Mission: Decode Mr. Self-Hate's Rhetoric

STATEMENT 1- MR. SELF-HATE: "Man you wanna fuckin' play??? I'll get out here n beat cho yow African-looking ass!!!"

1. Mr. Red Shirt doesn't look that 'African' to me. I think I would know, but what do y'all think?

2. The way Mr. Self-Hate is using the term, it's clear that "looking like an African" is an insult. It's hard to insult the looks of one that someone finds attractive. So obviously, he thinks that Africans are unattractive.

3. Finally, we see a threat of violence from Mr. Self-Hate towards Mr. Red Shirt, in which Mr. Self-Hate assumes the role of the disciplinarian to punish the "African-looking" man for being untrustworthy or irksome. (What makes him so sure he could "take him" anyway, lol?)

STATEMENT 2- MR. SELF HATE: "Can I spik to duh managuh??? Can yahl git dis this African muthafucka out da winduh?!!!"

1. Now we see an upgrade. As Mr. Self-Hate's rage rose, so did the severity of his "insult". Mr. Self-Hate promotes Mr. Red Shirt from 'African-looking' to an 'African'. In this way, he calls Mr. Red shirt ugly again.

STATEMENT 3- MR. SELF-HATE: "Getcho black ass out da winduh!!! I don' wanna talk to you!!!"

1. Now we see a pivot from the xenophobic nature of the tirade he went on, to a colorist one. Again, 'black' (which Mr. Self-Hate obviously is himself), is considered an insult.

STATEMENT 4- MR. SELF-HATE: "NO!!! I need my dam money! Right. Fucking. Now!!! And you got this fuckin' African right by you, actin' like he's hard!!!"

1. Mr. SELF-HATE ends with a second "jab", in which he makes one last threat towards Mr. Red Shirt. Again, the figurative insinuation is that Africans are "weak", "fake", or "cowardly".

I won't spend a bunch of time deconstructing these comments. Lets just end with a couple of questions:

1. What did Mr. Self-Hate have in mind when when he pictured Africans? (Was he operating under the stereotype that we are all dark-skinned with black, kinky hair? I guess that's what this guy looked like to him?)

2. Could the response that we saw from Mr. Red Shirt count as restraint, or was it something else? What was going through his mind?

3. What did Mr. Self-Hate think that his xenophobia would get him? (Xenophobia doesn't really benefit the landless, now does it?)

4. Why did Mr. Self-Hate go out of his way to live up to the 'loud'' stereotype of Black people?

5. Why did Mr. Self-Hate go out of his way to live up to the 'unruly'/'aggressive' stereotype of Black people?

6. Why did Mr. Self-Hate have to live up to the 'they get aggressive over chicken stereotype' at a Popeyes?

7. What makes Mr. Self-Hate think that Africans are (physically or any other kind of way) weak? Did he have personal experiences to make him believe that? Actually, let me scale up and mention that there has been a low-key reintroduction of a small current of Beta- (and even Gamma-) African males in the media lately: 'the Weak/Passive/Push-Over African Male' archetype. Examples include, but are not limited to: Darius and Chris on from the show Atlanta, T'Challa in the movie Black Panther, Rashid in Dear White People, Dinka in Barbershop, etc.

I mean, I'm really starting to wonder:

Are y'all...

tryna start somethin'???

I'm asking for a friend.