American Blacks: Identifying the Problems

The black community before integration was equal to the burrows in New York. There was a sense of community pride and each subsection had its leaders including doctors, lawyers, scientist, and business owners to name a few. The community also had its “Gangs of New York” type people, but they were outnumbered and not respected, and managed accordingly. And just like the burrows in New York, no family amassed a lot of money but there was a natural respectful hierarchy of leaders.

With integration came an opportunity for the best families to leave the black community. So the majority of the best citizens of the community left, never to return again to their roots. Predictably, a “Gangs of New York” mentality dominated. Next came “…The ironic truth is that Lyndon Johnson and the Congressional Democrats of the 60s, in the throws of liberal compassion, subsidized poverty and created what they sought to eliminate…. (http://www.neoperspectives.com/summary.htm).”

With such a dramatic shift in leadership within the black community came a struggle for the pulpit and the establishment of reflective local black churches. Predictably, self-interest overshadowed a faith system representative of mainstream America. The results of which are local and very diverse.

Simply said, pre-Integration black America reflected the American identity of the Reformation and American Revolution. You were proud to be an American and existed as other ethnic American groups did, including American Indians, Asians, Italians, Irish, Polish, Germans, etc. Your community had intelligent, respectful leaders and you were an American, first and foremost.

5. A realistic assessment of the damage done via liberalism and corrective strategy

This subject is very difficult to talk about so an analogy is probably best. Imagine the Democratic Party as permanent acid rain clouds and disenfranchised blacks as iron catch basins. The higher the water level within the catch basin, the more corroded it is and the level of effort required to restore it is therefore extremely high. Conversely, the same can be said. So, an effective strategy would be to focus efforts on the least corroded basins, and to shield new basins from being exposed. It’s a challenge, but one can only objectively state the current conditions in an effort to promote change

Black America needs to take a big step back and objectively look at all that the Liberal/Progressive/Socialist philosophy has done to their community. Part of the problem in being able to arrive at such objectivity from which they can begin to rightly assess their situation is the fear they must overcome to even do so. They have been cowed and coerced by the Left with charge after charge of racism on the Right. They must step back and objectively weigh whether this is so. They must overcome the incessant drumbeat of a Leftist media which realizes the size of the voting block represented by the Black community and how needful they are to get the media darlings elected. Black America must step back and objectively determine whether or not this is so. They must stop shutting their minds off to those Black voices on the Right who offer a different perspective on things and a different path toward the better life that they so long after. Black America must step back and objectively listen to these voices and determine whether they have something to offer or not. The Black community must ask themelves if all the social spending, social programs, affirmative action, etc. have helped or actually harmed their community. Black America must step back and objectively evaluate whether or not this is so.

Stepping back and being objective. This is what is needed for the Black community (for all communities and individuals, for that matter) to do to see if what they currently hold to, believe in and pursue after will, in the end, get them where they want to go.

I would appreciate comments and critique on the following:

(What I am going to refer to below is not the more free thinking blacks, or educated, or successful or even conservatives and/or republican, and certainly not the 11% or so who voted for President Bush).

An analogy . . . I picture the inner city blacks (again, not in the group above) still on a slavery plantation. Their masters are Jackson, Sharpton and the Democratic Party.

Anytime a black leaves the plantation (by free thought) they are strung up and hung by the masters.

The question is why do the "slaves" not see the masters hanging their brothers and sisters? How can a group so sensitive to slavery not be outraged when FREE thinking blacks get hung by their masters?

I have always believed that the Democratic Party has always opposed various initiatives to give more opportunity and more freedom to blacks because they want them to be kept slaves to their masters. I honestly believe core constituency is more important to the Democrats than is opportunity and freedom.

But, I blame the blacks who refuse to break free more than I blame the Democratic Party (we know their angle). But, even for those who may lack a quality education, common sense should be utilized in their groupthink and they should see that they have gained little under Democratic control for nearly half a century.

What did the typical inner city "slave"" gain under 50 years of Democratic control? Why do blacks continue to support the Democratic Party when it SHOULD be clear that the Democrats have offered them nothing in escaping the plantation? What has Jesse Jackson REALLY done for the typical black? Nothing. Same can be said for the Democratic Party.

Example...Did the typical black (in that group) notice that it was Bush who initiated the Home Ownership grants? That it was Bush who has attempted to break the poor education system stranglehold on inner city blacks?

My only conclusion is that the inner city black (the group I defined) is more interested in "maintenance" on the slavery plantation than on breaking free to the land of opportunity. It seems they fear opportunity.

Sirc_Valence, maybe your T-Shirt says what I am saying here. Good job on that.

Comments and critique welcomed.

(My wife is 100% Latina, I am 50% Arabic and interested in minority issues as they relate to education and free thinking).

Advertising, political correctness and a lack of diverse opinions hurt all kinds of people, not just black people.

