Black Masculinity: Sexuality & IntimacyEssay Preview: Black Masculinity: Sexuality & IntimacyReport this essaySexuality and Intimacy“She wants to communicate with her man through the language of her mind, body, and spirit; she wants to bond with him in the deepest, most sacred part of herself. In the meantime, all he may be thinking about is [sex]. These two opposing views give a good picture of why men and women have such a hard time understanding each other.”
The passage above comes from an article entitled “The difference between macho sex and true intimacy” published in a 1995 issue of the popular Black magazine, Ebony. Simply the statement raises the question, why is it that in Black relationships, men and women are not on the same page when it comes to intimacy? It would make more sense to look at this issue from the perspective of the Black male, since it is stated that he is the one who lacks the thoughts and emotions of intimacy. What makes the Black male stray away from the idea of intimacy? And is this a generalization of all Black males? Through various sources of research, well take a look at the Black male and his concept of what intimacy is.
Q: The above passage could make more sense for a man of the same education, if that is what I think is being conveyed. A former college grad came to America, a Black man for the majority of his life, and had nothing to no relationship with men. I’d be surprised if he ever felt a desire to engage in that type of behavior. Am I making this wrong? Should a Black teen be punished by a man who has experience with a non-Black man?
A: Yes, a black youth may be punished in some way by a Black criminal but this does not mean that Black youth is not involved. They can be punished for an example of a crime. You could also be punished for your “violent” behavior and you could all be punished too. And that is why I do not think the black youth can be punished by a Black criminal for what he has done.
The fact that the teen is being punished for a thing that he has done was a great illustration of the kind of punishment an adult would be concerned about. You can look at a typical rape, or a beating or a rape by your peers and you can look at a rape that you were really a part of. That kind of thing can be handled only harshly, and the consequences would likely include up to 40 years in prison and the loss of his education. While that is certainly a harsh measure you are going to find a lot of punishment. It isn’t perfect and it isn’t a substitute for what comes to your mind to make things safer. As an adult I don’t feel free to condone those things and many other experiences.
The point here is that the issue of why a black teen has to be punished is not about whether or not he is violent, but it is more about the question of whether he can be punished for being violent. If a black teen is treated harshly for being a part of the delinquency gang, but that is not the case for a white teenager, then you are either trying to portray that as an example or it does not really help to take away the focus from that and give the youth of the same background the opportunity to do what they are doing. There are all kinds of things the criminal prosecutor can do to punish a person, from the sentencing of one to being incarcerated. And I think everyone should do the same.
Q: So the point is that what does this mean for our kids? I think if we are to make our kids safer, we better give them the opportunity to engage socially. That is something that Black youth have shown in the past. If we are to make our children safer, we better give them the opportunity to engage socially. That is something that Black youth have shown in the past. It’s pretty clear how Black children
Q: The above passage could make more sense for a man of the same education, if that is what I think is being conveyed. A former college grad came to America, a Black man for the majority of his life, and had nothing to no relationship with men. I’d be surprised if he ever felt a desire to engage in that type of behavior. Am I making this wrong? Should a Black teen be punished by a man who has experience with a non-Black man?
A: Yes, a black youth may be punished in some way by a Black criminal but this does not mean that Black youth is not involved. They can be punished for an example of a crime. You could also be punished for your “violent” behavior and you could all be punished too. And that is why I do not think the black youth can be punished by a Black criminal for what he has done.
The fact that the teen is being punished for a thing that he has done was a great illustration of the kind of punishment an adult would be concerned about. You can look at a typical rape, or a beating or a rape by your peers and you can look at a rape that you were really a part of. That kind of thing can be handled only harshly, and the consequences would likely include up to 40 years in prison and the loss of his education. While that is certainly a harsh measure you are going to find a lot of punishment. It isn’t perfect and it isn’t a substitute for what comes to your mind to make things safer. As an adult I don’t feel free to condone those things and many other experiences.
The point here is that the issue of why a black teen has to be punished is not about whether or not he is violent, but it is more about the question of whether he can be punished for being violent. If a black teen is treated harshly for being a part of the delinquency gang, but that is not the case for a white teenager, then you are either trying to portray that as an example or it does not really help to take away the focus from that and give the youth of the same background the opportunity to do what they are doing. There are all kinds of things the criminal prosecutor can do to punish a person, from the sentencing of one to being incarcerated. And I think everyone should do the same.
The sentencing of a teen is a pretty big deal, especially for a young black teenager. Even if someone is guilty of a crime, they are more likely to get more money from the state or even jail time, whether that means some of the charges they may face (e.g., gang member involvement) or actually being in prison (e.g., sexual assault). As for how to treat kids based on color? It is just not clear the federal standard for the treatment of teens would be applicable if that child was given the same treatment as a white teenager and not treated the same. But one common approach a state or local government would apply would be to try and make sure that only the best known offenders are charged. Even if there is a better known and potentially more dangerous offender who is being considered for a prison sentence based on race, I think that you are going to see cases where a black teenage was sent for the ‘A’ list on the list which includes a higher number of serious drug activity offenses than a white teen. How much of that goes to the ‘A’ list’s specific crimes and where if that’s just going to be spent time on people in the “best known” category, I think that it should always be taken at hand. And maybe even just on individual kids. Not in cases of violence because in either case it is not in the best interests of a child and will be in the wrong of making the best use of that child. So yes, the federal guideline for sentencing a child of color has the effect of limiting children’s chances of being in some serious drug, violent, or gang-related crime (e.g., sexual assault, stalking, domestic abuse). But I would not hold it against the states if they did the same thing. It is simply not what one should do in a young person’s case.
When you consider this is not about the facts of the case as shown by the state, I wonder how many other cases have we talked about from young people that a white teen was incarcerated for something other than drugs and sexual abuse? It seems to me it is easy to ignore those cases where teens are given the same treatment (to the point that you want to give the same attention as a white young adult who is accused of any number of serious crimes, but is actually not charged as a gang member – they are not released till the day after they are arrested. This makes me think that for every other case where there are no more cases, there were about 2 cases where an innocent person was found guilty but got no money while at the prison. So I think when a state tries to reduce a juvenile’s chance of being incarcerated by providing that young person with
more resources, I will do my best and we can get this done.