What Exaclty Is A "COON"?

Here's a bit of true history on the subject of the "coon":

COON - A contemptuous person of color who makes disparaging remarks against their own ethnic group on behalf of those who are against them, and who also goes out of their way to purposely try appeasing the same group by their behavior in the most direct contrast possible to those they are culturally related to. In other words, they make arguments for and take the side of those in charge of the system of oppression against their own people. Every news channel and media outlet has their own team of "coons" at their dispose, and some make a living off of what is called "coonin".

The coon really had no identity beyond that they were given by their masters if they were slaves, and if they were free it was their "boss". They were often caricatured as dark black with overly big lips, talked with broken vernacular, smiled real big, were known to sing & dance to please others or even humiliate themselves for humor's sake like a court jester, and were often represented by white actors in "blackface" makeup to portray Black People as ignorant, stupid, and servile to white folks. The "coon" was seen as a "sellout" and a traitor to their own people in preference of their "boss". 

The term "coon" was a slander taken from the word "baracoon" which was a hut, barracks, or cage like structure where captured Africans were confined while waiting to be sent to America as slaves. Because they did not know their final destination or purpose for the horror it actually was and believed it to be something else similar to the slavery they knew of in Africa where they were often well treated servants, many of them appeared often eager with happy anticipation about their unknown destination. It depicts a captive person happy about their enslavement and ignorance of it. Most folks using the term don't know what it means or where it comes from. Many wrongly assume it comes from the word "Raccoon" which has no connection to its origin at all.

"Coons" are known for echoing classic arguments such as "Black on Black" crime, fatherlessness in Black families, high crime rate in Black neighborhoods, high incarceration rates among Black males, and other such arguments meant to disarm and deflect from legitimate complaints or discussions against injustice done to Black people while completely ignoring or excusing the systemic policies of white supremacy and the embellished numbers that are often untrue which attempt to demonize Black people and divide them amongst themselves to insure they stay in a subservient state.

Black people seem to most often use the terms "coon" or "coonin" by slinging them around irresponsibly and in ignorance at any Black person that disagrees with them or makes an argument in opposition to their point. This prevents healthy discussion and debate, undermines working towards collective solutions, and disrupts unity by being needlessly offensive and divisive. This type of behavior in itself is a form of "coonin in reverse"  similar to reverse psychology by serving the purpose of a racial supremacy agenda against Black folks in helping to discredit and tear other Black people down without just cause, but by the deception of being more conscious in the cause of promoting "Black Power".

There are genuine coons and cooning behavior that should be identified when appropriate. When a person is "coonin" they should be called out on it, but it should never be done carelessly just to try and label someone who has a different perspective on an issue, or that one doesn't like. That is the same self destructive and self righteous behavior often shown by the coon but from the opposite side. You cannot truly stand for or promote "Black Power" if you spend more time fighting against other Black people and calling them "coons" or trying to discredit their differences of religion or political affiliation counterproductive to "Black Unity" and love. Doing so makes YOU a coon, and that is not "Black Power" but your own "Black Ignorance". You cannot win them if you always try to offend them.  ~ I.J. West 

NOTE: Attached above is a picture of one of four of the former "Coon Chicken Inn" restaurants founded by Maxon Lester Graham and Adelaide Burt in 1925, which prospered until the late 1950s. They used a smiling blackface caricature of an African-American porter made to look like a "coon" on the entrances of the restaurant, menus, dishes, and promotional items.