“Yeah, I been broke. Now I’m good b*tch. I ain’t no Kennedy, but I’m Hood Rich” – Kanye West
After reading a previous blog, a friend of mine inquired as to if I consider it is at all possible for Blacks to one day bridge the socio-economic & racial wealth gap. My answer was a resounding “no”. The way I see it, the chips are stacked too heavily against us.
Even many of the Blacks, who make what most would term as “a lot of money”, are typically “earning” only a fraction of what wealthy whites are able to “generate”… I purposefully utilize the words “earn” and “generate”, because they are not interchangeable. Workers “earn” income. Owners “generate” capital…
Consider the NFL... This past offseason, the NFL renegotiated its television deals with the broadcasting networks that pay them for the rights to broadcast NFL games. The numbers are staggering…
FOX (4.2 Billion), NBC (3.7 Billion), CBS (3.6 Billion), & ESPN (8.8 Billion)
Astonishing numbers, especially when you consider these deals run only through 2013; which means that at the end of the 2013 season, they will be either renewed, or renegotiated again.
Throw in (A) the 4 Billion dollars the NFL procured from Direct TV, for licensing the exclusive rights to the “NFL SUNDAY TICKET” package… (B) The rights being sold to the Cable TV corporations for the privilege to carry the NFL Network & Redzone channel… (C) The recently-formed” NFL ticket exchange”; which essentially operates as a viable alternative to the one-time monopolistic Ticketmaster, the upstart newcomer “StubHub”, and the traditional scalper, piddling about stadium entrance, preying on fans so desperate, they are willing to pay double or triple the ticket’s face value... Finally, toss in (D) traditional ticket sales and (E) merchandising, and you’re talking about a whopping sum of money.
To be more precise, the NFL is looking at an aggregate of approximately 9 Billion dollars in revenue annually. And that number is projected to increase to 20 billion dollars annually, by the end of the highly publicized 10-year-collective-bargaining-agreement, between the owners & the NFL Players’ Association, which will expire in 2020.
Of this revenue, approximately 50% (4.5B) is allocated to the owners, and 50% (4.5B) to the players.
The NFL consists of 32 teams, with 53 players per roster. That’s 1,696 players divvying up 4.5 Billion. On the other end, you have 32 owners sharing 4.5 billion.
And of course the owners are required to pay coaches, team physicians, administrative staff, marketing professionals, stadium leases, et cetera. But even when you add up the “cost of doing business”, the owners’ take-home remains exceedingly disproportionate in comparison to the players’ portion.
And none of this takes into consideration that the average NFL career spans a mere 3.3 years. On the other hand, the owner will almost certainly own his franchise into perpetuity; and even after he passes on from this life to the next, his franchise in all likelihood will be passed down to his surviving family members.
So yes, often times, even Blacks who are making an extraordinary amount of money are “earning” it. Whereas the owners, well, they generate it.
Of these high earning blacks, only a small percentage are able to effectively capitalize on their notoriety, thus catapulting their lives from the tenuous realm of “hood-rich", to the carefree ease of generational wealth... Sports figures like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Tiger Woods & George Foreman have been able to effectively brand their names, likenesses, & effigies, and transition their families into mega-wealth.
Entertainers such as 50 Cent, Diddy, Jay Z, Beyonce, and Tyler Perry are essentially the Entertainment industries equivalent of these sports figures. .. And of course, the Pantheon of Black Elite is highlighted by Oprah Winfrey & Bob Johnson.
A lesser discussed figure who commands enormous dollars for his services, is 34-year-old prize fighter, Floyd “Money” Mayweather… According to Sports Illustrated, “Money May” raked in 40 million dollars in 2010, & his net worth is listed as being north of 100 million…
This upcoming Saturday, Mayweather will compete against up & comer Victor Ortiz, in a Pay-Per-View boxing match. Floyd’s payday for the upcoming bout… 15 million dollars.
Floyd however, perhaps more so than the aforementioned elites, is somewhat of a controversial figure. He is a “new money” black man, who unabashedly wears his wealth on his person… I recall when he was featured on MTV Cribs; he opened the 3 drawers of his night-table, to reveal to the camera crew & subsequently the television viewing audience, that each of the drawers was stacked to the brim with $100 dollar bills.
