Just Please Stop

You ever want to kick someone in the throat? I do and let me tell you why. If you don’t know what you are talking about, you should just be quiet. Also, even if you think you know what you are talking about, you probably shouldn’t be SO loud and SO wrong with it as not to have people who are aware that you are loud and wrong overhear you.

Example, moving to DC after 20 years in the suburbs doesn’t qualify you to give a history lesson on the city. You didn’t grow up there, and you haven’t been there long enough to have a good grasp of the city or its residents.

When you talk about how great a portion of the city is that has undergone gentrification, don’t say how much “better” it is now. The black people that got forced out of their homes after living there for 50+ years don’t think its better. They don’t think its so beautiful now that they cant afford the property taxes, but hey I am glad you are enjoying your new coffee shop, pricy condo and trendy bar.

When you discuss the 60’s riots, don’t make statements like “The only black owned business on U street that survived was Ben’s Chili Bowl” because while you might be right about it being the only one to stay in operation the entire time, you are incorrect when you refer to Ben Ali as black. I know we all look alike but really, middle eastern isn’t Negro. It’s different, really I wouldn’t bullshit you.

Food in a black neighborhood does not equal “Soul Food”. Half Smokes, and chili isn’t soul food either, at least not in my household it isn’t. In fact don’t even use the term Soul Food, because what you mean to call it is Southern Cooking, and that would consist of more than hot dogs and fries.

Don’t give lessons on how that food is no good for you and “if you don’t care about your health, its great”. Fuck you and the horse you rode in on. Black people don’t sit around stuffing chili dogs in our faces all day. Don’t presume to understand what we eat and why we eat it either. Just cause there were black people in there, don’t assume that is a part of our daily diet.

Your ignorance is showing, stop talking, people can hear you. Black people, who’s family’s grew up in DC, who know that it’s not a bad or “rough” neighborhood just because they haven’t bulldozed the rest of blacks out yet.

Ben’s is a landmark, and a great place to go on a Friday night after being at the club or just generally hanging out. If you are a Howard U grad its not just a hang out, its an institution and a rite of passage. Its interesting, its fun and it’s a part of the city’s rich culture, but it is not a Soul Food restaurant, and I aim to point out that you look stupid saying it.

I even feel like it wouldn’t be so bad if you didn’t think you knew everything in the free fucking world about everything. Sure, you are smart and you went to school like the rest of us, but you don’t know everything and you shouldn’t pipe up to offer your unsolicited opinion on every subject being discussed. Especially a city you just happened to move to because it’s the “in” thing to do.