people. White people who aren't racist have to denounce racism. You have to stand up and tell other White people, "YOU MUST DO BETTER." You have to treat White people who are racists like the evil pieces of shit they are. They are pariahs and outcasts. They don't deserve to walk amongst the civilized of our society. They are savages. You have to get your "Mean Girl" on and let racist White people know, "They Can't Sit With Us!!"

The past can't be changed but the present and future can be. Stop being afraid to discuss racism, White people. Admit that, yes, there are still a lot of White devils in this country and scream at the top of your lungs that you are not one of them and you want to destroy those of you who are. Stop running from the sins of your ancestors, especially when those same seeds of hate that your ancestors possessed are being planted into a new generation. You can't change the past, but you absolutely can change the narrative of now and the narrative of the future. And that happens by simply admitting that, on the subject of race and how you treat other humans, RACIST WHITE PEOPLE, YOU HAVE TO DO BETTER.

Sincerely,

Lover of all humans regardless of color as long as they're good people, Charlamagne Tha God