DEMARIO BOONE

When Crabs are pulled from the ocean and thrown together in a barrel, the crabs will pull down any other crab that tries to get out before them. This is how the term “Crabs in a barrel” came to be. In theory, “If I can’t have it, neither can you.”

From my Life in South Peoria until the age of 18, and now at the age of 40 in North Peoria, I have seen a lot of this mentality in where I live and in the career I’m in. It becomes extremely detrimental to progress, especially in the Black community. Sadly, in most cases, we don’t even know we are doing it. It seems to be knee-jerk behavior. We have systemically created enough to keep us second-class citizens. We should be mindful that we too can be our own worst enemy when trying to escape the barrel.

Growing up in South Peoria, we were around a lot of families with the same income and race. As a child, class and social status never really occurred to me. My grandparents were pretty well known in the city, and in my naivety, I thought everyone who looked like me held them in high esteem also. I would understand any hate from others because of how outspoken they were and their stance on racial issues. But to grow and learn the hate they got from some within our own ranks surprised me. We as African Americans are already put in boxes and categories from others, but then we dice each other up in subcategories to limit or pull the other down our own efforts to rise or stand out. This is just as big of a threat to our communities as the systemic racism we fight against. At 40 and considered a “community leader” (not a fan of the term) by some, I’ve witnessed this now more than ever.

I’ve seen how someone living in in South Peoria, can be looked down upon by African Americans in their own community when they get ahead. A new job, car, home, etc. can all be used as a target by peers who don’t have it. When those same residents decide to relocate and/or are becoming more economically empowered, they are met with the “sellout” mentality. That they “forgot where they came from,” that they became “boujee,” or they are somehow an “other” due to their economic and geographic changes. It’s like success has to be a double-edge sword in our community and anyone can be torn down due to it — by our own.

This not only hits us in our economics, but the ever-present social status. When one of us is on the news for an idea, create a community program, success in a business, win an elected position, have a title, become a mover and shaker that people swear by, etc., we pick each other apart. The people not so out there will tear down the ones who are. The ones who are out there, tear down the ones who aren’t. If I have a community program, it must be in competition with another (when combining them is a solution). When I get in a position of power, I may look down on those (who look like me) who have no power. Or I try to use my power the right way to give back, only to be met with suspect eyes because that power is wrapped in black. Should we even start on the “light skin vs. dark skin” issue? How much powerfully farther would Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X have gone if they had not had their earlier differences and stood together?

When a certain group of us in positions of power and authority gather around, we even look for ways to have a hierarchy in that group. We exclude some with backdoor meetings, blocking them from opportunities to also shine. We block young, up-and-coming black faces due to their age or new ideas, all while using the weight of our black excellence to weigh down other black faces from getting equal to, or better than us.

It is a vicious cycle that keeps us all in that same barrel without much progress. We need to recognize that the more pulling down instead of lifting up we do, the longer we are in that barrel, limiting us as a whole. When we stop looking down on each other because of these titles, locations, statuses, etc., the better off we will be. This was indeed one of the factors in why slavery lasted so long. Tactics used to keep our ancestors in bondage were ignorance (us not sharing information that could help us all out), class and division (house slave vs. field slave) and fear (punishing those who chose to stand up because they did so divided).

If you want any idea on how powerful we could be if we didn’t judge one another and rose together instead of divided by our own “hates” for one another, read about The Nat Turner Rebellion. A 31-year-old (young up and coming leader), 5-foot-7, 155-pound, tactically untrained, slave stood up. He learned to read (technically rising in class), communicated plans to a small group of trusted slaves from his neighborhood (sharing information without revealing the plot), leading to one of the biggest slave rebellions in the United States — lasting four days. Sadly, I’d say by today’s crab in a barrel standard, Nat Turner would have a harder time becoming that hero he became.

Hopefully, we wake up and realize that when we speak of this “crabs in a barrel” mentality, we don’t conveniently forget that crabs were never created to be in a barrel. Nor is it a crab’s natural habitat. We focus on who created the barrel, why and how do we get out together. This can’t happen with a house divided.

Demario Boone is Director of Peoria Public Schools Safety.