Tyrese has shared his thoughts on the values he believes are currently missing or diminishing in the larger Black community.
On Thursday (February 1), the first day of Black History Month, the actor and singer shared a clip from 2019 of a California man named Alfredo Valencia getting emotional upon learning that his children bought him a new truck for his birthday.
“Sometimes I wish I was born Latino,” the 45-year-old captioned the post. “I mean the Latin community is grounded in family, loyal, entrepreneurs, businessman, and women literally represent the dream, the grind the hustle doing whatever it takes to stick together against all odds.
“If us [as] black culture was more grounded in these integral magical nuances of us we would be dominant….”
The Fast & Furious star then proceeded to praise the Jewish community for “sticking together” (a sentiment that the ADL lists as a “traditional anti-Jewish trope”). He also complemented Muslims in the Middle East for valuing fathers and positioning men as “the head of the household,” contrasting it with what he considers a decline in his own community.
He continued: “I have no idea how we lost our way.. We can’t get anything done and accomplished, as a fragmented culture…. insecure, threatened by each other … Competitive towards our own race, killing ourselves every single day frivolously the majority of us is black men and the millions are locked up in prison.
“Of course we ARE we are beyond powerful, influential and successful, but imagine if we all linked up like other communities have linked? Poured and built up on each other Instead of moving like fragmented and dysfunctional…. We have what it TAKES to take over the WORLD!!! We are nothing trying to do it ALONE!! Please chime in…. Would love to know your thoughts on this….”
The comments section of the Instagram post is flooded was criticism, with many calling out the California native for hypocrisy and a one-dimensional characterization of Black culture.
“How about Black adult men start mentoring young Black men properly? Don’t you think that is a good place to start?” one person wrote, while another added: “Aye my boy, not all black families are messed up! Some of us come from homes that had both parents and parents that showed us what we were supposed to do in life.”
One social media user even got personal and replied: “Dude, didn’t you create TWO broken homes, talking about you wish you were Latino because they value family. Do YOU value family?”
This refers to the TGT star’s split from ex-wife Samantha Lee, who he claims only married him for his money, as well as his 2009 divorce from first wife Norma Gibson. Tyrese has one daughter with each woman.
During a Joe Budden Podcast appearance last year, Tyrese elaborated on his dramatic split with Lee and the ensuing court orders that he insists are unreasonable — one of which includes him being ordered to pay $20,000 a month in child support for their five-year-old daughter.
“We never spent $20,000 on my daughter when we were together, and I had the money,” he said. “Like, who spends that kind of money on a kid? [My daughter] was one when [Samantha] took my baby from me.
“We never spent $20,000 a month on our child and the credit card was wide open, so what the fuck do you suddenly need that kind of money for?”
In a lengthy caption attached to a social media repost of the video, he went into detail about how he’s made several attempts at pushing back against the legal proceedings that he is convinced have been biased against him thus far.
black folks don’t want to face the truth. as soon as somebody stands up and says – why don’t we support our own? why are we looking for the smallest problem to tear our own down? why are we always disowning our brothers and sons and cousins for having a job and not being in prison? they want to say he’s the issue. look at the scum and trash black people support in rap just because zaddy gave the a-ok. can’t support their talented bro down the block though
You literally can be black and Latino you big dummy lol
This conversation can be broken down into the most simplest terms which is: You have good apples and you have bad apples with every race. If the media is only covering the ignorant ones and putting a mic in their faces, it will sway your opinion on a certain race. I have black family members who have high positions at Disney, IBM and the Dodger organization. I also have family members who glorify the gang banging lifestyle who believe in doing nothing besides causing chaos in this world. So again, everyone is different. Good apples and bad apples everywhere.
that’s bullshit. Tyrese said what he said. NOT THE FUCKFACE BS YOU REP. It’s not all what you say. not even close. black folks got to level up or perish out here tomorrow. you are a clown with your it’s nobody fault bs. they are programming failure in our communities and it’s no joke
There’s nothing wrong with wishing you were born something else. I wish I was born a girl. That’s why I wear my mom’s panties after she leaves for work. You just have to be creative. 🙂
Dark ninjas are weird. You hate being one failed race and want to be another failed race lmao
the only failed race is human
Let’s just keep talking crap about ourselves. I’m sure that’ll solve our problem eventually.
Someone needs to say it. These trap, stripper, ghetto negroes are bringing us all down and they should be shunned not protecting. It needs to be said again and again and again until it sinks in.
Tyrese is right. Special Ed is right. Ralph Ellison was right. Martin and Malcom are turning over in their graves at all the thuggery and wretchedness. I don’t wish I was White because on a global scale they are the worst. But I damn sure don’t have any illusions about my Black folks here or abroad. On a day to day basis, far too many of us just ain’t sh-t, and need to start using birth control and taking parenting classes.
“You try keeping it real. But you should try keeping it right.” – Posdnous. When Black folks as a whole have the courage to be true to themselves and the sacrifices of our ancestors, instead of repping “the hood” and playing victim, repping the Black Community well will take care of itself.
Black people in America loss their way because they wanted to integrate. Worse decision by the community.
Black people in America loss their way because they wanted to integrate. Worse decision by the community.
Integration ruined the black community.
Is this Jody? The Jody that got my boo pregnant and can’t take care of his responsibilities as a muthaf*ckin’ man? Livin’ at yo’ mamma house? Walking around the streets like a little ass boy? N*gga, you’s a B*TCH!!!
*Running
Here’s tyrese saying black folks need to take responsibilty on themselves. here you are quoting a fucking stupid hollywood movie supposedly based on the work of the brilliant and esteemed genius of all time dr frances cress welsing
when it was just a small amount of black folks heavily influenced by Jamaican deejay culture and also NYC hipster artiste ambition hip hop was the most amazing thing on earth and that it all we wanted you to understand. Rakim told me I had to build from that inspiration and ambition that was his gift to me and he wished it could have been more but it was all he had
when it was just a small amount of black folks heavily influenced by Jamaican deejay culture and also NYC hipster artiste ambition hip hop was the most amazing thing on earth and that was all we wanted you to understand. Rakim told me I had to build from that inspiration and ambition that was his gift to me and he wished it could have been more but it was all he had
this site fucks up simple sentences so I posted several times hoping the heathen wouldn’t twist it
Only black Americans find this problem to be a brain buster challenge every other race is grounded lmaoo black Americans struggle w the easiest concepts under the sun it’s hard to watch sometimes
He got a point. There is a section of the black community where the morals seem non existent. We had more class in the 30s..40s..50s etc. We promote the wrong things. It’s not so much the race but the culture. We can never succeed going down this path. Blaming everything on white people ain’t cutting it anymore. We seem too scared to hold each other accountable.
Maybe we should try something different. Maybe rather than us making being black, Latino, white, etc. the centerpiece of who we are, maybe we should connect to Allah (God) and His last messenger. It works. Basing your whole identity on your color and culture is not a strong enough value to build on. Just a thought.
Black people in Africa and the Caribbean have strong family relationships and are very spiritual. My mom used to tell me when she sees black folks acting up: :the white man got us acting like that.” Ever since the white man rewards black folks who turn against other black folks, we have been disunited since then.