On the HBO series “24/7”, spotlighting the events leading up to Mayweather’s upcoming boxing match, Money May was pictured with Rapper/businessman “50 Cent”. The 2 were holding stacks of money up to their ears as if the stacks were telephones, and pretended to have a phone conversation through the stacks… I actually find most of Floyd’s antics to be rather amusing, (him burning $100 dollar bills, on camera, notwithstanding; as there are just far too many people starving in the world.)
During the same episode, we were introduced to Floyd’s fiancée, “Miss Jackson”. I was immediately struck by her unusually remarkable physical beauty. And so I took to the internet in pursuit of more intel…
I decided to post the above photograph of Mayweather & “Miss Jackson” on Facebook.
Almost immediately, the backlash began. My uppity black friends began to ring out with gratuitous, unflattering remarks:
“She looks cheap”… “She looks like a video chick”… “She looks good, but can she read?”
They quickly labeled “Miss Jackson” a “Gold-digger”; Money May a “coon”; and speculated that the couple would surely take on the role of “persona-non-grata”, should they one day attempt to assimilate into the intimate social circle of the “Black Elite”.
Next up was the chatter suggesting Money May will inevitably “end up broke”… I defended Mayweather, charging these projections as little more than baseless conjecture. After all, none of us had access to the man’s bank statements, or any other financial records.
At that point, one of my hoity-toity Negro friends with whom I am close, accused me of demonstrating a pattern of preferential treatment toward the street n*gga, as opposed to the white-collar professional. I quickly refuted any such notion. I explained to him that if I have an affinity toward anything, it is authenticity. Basically, I like people who are who they are. And I actually respect Floyd for not succumbing to pressure to assimilate into the person whom the general public, and perhaps the “Black Elite”, would like for him to be.
Still, I felt somewhat annoyed. Why is it that black folk feel it necessary to make a bee-line toward ad hominem attacks, when they see an individual who is doing well, but whose lifestyle does not reflect the precise manner in which they deem to be appropriate and acceptable?
After all, this whole assimilation thing can be a tricky proposition…The decision of “who” we will project ourselves to be, is inherently influenced by just where we want to go in life… Many blacks in my community are presumably trying to make it from the school loan, to the Benz-o. And so they choose to adopt the persona they consider will be the most effective means of getting them from Point A to Z… They dress the part of sophistication, and act pretentiously. They constantly inundate my Twitter timeline with talk of the fabulous brunch they attended, and post pictures on Facebook of unreasonably priced cupcakes...If an inquiry is made pertaining to their favorite food, they’ll say something absurd like Thai, Moroccan or Mandarin. (GTFOHWTBS)
On the contrary, I have a friend who recently returned home to Virginia, after having spent the better part of August traveling between his Family’s summer home in Martha’s Vineyard, and their cabin in Vermont. Growing up, he was a part of the prestigious “Jack & Jill” organization. He went on to earn his Bachelor’s degree from a historically black University, and his Juris Doctorate from another… Still, despite his “upper crust” upbringing, I am never offended by him. I never identify him as “bougie”… Instead, he presents himself in a manner that causally conveys “This isn’t new to me. I’ve been here before. This is what I’m accustomed to”. As opposed to a constant reminder of where he is, or what he’s doing. And for this, I commend him.
But that’s precisely it. This is how he was raised. And for that, he should consider himself fortunate... And I think this is important for us to remember that “money” is new to black folk. And so for many blacks, new- money-braggadocio comes with the territory.
And so I do not condemn Money May for his flamboyance. Nor do I worship Bob Johnson because he wears a suit. And why should I?
I'll momentarily ignore my petty grievance toward Mr. Johnson for presumably naming his NBA franchise, the Charlotte BOBcats, after himself, and concentrate on the more serious matter at hand. Because the fact is that there are no formulas to accurately calculate the tremendous measure of social & psychological damage Bob Johnson has helped to inflict on Black America, by irresponsibly & unapologetically perpetuating unhealthy stereotypes & harmful imagery; all the while amassing a fortune, while heading BET.
