Black Masculinity

This week in discussion we talked about Black masculinity from Neal's article the New Black Man. In this article, Neal talks about the "Strong Black Man," a term that correlates to a rigid form of black masculinity, and does not allow for any sort of flexibility. This directly relates to the women and children in their lives. Neal gives examples of the depiction of black masculinity in his passage. He discusses N. Williams, who had sex with over 30 women, and ended up giving them HIV. The media turned this story into a racial slur toward black masculinity. Rather than discussing the disease, the media was concerned with this perversion, and violent behavior, which drove to helpless women sleeping with him.

Black masculinity is present is rap music, hip hop, and even politics. However, the depiction of masculinity through these channels is rigid, correlated to the "Strong Black Man." As mentioned in discussion, black men are not given the same economic resources as white men, which inhibits their masculinity in a way, and forces them to turn to violence, physical strength, and anger, in order to recoup their lost masculinity.