As we know, Russell Simmons announced he will be stepping down from his many companies because of recent rape allegations. This is coming out during the wake of so many other rape and sexual assault allegations taking place in Hollywood and the media industry in general.

Some are a part of the Black community and some not so much. With accusations against so many prominent people in the public eye, it’s almost like everyday there’s a new story.

Whilst in the middle of all of this controversy, it really has me thinking how much this has a direct impact on the Black community. More importantly, the type of impact it has. For one thing, these stories are being plastered all over the media for young Black girls and women to see alike.

I just imagine myself as a little girl waking up one morning reading about how men, specifically Black men, are raping our Black women. That could have a serious impact on how a young Black women growing up in today’s society views Black men. Social media definitely doesn’t help with it’s preconceived negative stereotypes of how Black men mistreat Black women, so when you add allegations such as these on top of that, it almost becomes too much to even fathom.

As a race, Black people need to be that much better than our white counterparts and that is just the honest truth. It’s not a secret that we still live in a very unequal social, economic, and political climate despite all these years after the Civil Rights Movement.

A Black man being accused of rape holds many more negative implications than a white man being accused. I mean, just take a look at Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein for example. I haven’t heard of anyone trying to convict Weinstein on any rape charges lately, yet people tune in whenever updates become available about Cosby’s freedom or possible lack there of.

To help combat some of this negative energy being directed towards the Black community, we need to really start holding ourselves and each other accountable. I know there is only so much we can do and it can’t happen with just one person, but even the little things add up and if we work at it hard enough it can begin to make a difference.