ARCHIVE: 4/14/2008 - REAL TALK WITH TRIP: BLACK AMERICA & THE "CRAB COMPLEX"..

THE INTRO
"The attitude of many black customers toward black business is negative in various manners. Many of us are familiar with the crab complex or crab attitude: this expression originated from the nature of the crabs in a barrel..."
(An expert from "The Valley of Dry Bones" by Dr. Rudolpf Windsor)

Ok, think about it for a minute. Crabs in a barrel.

This is what happens..when crab #1 (negro) tries to make an attempt to get out of the barrel (gutter, hood, block, etc.), the other crabs quickly pull crab #1 back into the barrel. The trying to escape from the barrel is the game and we are all trapped in the game. I'm going to try and shed some light on this complex so that you can make sure that you are not guilty of being a crab.

THE CRAB COMPLEX
This phenomena is any negative, unhelpful behavior in which a particular race (crabs, negros, jews, etc) work against each other in order to reach a common good. It shows itself in many forms such as jealously, coveting, lying, pure and unadulterated hate, etc. It's even more wicked because all of the crabs have hopes of getting out of the barrel and into the "good life". They all have common issues and problems that keep them down in that barrel so why would they try to keep the next crab from "freedom" you ask?

The easy answer would be to say "Mane, niggas don't want to see other niggas do good and that's just that"

That's true but it runs much deeper than just a person's simple dislike of another person. This complex is something that has been manifested in us from the minute our people got on those ships. You imagine being chained up, seperated from your family, placed on a boat and shipped to a foreign land. That's when the game (realization of one's life) starts and it becomes every (wo)man for themselves. So after hundreds of years of being molded into selfish, greedy people it has gotten to us.

The things we value now are obviously different than the things our ancestors valued. We think somebody is doing good if they got a set of rims, a big house, chains, etc. Our ancestors were happy to have well nourished diet and a clean living area. Crab existed then. For example, you had the slaves who would tell on the other slaves who were trying to escape. This all eventually lead to the Underground Railroad and through communication, the other crabs realized, well let's get with them and be free instead of hindering the progress. The thing is, if you see your friend or family with something, you need to realize that most of us have to work for everything that we do have and if we do have anything, it's not that much. So instead of downing them and hoping they lose it, uplift them that they get more and hopefully if they are true and real (trill), they will give you the chance to get on with them and prosper.

See, the thing is, that we can't fail with this because if they are building then they add you and you build then we all prosper as a culture. Black America will prosper because there will be more job opportunities, less crime, healthier, more well-off families.

THE BREAKDOWN
This is how it's supposed to go:

Individual #1 (has something) -> Individual #2 (has nothing but is going to get it with #1) -> Family -> Extended Family -> Friends -> Associates & networking partners -> BLACK AMERICA = OUR RIGHTFUL PLACE IN SOCIETY

But with the crab complex it goes:

Individual #1 -> Individual #2...they can't get along so it never goes any further than that.

THE RESOLUTION
So, I know many of you at this point are saying, "Yeah, well, dat nigga so and so is a fuckin crab mane".

Great! We found the crab, now what do we do about it?

We don't chastise him, throw stones, or commit an act of violence. We communicate (there it goes again) with that person as a group and try to build them up to a level of understanding (letting him/her obtain the information I just gave you).

See, I hope that you can see this is not a piece that is trying to down crabs because we all know a crab or have been guilty of being a crab. This is to let you know where it came from, how it is applied and what we can do about it.


Disclaimer: We (including myself) are all guilty of the things that I speak about. The solution lies in breaking ourselves from this disease and bettering each other as whole and then the rest of society. I'm not a preacher or nothing, I just seek knowledge and it would be wrong of me to not disclose this knowledge to you all. I hope you enjoyed.