The Black Tax

Never have I ever heard The Black Tax explained as well as I did when Chris Rock broke down his community and who his neighbor was. It was so funny, real, and tragic all at the same time. It clearly illustrated just how disproportionately the divide is between Black people and white people. We have to practically be world re-known in a particular field in order to live next door to say a plumber in a nice area.

When I blogged how there was no "white privilege", that there was just privilege and mentioned that situation with the white cop arresting Henry Louis Gates Jr. for trying to get into his own house. The police were called by a neighbor of Gates' that saw two Black men struggling to get into a house this neighbor did not know belonged to one of those Black men, (his driver who was also Black was trying to help him get into his house). I mentioned how that one situation allowed a world famous Black historian and intellectual and a no name white cop to sit down and have a beer with the leader of the free world. Two world famous Black men and a no name white cop having a beer is the EPITOME of the Black Tax.

For those that are unaware of this Black Tax I will break it down as best I can. The Tax simply indicates how much better we have to be than white people to just draw even. Black people have to exceed ridiculous expectations, work at least twice as hard, earn at least twice as much, and reach the summits of their chosen professions just to be able to live next door to a dentist...

In Chris' words.

At the 3:05 mark Chris begins to break it down to the lowest common denominator. I love him for his honesty because I couldn't agree more.