Today, as I perused the wall of my facebook page, I came across a video on the Cocoa Butter facebook page titled “24 things every black mom has said”, and it deeply disturbed me. Some of the quotes that stuck out to me were:
· I brought you into this world, I’ll take you out
· When we go into the store- don’t ask me for nothing and don’t touch nothing
· You’d better shut up before I give you something to cry about
· Don’t make me get my belt
· Stay out of grown folks business
· You’d better fix your face before I fix it for you
· You think I’m playing with you?
· Keep talking and I’ll knock the taste out of your mouth
· I am the mama, you are the child.
There were other, harmless, life advice and boundaries setting quotes as well about being home at an appropriate time, denying the child something they want in a way that isn’t abusive or demeaning, but the above quotes stuck out to me because they forced me to pose the following question: Why are we ok with this being the acceptable standard for black motherhood?
I am sure that some people reading this are wondering: What are the issues with the above quotes? I am going…
