Why Are Folks Mad About A Pic of Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler?

The fragility of Black masculinity and homophobia are just way too real folks. And a recent Vanity Fair article honoring our Baes Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler, has it sadly rearing its ugly head.

See, like Robert DeNiro to Martin Scorsese, Jordan and Coogler are muses for one another, having worked together on two feature films Creed and 2014’s Fruitvale Station. That bond and kinship between them is strong, like brothers. And while that may have been what the photographer was trying to capture, none of that mattered because too many folks got caught in their feelings about this image:

According to Mic, social media went amuck accusing VF of trying to “emasculate Black men” and “promote homosexuality.” One commenter on blogger Love B. Scott Facebook’s page went as far as to accuse the two of being on the Down-Low, saying, “No self-respecting heterosexual males pose like this naturally.”. 

Boy bye. Instead let us ponder the following:

https://twitter.com/isitis/status/707022708417175552

https://twitter.com/SonofBaldwin/status/706491711225200640

Even if you think the image is awkward, what about this makes it seem like Coogler is about to perform a sexual act? Why do images of Black men in close quarters touching usher in such a visceral response? And better yet, even if they were gay, what’s the big deal? Why all the hate? Better yet, why all the fear?

Thankfully, not everyone was acting out. People took to social media to show their support of every variation of Black love and camaraderie.

https://twitter.com/JCraigeHarris/status/706702409771433984

It’s 2016 you’all. We have to be better than this.

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