^^^dope perspective on the show overall....
what I like about the show is that even tho they threw the racism and graphic depictures of what White people did to Blacks....it lets you see a multitude of avenues of how differently we all look at each other as people in general.....we thinkin the Black folk are crazy but this is the build up of dealin with whites and racism has brought us to.....the Sambo character that the father kept seein wasn't who he was it was who he was tryin NOT to be....man the whole show got dualisms in it from ep 1 to 10.....
Facts, you see it! We all have that Sambo character lurking in our background when we have to compromise our morals/values at work, school, or in public spaces to go along and get along without upsetting white fragility. We’re slaves to their money and have to take Ls similar to Henry at work or even as a self-employed Black person in a white world system to ensure our families are able to survive and thrive. We have to compromise parts of ourselves daily and it’s maddening (only way to describe it)/psychologically damaging to the point of rage (remember the man that killed his racist coworkers at the beer plant a couple years ago after beaucoup harassment on the job that he suffered through until he snapped) like Henry screaming into the paper towels.
I worked for Caterpillar in Arkansas and was the only Black man in the Power Systems department’s history. I went through the exact same shyt as Henry. I watched white people I trained get access to corporate certification training before me and therefore pass me in pay after a short time when I had completed all of the online training and pre-req OJT before the newer hires only to be told to be patient.
I was constantly asked by racist customers when did I start, how long I’d been there, is that my service truck, how did you get this job, etc.
I got the worst work orders that nobody else wanted and the older company issued tools/equipment that made it harder to effectively do my job, yet I was always the lowest paid (although paid well by normal standards, just not commensurate with the level of expertise I provided) tech. Also, this was during Obama’s presidency so you know it was ratcheted up past the normal demon activity they’re on.
Threatening of the loss of employment was a constant tactic whenever I asserted myself with my opinions on operations in weekly meetings or pushed for the necessary classes to increase my pay through certifications (which my white coworkers automatically got access to after a certain period of time). I know that Sambo character all too well, he was there many times whispering, “What you gon’ do nikka ?!?” in my ear, reminding me constantly of their power over me, and stoking my anger to the point of damn near shooting the place up one morning. It got to the point that I literally chased my supervisor back into his office one morning when he tried to start some shyt/raise his voice at me over me asking why I didn’t have a wingman on a certain job that always called for two men, for safety reasons, the previous 8 years I’d been involved with this customer (white coworkers always had a wingman).
I know it hurts us to admit it, but the violence (physical and psychological) depicted is truth that needs to see sunlight. The reality was and is unfathomably worse, especially if we run from it and try to forget it. I think the show served a needed purpose for the youth that don’t know the depravity of white supremacy and the adults that want to forget it to make ourselves feel better.
