The Blacklash: Should white people be scared to give Black people compliments?

It's the question on a lot of white peoples' minds. Should white people be scared to give black people compliments? I received an email from two of Boston Financial District's most brilliant minds, who instead of repairing the financial state of the country, chose to mindlessly blog away and contemplate life's bigger questions. The email read:

“My co-worker Bryan (he's CC'd) and I are frequently in search of answers to life's many complexities. We found a site a site that disproves a theory I was working with. The theory that white people should be terrified to compliment black people. So we thought we'd ask a genuine, 100% pure, athletic, handsome black man on his thoughts.

Sincerely,
Esey” (Yeah she definitely wants me :-))

ref article link: Should White People Be Scared To Give Black People Compliments?

After giving it some thought and consulting with my panel of trusty advisers, who claim to have some blackspertise on the matter, I came up with the following conclusion; White people should absolutely be terrified to compliment black people! In the event that they do compliment a black person, they have to choose their words very carefully and proceed with extreme caution. This is because of a phenomenon I'd like to describe as The Blacklash. The Blacklash is officially defined as a negative reaction by black people after a racist comment (Urban Dictionary). While that is a satisfactory definition, in reality the comment does not even necessarily have to be racist. It could even be a compliment. It's a lot of fun, I do it with my white friends all the time!

Example:

White person: Great job! You have exceeded my expectations.

Black person: Exceeded your expectations? What? You think because I'm black I'll walk in here with a spear, making baboon sounds....well hello Kunta Kinte!!

White person: No I just wanted to say good...

Black person: Say what? Go ahead...call me an ignorant negro. That's why you came here right? [walks off like an irate black man]

So that's my conclusion. This should be treated as a helpful tip to aid white people in their constant endeavor to understand and accommodate black people. If you want to compliment us, be very precise and don't use ambiguous adjectives and pronouns. Instead of "you people" try "You the individual standing right in front of me, that I am currently looking at". No more calling black people "brother" or "sister" and no compliments related to anything skin color related e.g. "that dress really matches your skin tone!" Also avoid eye contact because we BITE!

Survive my friends! Live, prosper and beware of the BLACKLASH!

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