Another excerpt:
I’ve written about this before, and so I want to be very precise with my words. For far too many modern black athletes, “keepin’ it real” has become the dangerous anthem that is threatening to destroy all the good that the previous generation of black athletes helped create.
“‘Keepin’ it real’ is one of the most dangerous phrases in our language,” St. Louis Rams Pro Bowl running back Steven Jackson says. “It puts us in situations we have no business being in, then makes it almost impossible to get out of.”
So the phrase means what? “To hell with everyone else, I’m gonna do what I want to do.” Is that it?
It would seem that the history of slavery would make black men think about chains and forced actions with a different perspective i.e. I didn’t like it for my race and I wouldn’t want it on this planet in any form.