We have a problem in society and on Steemit: Blacklisting and Whitewhashing . Controversy ahead.

My Hiphop crew, Locution Revolution, organize a monthly open mic night at a local arts coffeehouse. This month we are planning a "Black History Showcase." Between me and Khiry (another member of the crew), we go back and forth and dissect many complex issues. The most complex one that we have been chewing on for years: Is race.

In our planning of the events, Khiry said "I am going to bring books from Black authors to be on display at this show. I got Alex Haley, Marcus Garvey, a whole bunch of Emcee's books, Common, KRS-One, Wyclef, I'll even bring Bill Cosby's book," He paused a bit after mentioning Bill Cosby and concluded his list with an "...I don't care."

I heard his hesitation and reservation to bring up Bill Cosby and I understand why. I stopped him. "We have a problem in this society. When someone does something wrong, the rest of their life is stricken from the record and that is a powerful weapon to silence people. It also puts you in the line of fire if you associate yourself with that person, it is not right and Bill Cosby's book should be there if you are putting books authored by black people on display."

I don't want this post to be about Bill Cosby. This is not about mistrials, innocence or guilt or gossip. If someone has been raped, that is a tragedy and for that I am sorry. I cannot imagine how hard it is to be a survivor of such an injustice and I can only try to empathize with you. I intend to go into the uncomfortable place after someone is convicted, or not convicted, of rape. I want to bring up a couple more examples that will make you equally uncomfortable. This post is meant to examine how society deals with cases such as Bill Cosby's.

If Bill Cosby did something bad, does that take away from all of the good that he has done? If Bill Cosby raped someone, did Fat Albert or The Cosby Show not exist? Should we burn every copy of "Fatherhood"? Did he not make millions of people laugh for decades?

This is an exploration into a complex issue that is forefront right now and what I see as the dominant trend in our society, which is is to "blacklist." Michael Jackson was blacklisted for many years, until he died, and since his death he has regained his thrown as the "King of Pop."

Michael Jackson was never convicted for any wrong doing, and most people close to him speak very strongly of his innocence. He seemed to be the victim of a very successful smear campaign. He was "Blacklisted." After his death, it seems, the order was lifted.

Afrika Bambaataa, Zulu Nation founder and one of the founding fathers of Hip Hop Kulture, was accused of molestation. Many young men came out with allegations against him. These allegations were very serious for the Hip Hop world as Bambaataa was and is one of the highest ranking elders in the culture. He was blacklisted and Hip Hop Kulture was ripped in two.

On one hand you have to be sympathetic to the potential victims. If someone has been mistreated and had to live with that shame for years in silence, that is a tragedy. We also have to consider that people who have found themselves in positions of power (Cosby, Jackson, Bambaataa) are subject to the rule of holding power. This rule is very simple. If you have power, people are going to try to take it from you. You also need to think about another rule of power in the USA, which is, if you are of African descent in power, there are many white people in power that want ALL of your power. It is not hard to come up with allegations to strip them of their power. It is a delicate situation to navigate. Sexual misconduct should never be defended, but that black and white statement makes it difficult to inquire "IF" it happened.

There are two things that all 3 of these examples have in common. 1) Blackness and 2) Power / Influence. This does not seem to be a coincidence. Three black men at the peak of their careers and in positions of power that all of a sudden their train de-rails. Dave Chapelle said it very well in his "Bird Revelation" that all of his heroes were either "murdered by the government or registered sex offenders." All joking aside, it seems like there is a theme here. There is more than one way to silence someone. You can physically take their life away, but you can also take away their influence. Once you have been convicted, or even accused of these crimes, people want nothing to do with them. They need to stay away from their own safety. These people have been blacklisted. If you are associated with them, you will be blacklisted to.

This type of behaviour can be found right here on Steemit too. Take a look at the case like @trevonjb. I am not defending his actions, only observing how the "community" at large handled him. He was convicted by the Steem community at large as a "scammer" and then anyone associating with the known "scammer" would be flagged and go down with him.

It is not my intention to fight for or against @trevonjb but merely show the current programming of the "masses." When someone is blacklisted, there are consequences not just for them, but for everyone and it is safest if you just forget they ever existed.

Ironically enough, this essentially "whitewashes" the history books. Bill Cosby's work is no longer valid or relevant in society. I am not sure if you can purchase The Cosby show anywhere, but I do have my doubts (unless you score second hand). KRS-One was seriously slandered for standing up for Bambaataa and had to release a statement after articles headlined "KRS-One Doesn't Care if Afrika Bambaataa Molested Kids" was published. Afrika Bambaataa and his contributions to Hip Hop are massive, but could be a minor footnote in the future as he has been "blacklisted." Michael Jackson went through it for years and was constantly being negatively portrayed in the media and it was not until his death when he was again, celebrated as one of the best.