I am black and live in the inner city. The best I can do is answer from my own experiences.

First, there are black people who live in the inner city, but they work hard for their families at blue-collar jobs and try to provide. That's their primary focus. They want their children to have an education so they send them to school. They want their child to know Jesus so they make them go to church. Like any parent, they want their children to be more successful than they were. However, when you're poor and living paycheck-to-paycheck, success is often defined in terms of money. They're told constantly that white-owned corporations are the cause of all economic problems and unions are "looking out for the little guy". Well blacks were "the little guy" in America for a long time. Although there was (and is) racism in unions, the very concept of "union of workers" was one that seemed inviting and open.

Why respect institutions when it was the institutions that "kept your people down"? So you listen to the unions. You listen to the teachers, after all, teachers know best, right? If your child's education is important to you, but you work too long and hard to find out better, then you'd listen to the teachers too. They need more money, well what black person doesn't know about that? It seems to make sense, so listen to the teachers. The unions say your boss is keeping you down, well what black person doesn't know about that? It seems to make sense, so listen to the unions.

Blacks can also be highly sensitive to the plight of the less fortunate (so much so that often they can't tell when their circumstances are improving). Socialists have done an EXCELLENT job of selling the idea that they care only about the less fortunate. On the other hand, conservatives very often seem focused on going back to the past. When conservatives talk about the American past, they're talking about moral and fiscal responsibility. But when black people think about the past, they think about centuries of slavery and the century of oppression that followed. Maybe there was more to the past for white people (and black people too, but they're not taught about that in school!). I wonder what would happen if blacks today read the thoughts of Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington.

Then there is another group of inner city blacks. The ones who live off of welfare and drug sales. The ones who would curse the "white man" but not the money they can take from him. It's an ugly underclass. It produces the kids who lack discipline and disrupt the education process for others. There is a lot of unhealthy envy when they care to think about other people at all. Few grow up with fathers, but instead with mothers who use their welfare checks to get their nails done, when they're not out looking for another man. And harsh grandmothers who curse men. Violence is a daily occurence and young children have to learn to fight to survive. They can't think about moral and fiscal responsibility.

This phenomenon is not just present amongst blacks, you find it the world over. But American blacks who are not part of this (seemingly permanent and voluntary) underclass still don't want to abandon them. After all, it is ALWAYS easier to blame someone else than acknowledge your own shortcomings. This isn't just a "black thing". White liberals do it all the time.

As for the allegiance to the Democrat party, the vast majority of the people in the underclass don't vote anyway. They also represent a minority of blacks.

It's the hardworking, blue-collar people who stay loyal to Democrats, but then I'd ask why do Jews and Catholics? Most people aren't interested in being "free thinking", they're interested in taking care of themselves and their families. If you would say that those groups are starting to become more independent, well so are blacks. Many young blacks identify as "independents" NOT Democrats. Just the willingness to do this is a big step. Look at how many blacks voted for Bush in Ohio in the last election.

I don't think it is a good idea for Republicans to focus on the past, and that includes pointing out how Democrats hurt blacks in the past. No one really cares, you're not going to change their minds, not with the schools and "leaders" indoctrinating people on a daily basis. It should be about what conservatism and/or the Republican Party is doing for them NOW. Talk about school vouchers, preserving marriage, reforming Social Security. It WORKS! Even in my heavily Democrat city, people support school vouchers and alternatives like charter schools.

I find that especially strange, considering that Catholics have been behind some of the most significant and effective charitable efforts. Much more effective than government efforts to care for the poor and needy. Why trust the government first? It defies good sense, but then, I see a lot of this when I see groups embracing socialism.

The distrust of government that is such an essential part of the philosophy of modern conservative people (and that of the founders, who were neither black nor Catholic nor Jewish, thus perhaps not as esteemed by members of those groups), seems to be anathema to many groups, and it is essential to recognize that dynamic.

It is obvious that the Democrat power base is the city. It is also the cities that provided some of the first opportunities for many oppressed groups to have a community and help. Loyalty to ones city and loyalty to the Democrats goes hand in hand (it was not always this way for blacks).

"The distrust of government that is such an essential part of the philosophy of modern conservative people (and that of the founders, who were neither black nor Catholic nor Jewish, thus perhaps not as esteemed by members of those groups), seems to be anathema to many groups, and it is essential to recognize that dynamic."

The framers of America were all white Protestant men, with the exception of one Catholic man. In the history of mankind, the two most successful rebellions have been the Reformation followed by the American Revolution. Having been raised as a Louisiana Catholic, the church manages what exists and comforts the needy with fish. So if you are black and poor and a good Catholic, you will probably only know how to exist in society while being black and poor. Successful people follow successful models, and the Reformation and Revolution are those models. Sadly, the opposite exists as well.

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