Why "The People" Won't Let R. Kelly Off So Easily

Why "The People" Won't Let R. Kelly Off So Easily 

Recently, R. Kelly was interviewed by HuffPost Live host Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani as part of his promotion for his latest album, "The Buffet". This happens to be R. Kelly's 13th studio release. During the interview, R. Kelly thought that he would only be asked questions about the album, and that this would be a glossed over interview where none of the tough questions would be asked. To say the least, R. Kelly was unpleasantly surprised. Kelly was so miffed about the questions being asked, that he even walked off set, exclaiming that the "interview is over"! Modarressy-Tehrani played no games with Kelly, asking him questions about his latest release, but also making sure to ask Kelly about the allegations of sexual assault/abuse of young (black) girls, questions he has tap danced and pranced around, but have dogged him, for years, including his marriage in 1994 to R&B princess Aaliyah.

I started to not even touch on this topic, but then I read a blog comment regarding R. Kelly walking out of this interview, which Kelly himself likened to a deposition. The comment, summed up, said "Don't just blame R. Kelly because those wenches knew what they were doing". *Sighhhhhhh* *Sighhhhhhhh again* So, we're really still here, people? Really? And it wasn't just that one comment. It should surprise me how many people share that same "victim-blaming" mentality, but sadly, it doesn't. We live in a day and age where a rape or beating is more likely to be recorded and posted to social media, than to be stopped or police called. What hurts me, though, is how Black people, my people, have normalized this type of sexual predatory behavior in our Black communities. To have men sexualize our young daughters, to take advantage of their young impressionable minds, have almost become a cultural norm in the Black community, and our answer, when called on it, is that "it's been going on for years". May be, but that still doesn't make it right. Just because your granddaddy married a fifteen year old when he was 62 and it was accepted, sho' don't make it right.

Take this into consideration. If R. Kelly were a white man, preying on young, black teenage girls, would we still be taking up for him? Would we still be justifying his actions, blaming the victims as having somehow asked for their own victimization? Kelly has not been accused once. He has been accused of sexual assault dozens of times by young women, mainly through lawsuits. If Kelly was white, despite his success as an artist, we would have been yelling "sick bastard!" and we wouldn't have been satisfied until he were punished for his deviant behavior. How do we make this the victims' fault? How many of us young men and women have done things in our youth that we regret, some of things life-altering events? As a teenage girl growing up idolizing one of the biggest R&B stars of our time, do we really think that it was hard for Kelly to coerce young women into sleeping with him? He is R. Kelly, right? But here's the thing, just because they acquiesced to his wishes, does not make them responsible.  That's why there are such laws as statutory rape laws.  These laws understand that minors are not known for making responsible decisions, and that ordinarily, they are immature and do not have the same sensibilities as adults.  As adults, we should know better.  R. Kelly should know better. I remember when I was a kid, and my sister asked me if I wanted a jheri curl like Michael Jackson. I was like "yeah!" I mean, who didn't want to be like Mike? When she cut my hair, and my mother found out, she was incensed! My shoulder length hair was now no longer than 2 inches long! Was I responsible for my sister's decision? No, because I was a child, and I acted, and thought, as a child would. My sister, as an adult, should have known better. See how that works?

We are in a social media driven age, and "The People" want answers.  A jury may have found him innocent in a court of law, but that does not mean that he is not guilty of deviant behavior with underaged girls! I saw the tape!  Because they are black girls, does not mean that we should not hold him accountable as if he were, say white. I hate it, but I guess R. Kelly's career can be summed up in this tweet:

I'm just saying...

#WeGottaTalk
 Follow @blufenix75