Shelton Bojangles (or Sambo Benjamin) and The Damage One Stupid Negro Can Do

 

Shelton Benjamin. Photo Source: pwmania.com.

In the movie, A Soldier’s Story, Sgt. Waters asked about the damage one ignorant negro can do, but what I saw and heard in this clip wasn’t ignorance, it was straight up stupidity, hence the reference to the title of this post. Although this clip was from two years ago, I didn’t come across it until three days ago, and what I heard was disturbing, to say the least.

People often use the word “disrespect" out of context nowadays. Having a difference of opinion of someone’s talent or ability, regardless of their status is not disrespectful. What I saw in this clip, that was disrespectful--very disrespectful.

I’m not sure what the event was or what it was about, but during this event, Shelton Benjamin recalled an incident where he went out to eat with Zilla Fatu’s father, who was known by his ring name, Umaga, and as they’re getting out of the vehicle, according to Benjamin, a then-six-year-old Zilla Fatu, when no one was around, looks left, then right, looks Benjamin dead in his face, and calls him a “Black nigger.” What’s worse about this is Shelton and his colleague, who goes by the ring name MVP, when recalling the story, thought this was funny.

Before I go further, I know some people are going to hide behind the fact that Zilla was six when he said this--personally, I think Shelton should’ve kicked him in his coconut balls--but if he was that disrespectful at age six, he’s probably even worse today. Also, I know that wasn’t something he learned on his own, that was a taught behavior, but the fact that he waited ‘til no one was around to go there tells me he knew what he was doing even at that age.

What was said was bad enough, but my biggest problem is with Shelton Benjamin, MVP, and anybody on that stage who was thought that was funny, but I’m referring to them specifically because we have a hard time, especially “Black” men, getting respect as it is, and with a lot of “Black” people tolerating disrespect, it enables disrespectful motherfuckers like, say, Fat Joe--who would probably lose his shit if someone used the term “spic” around him, but is justifying using the word “nigger”--to do and say disrespectful shit. In MVP's case, this is the same man who had all of this heat for Triple H and John Laurinaitis, but didn't seem to have a problem with what Fatu said.

Aside from tolerating the disrespect, we don’t make people answer for it. It doesn’t always have to be violent, although I’m beginning to see more and more that slapping the shit out of people might be a necessary evil sometimes. Take the Jews, for example. Now, I think they get out of hand with their responses sometimes, by that I mean they can’t just agree to disagree with some things, you have to be “punished” and suffer dire consequences for your statements--I don’t mean anything extreme, I’m talking about the slightest thing. However, I credit them for making sure that respect is established, and we can learn from that. This doesn't excuse or justify anyone's egregious behavior at all, but at the same time, how can you expect others to respect you when you don't respect yourself?

Some of the things that people say and do regarding “Black” people, they wouldn’t dare say regarding other races. For example, they have all the confidence in the world to openly talk shit about slavery, saying that it’s overblown, and “Blacks” need to get over it, but don’t have that same energy about the Holocaust--not openly, anyway--and we need to start making people answer for this, whether it’s other races/ethnicities or the sell-outs among us. I lost all respect for Shelton Benjamin and MVP after seeing that atrocity.