Where do we draw the line? What crimes constitute blacklisting? Who does this and do we have any control over this process?

These are also very important questions. If we draw the line at adultery, Martin Luther King would have been blacklisted. Would the "I have a dream" speech have been "whitewashed" from the history books? Bob Marley, Sam Cooke, Muhammad Ali. The list goes on. Think about what we would be missing out on. If this practice has been going on longer, and if we drew the line differently, we could be living in a world without "Redemption Song," "A Change is Gonna Come," or "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."

Another serious question is who does the blacklisting? It appears that people in positions of power are the only ones that blacklist and the "masses" merely have to accept that fact, or are victims of media hypnosis and know no better. Once the media (or the Steem whales) have decided that someone has been blacklisted, the average citizen has minimal power to do anything about it. KRS-One was set to sink with Bambaataa until he changed his key. Protesters stand outside Bill Cosby concerts and make you pay extra to get inside. People thought you were way off if you liked Michael Jackson in the period of his blacklisting, you would be socially ostracized.

On Steemit, it is a very effective example of how blacklisting works. People in power lay down the law, and the people must obey or face the consequences. A whale or two lays down the law and will enforce it. Comment on @trevonjb's posts and lose your rep and mark yourself a target to have a miserable existence on this platform. People heard the shot fired loud and clear and had no choice. If you don't have any Steem power, you have no power to overturn a verdict.

This is how it works in the "mainstream" too. Once the word is out, we know how things are going to work from here on.

The problem is very simple. A person can be ruined without doing anything wrong. There doesn't need to be a trial and the result of the trial is irrelevant. Once the blacklisting has happened, the career is over. Forget such things as "a fair trial" or second chances, forgiveness or reconciliation. The puppeteer of the mob has pulled the strings and nothing more needs to happen.

In writing this, I am putting myself in a position to be tarred and feathered, and I know it. If I am, my point has been proven loud and clear (but nobody will know it because I will have been blacklisted and I will, effectively, no longer exist). If I am not, and I hope that is the case, there is hope for us yet... for I am not writing this to justify sexual assault or promoting ponzi schemes or any of that. I am merely pointing out a problem with how we handle problems. I am writing this out of love and respect for humanity and want to find a higher place to handle hard situations. Complex situations need more than a powerful person to make a call. This is how Christ was crucified. The power slandered his name and the masses followed the order. Let's not repeat the mistakes made 2000 years ago.

I will leave you with KRS-One's response to the article claiming he did not care about boys being molested.

“Instead of using one’s mind and time to gossip about Afrika Bambaataa, I think we should look closely at what it means to hate. There is no forgiveness, justice or healing on any level when hate is involved. Hate is also a federal crime, as well as a spiritual disease. There is no victory with hate, and hate is what is leading the charge against Afrika Bambaataa; not justice or even healing or reconciliation. Only love conquers all! And within the character of love is forgiveness, and healing, and loyalty; this is what is needed at this time. Hate reveals itself for what it really is—evil! It cannot see clearly so it exposes itself at every turn, and those that truly love can see it. Hate is indeed self-destructive, and this is what real Hip Hop must avoid at all cost. Only love sees clearly. Only love is consistent because only love is UNCONDITIONAL. Love shows us THE FULL LIFE OF THE ACCUSED; not just the accusations brought against the accused.

We are falling victim to a de-evolution at the moment. People in positions of power are now the judge, jury and executioner and the masses either follow like sheep, unknowing, or have to go along with the order for lack of power to do anything about it.

If Jesus Christ were alive and writing on Steemit, and a whale took contention to it. He could be flagged, silenced and finished without anyone knowing he wrote anything. Many have been judged and executed by one man with more Steem power. That is what could be happening with these examples above, their innocence and guilt is irrelevant as their trial by social media has already effectively destroyed them.

Please note that these men could be guilty and my article is not meant to defend them as individuals, but to use their case to illustrate my point about how things are handled in the "modern" age. We have come a long way forward when it comes to "breaking the silence" and that should be celebrated. People are coming forward and breaking out of shame cycles to heal their lives and seek justice. This is good. Justice is good. There is an injustice, however, in the mob mentality, and powerful puppeteers can capitalize on this to effectively ruin a person at will.

We need to look at things with love. Love seeks to forgive, educate, seek justice, heal and reconcile. These campaigns are merely gag-order power grabs rooted far away from love. The people in power orchestrating these campaigns are the ones who benefit. We need to look at the crime and be sensitive to potential victims but we are quick to jump to the guilty verdict and that is not right.

Blacklisting and whitewashing form a distorted type of justice and we lose a piece of our history and ourselves by allowing this program to remain dominant. Guilty or not, The Cosby Show was great.

Please let me know your thoughts as this is meant to be a conversation starter, not gospel truth.