The Hatin' that Hatin' Produced

What hits you faster than the 'itis at Thanksgiving?

The only thing powerful enough to start and end a relationship, subtle enough that if you get called out on it, you can deny it as something else that was on your mind.

It is in the roll of the eyes, the clicking of teeth, the distinct curl of the lip. Whenever we see somebody with something or somebody that we feel they have no business with, it rears its head.

Hatin'.

The most important thing to remember about hatin' is that it is not executed with an accurate breadth of knowledge of familiarity on the part of the hater. It usually spawned out of contempt through the "you have, I have not even though I should so f*ck you," theory. Typically, we don't know how that dude pulled that type of girl, or why that chick thinks she is so hot in that outfit, but we can accurately measure their level of inadequacy in a heartbeat.

There are several benefits to hatin' on someone. It can automatically make your day much better, and someone else's much worse, depending on the degree of hatin' one is capable of exhibiting. It's always good for a laugh among friends, and a favorite pastime at most clubs across America. Unfortunately, there are many aspects to hatin' that encompass more of humanity than your basic grilling of another individual in the street or on the dancefloor.

Hatin' occurs for any and all reasons, and comes in a variety of names. Hatin' is the watered down version of a lot of other terms we are all familiar with. Words like racism, sexism, and war. Rights have been abridged, opportunities and lives have been lost because of hatin'.

What's sad is that we don't even know what real hatin' is all about. We are willing to overlook chances of improving ourselves and our communities because we are so quick to classify someone as hatin' on us. You know the lyrics:

"I don't know why my boss keeps hatin', its not like I'm late every day."

"Stop hatin', playa. What my girl don't know won't hurt her."

"Girl, you just hatin'. If he didn't want me to spend his money, he wouldn't give it to me."

"You just hatin' cause' I'm fly. Mohawks are back in style, dog."

"Affirmative Action is a hindrance to what Dr. King's dream is all about, and that's racial equality."

See the difference?

The hatin' we put out on each other is a watered down version of what shackled America late into the 20th century and still mentally entraps its citizens today. We are a nation that has been born and raised to discredit, distrust, disown and dislike each other for no other reason than our differences.

Particularly in our communities, we berate and separate from each other on the notion of who has and who doesn't. The same principals of making and breaking slaves are in effect today, living and breathing under the guise of slang and culture.

The next time we look at someone else and what they have, we should take the time to remember how those in power look at the average citizen to see what they can take away. Being truly content is realizing the things that we don't need, and not the pursuit of the same.

Because the real victims of hatin' lived through Hurricane Katrina.

The real victims of hatin' are in the United States military.

The real victims of hatin' are the unjustly incarcerated.

Or, it could just be the runners-up in Dave Chappelle's "Playa Hatas' Ball."