Sick and tired II 

It's official. I am again sick and tired of being sick and tired, and am feeling the need to vent. In the famous words of civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, passed on to me by my beloved band teacher Royal J. Singleton III, I bring to you Sick and Tired II.

I am sick and tired of being sick and tired about mixed messages. Women are powerful, equal and should not be objectified. Women are hyper-sexed, weak and subordinate. Which is it? Just go ahead; tell our little girls their worth will be measured by the size of their tits and stop pretending that intelligence and experience matter. I am sick and tired of being sick and tired of sexists being racists; racists being sexists; men pretending they love women when they really want a man; women pretending they love men when they really want a woman. I've been hurt by men before but never ended up with a breast in my mouth. Be you, be happy and let anyone who doesn't like it kick rocks.

I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired of being called a lesbian because I am selective about the men I date. Marrying to get married never seemed like a good idea. Lowering my standards is not appealing. If an occasional movie, dinner outside of the home, a walk in the park and a trip outside of the state is too much for you, then too bad. As Mr. Singleton would say, don't go away mad, just go away.

I am sick and tired of being sick and tired of Americans being followers. Gas is scarce. Now we're fighting each other at the pumps, siphoning gas, leaving work early and coming in late because of the shortage. If we get an e-mail that says jump, will we answer how high?

Speaking of scarcity, I am sick and tired of being sick and tired of meeting folks with no integrity. Sorry if I don't have open arms for people who shit on me and then want to act like everything is fine. It isn't, and I won't pretend that it is to make you feel better about your busted self. No one is perfect, but some people are assholes and that is a fact.

I am sick and tired of being sick and tired of married folks acting like something is wrong with you if you are not married, particularly when they cheat on each other, treat each other like crap in front of their children, and make children out of wedlock while actually married.

I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired of single people, women in particular, acting like they will die if they don't get married. Have you seen your married friends lately? Get some outside interests and you may find that there is a great life awaiting you -- with guess what, a decent partner looking for a woman like you.

I am sick and tired of being sick and tired of single black women waiting for black men to notice us. It won't happen. They have too many options. Deal with it. Date outside of the race or quit complaining, which is a sin by the way.

Speaking of sin, I am sick and tired of Christians being as un-Christ-like as possible. It's not Christ-like to beat your wife, cheat on your spouse, pretend to be straight when you know you're gay, steal from your friends and family, participate in illegal activities, teach prosperity when you're the only one prospering, embrace materialism, and engage in illegal activities. Did I say participate in illegal activities?

I am sick and tired of being sick and tired of people who are not registered to vote complaining. If you don't participate in the process, you can't make any demands. In some cases, silence speaks volumes. This is not one of them. Not voting is the same as voting -- it just depends on who benefits from it. So shut up and vote!

I am sick and tired of being sick and tired of overpaid celebrities; the price of gas; the price of groceries; standing in line; sitting in traffic; McCain; Palin; Obama; Biden; W.; John Edwards; Pat McCrory; Bev Perdue; Adam Jones; Google; Yahoo; Amazon; high-end shopping malls; low-end shopping malls; flying; sitting in airports; students with new clothes and fancy cell phones not having books; people buying more house than they can afford; tenants who tear up stuff, pay rent late or skip out all together; property taxes that do not decrease when home values decrease; property values that increase on homes by the same builder in less than a two-mile radius because mostly whites live in them.

I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired of black people acting black; white people acting white; black people acting white; white people acting black; Asians pretending to be white while trying to act black; Latinos being white and black when they feel like it; East Indians thinking that they are white, when they get treated like blacks in their countries; Eastern Europeans having more in common with blacks in this country, but trying really hard to be white -- and failing, quite frankly; International folks that are darker than me, calling me black like it's a bad thing.

I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired of folks getting mad at blacks for representing their home countries in the Olympics; those same folks not caring when whites do the same; folks mad about the number of blacks in the NBA; those same folks not caring about the growing number of Eastern Europeans in the NBA. Madonna; JLo; Rihanna; Beyonce; Jay-Z; less talented famous little sisters; awards shows; Flavor Flav; New York; NKOTB; 90210; The Wire never getting nominated for an Emmy; the same angry white dude posting comments to my articles each week.

Nsenga K. Burton, Ph.D. is an assistant professor of communications and media studies at Goucher College and editorial director for RushmoreDrive.com.