Let's Talk About See-food

Some things I really don’t like are crabs in a barrel. Have you heard the expression? If not, it basically implies the “every man for himself”, “by any means necessary” notion through parallels of the characteristics of crabs in a barrel. When crabs are placed in a barrel, as they try to get out, they will claw at each other to progress themselves even though this notion hinders the progress of the other crabs. Ultimately this inhibits the progress of the entire crab community. The notion refers to people who are all in the same barrel, but will try to bring down someone trying to get out of the barrel.

This happens in corporate America every day. Those who are in lower level positions can get very catty (trust me I’ve seen it and experienced it). What I’ve noticed is that, for some reason, getting out of the barrel is a competition in the workforce. I understand that interviews and position availability can become competitive, but it’s CIB (Crab in a Barrel) mentality when you are hindering the progress of a co-worker who is NOT going after your position, but rather just bettering their knowledge. Maybe the subconscious fear is that this person is making himself more marketable and IF the two go after a position in the future, then the ‘opponent’ will be better equipped. This is foolish to me because we are humans and we weren’t made with claws. We have legs to help us leap out of the barrel and arms to reach back into the barrel to lift out our counterparts without falling back in.

So this is where it came from. I realized that I don’t have any other Toyota Skills other than the ones I developed in the Call Center. This means that I may never branch out of the call center. I have decided to take online workshops to increase my knowledge base and to explore other areas of the company that I don’t know much about. In doing this I get the ‘subtle’ question of “What are you doing?” from associates (not my supervisor or manager). Why is it that I can look at YouTube, Facebook and Gmail without any issues as long as I do my work, but the moment my time is used to better my understanding and knowledge of other areas of the company, I am questioned? Why NOW do you care so much about what I am doing? I am learning, I am growing; I am making myself better NOW so I won’t regret not doing it when I look back on these times. The thing that struck me by surprise with this issue is that my supervisor couldn’t care less as long as I do my work. So then why does my progress spark a sarcastic comment or a prying curiosity? Because that is CIB mentality at its best.

Now you know I could not let this topic progress without exploring CIB in the black community. I have to note it because the term “selling out” is played out because everyone I know who is REALLY from the hood doesn’t want to be in the hood. Because “ain’t” isn’t a word and lacking the intellect to properly speak the language is not cool. There is nothing wrong with speaking comfortably and you don’t have to be proper at all hours of the day, but please don’t think that the professional world has to accept unprofessional speech because that “…is just the way I talk.”

Excuses are the tools of the incompetent; they build monuments of nothingness. Those who specialize in them will seldom amount to anything and they will never become successful.

There were ancestors who gave their lives so we would have the opportunity to speak English and yet some of us glorify slang as though it’s ‘cool’ and tease the African Americans who are “acting white”. What is acting white? What is acting black? Why does someone have to be ACTING if you think they don’t have the mannerisms you feel their skin tone allows? I think if we understood the root of this we would not be so willing to accept it.

I feel CIB mentality stems from the desire to own something; the desire to rise to a standard that was only created by the social constraints of Slavery. The distinction between healthy, comfortable living and inhumane treatment was also divided into race categories. The desire at that time, was to be afforded the rights of a human. Since those rights were only afforded to whites the desire was to be afforded the same rights as whites. In the long struggle to get these rights, many slaves understandably lost resilience and in order to battle this unclenched desire they developed what Freud calls a Sour Grape syndrome.

In the Sour Grape syndrome, the person wants for something and in the disappointment of not having it they convince themselves that it wasn’t good to begin with. For example, if a child wanted a grape and was not allowed to have it, then they would say that the grape was sour anyway. Or if a man tries to approach a girl, but when she says she’s not interested he yells “You aren’t really that cute!” All of this shows a weakness in mind, low self-esteem, and/or disappointment.

Getting back to slavery, some slaves came to look at what had become of their once glorious culture to subconsciously say, “I don’t want your life anyway. It’s probably all snobbish and boring.” The dynamic of this mentality created a glorification of things that are really second hand associations. Because of the annihilation of culture induced by slavery, black culture is very different form the original African culture. We find much of our culture to have developed out of necessity to survive during slavery. For example, the food we term Soul Food is really a compilation of the scraps of food the slave owners would give the slaves. By NECESSITY, they made those left over pig intestine and ham hocks the best meal they ever had with the harsh/spicy herbs and spices that could be grown with little nurturing and time. So what do we have now? We have an admiration for the scraps of the pigs and unhealthy slave food (I’ll save the health issue for another entry). We have a culture that has been degraded and nearly isolated, but is now glorified in its new minuscule form as a result of the unfruitful efforts to obtain the culture of another. I don’t blame our community for getting into this rut, but I blame our community for not getting out of it and using slavery as a crutch to limit your quest for the truth. The slaves didn’t use slavery as a crutch why should we. They died so that we would have access to a knowledge base outside of what was isolated for us. I guarantee you that a slave would not look at a self-made man as a sell out; Frederick Douglass.

This is where the crabs come back in. What happens when some of us choose the red pill? What happens when some decide to enunciate their words? They are said to be speaking white. My answer to that is, OF COURSE I’M SPEAKING WHITE! IT’S ENGLISH! Where the hell is England? I’m over exaggerating to make a point, but go with me.

What happens when some decide to study Africa’s roots and find how far the rabbit hole goes? We call them conspiracy theorist because they have discovered hidden truths. Response: what do you call it when every nation’s greatest philosophers all take a long journey to Africa before they return as accomplished scholars and then the evidence of this culture’s advancement is burned in the Library of Alexandria? Do you thing there is NO conspiracy there? Maybe it’s just plain CIB mentality.

What happens when a man and woman work hard to raise their children in an area where they don’t have to worry about burying their son before he’s 25? They are called sell outs. Response: How much would you pay to sell out of poverty and into a better probability of higher education? Many slaves gave their lives.

What happens when someone tries to make moves out of their current situation amongst the masses of those who are in the same situation? They will claw at each other to progress themselves even though this notion hinders the progress of the other crabs. Response: how long with this CIB mentality haunt our culture and hinder our progress?