Michael Jordan has shamelessly peddled exorbitantly priced footwear & apparel to impoverished inner city youth for nearly 3 decades… On numerous occasions, young black children were assaulted, stabbed, shot & killed over for these goods. Yet I cannot recall nary one instance of Jordan coming out publically to admonish the violent behavior, directly pertaining to the very product that produced enough money to make him into the sole, current, African American, majority-owner, of an American professional sports franchise.
Magic Johnson with no show of remorse, has collected a tidy sum, utilizing low incomes blacks as the predominant means of his cheap labor force. And that is arguably not even his most egregious violation… Magic is undoubtedly the world’s most famous person living HIV. Yet, in the 2 decades since he retired from the NBA because of this condition, I haven’t heard a peep from him regarding the importance of practicing safe sex. No role as National Spokesperson. No public service announcement. Not even a single literary pamphlet perched atop the coffee table at the doctor’s office or the clinic, with is his likeness attached to it. Nothing.
So why should I be upset with Money May? If you ask me, his hands are considerably cleaner than that of Jordan, Johnson or Johnson. Mayweather hasn’t inflicted any widespread detriment on society. He’s a performer who has chosen to adopt an ostentatious public persona, in order to bring attention to his niche sport.
Perhaps he’s got some dirt on his hands, but if that’s the case, I’d say he’s lucky… Very few people, who are exalted to mega wealth, are so lucky as to attain their position without getting a little dirt on their hands... In fact, it’s quite the contrary. Most people, who have acquired mega wealth, have hands covered in blood.
The so-called “Captains of Industry”, like Rockefeller & Vanderbilt were crooks. Robber Barons, who effectively lied, cheated & stole their way to incredible wealth… The Kennedy’s amassed their family fortune in shady stock market deals, questionable real estate transactions, and of course, the illegal production & distribution of alcoholic beverages, during the Prohibition Era…
But just one generation after Joe Kennedy, who died as one of America’s 75 wealthiest people, swindled his way to the mountain top, his eldest son John, was sitting in the Oval Office… His middle son Robert, was appointed as the US Attorney General, and too was well on his way to the White House, prior to being fatally gunned down… And his youngest son, Teddy, won the Massachusetts State Senate seat. A position he did not relinquish until the day he died. And not unlike his elder brothers, Teddy was well on his way to calling 1600 Pennsylvania Ave home, before a mysterious incident, in which he drove his car off a bridge, and the young lady in the passenger seat, who was not his wife, drowned; effectively causing Teddy to lose the nomination, that prior to this horrific accident, was all but sewn up…
Yet last night, 50 years after JFKs assassination, millions of Americans tuned in to the Jackie Kennedy special on ABC. Why, because despite the ill-gotten origin of their fortune, the Kennedys are widely considered to be America’s “Royal Family.”
These type of families have now had ample time to clean up their image. They don’t have to wear their wealth on their person, because everyone already knows it exists. For Blacks, we were effectively shut out of the economy till like 1980. For us, money is new. And so we are seeking the respect from society that comes along with success. And so of course we are more likely to maintain a high profile. And I am in not advocating flashy behavior. I’m simply suggesting that someone who has not yet learned how to express their monetary "come up" in a tasteful manner, wearing their money on their person, is only slightly more showy, (and no less ridiculous), than reading someone tweet about how they schlepped halfway across the city, in the rain, to purchase a $10 dollar cupcake.
Just this very moment as I'm wrapping up this blog entry, a message comes across my Gchat inquiring if I "know anybody whose been to Seychelles?". Wtf, did Turks & Caicos go out of business? Gone are the days when one could get away with 4 nights & 3 days in Aruba? Lord help us all.
Just this very moment as I'm wrapping up this blog entry, a message comes across my Gchat inquiring if I "know anybody whose been to Seychelles?". Wtf, did Turks & Caicos go out of business? Gone are the days when one could get away with 4 nights & 3 days in Aruba? Lord help us all.
“But suppose God is black? What if we go to Heaven, and we, all our lives, have treated the Negro as an inferior, and God is there, and we look up and He is not white? What then is our response” – Robert F Kennedy
