Posted on 06/07/2011 12:13:37 PM PDT by Starman417
For those of you who have never looked at my picture, I’m a white guy. Given the subject of today's piece I might as well get it out of the way. In addition, other than participating in ROTC at Florida A&M University (an historically black institution), spending a semester in Florida State’s Degraff Hall dormitory (at that time the dorm established primarily for “African American students”) and minoring in Black Studies while at FSU, I don’t have any particular experience in what one might call black culture. (I use the word culture in the general sense, recognizing that not every member of a particular group shares all aspects of that culture.)
I do have eyes however, and much of what I see of black America is not good. I say that not as an indictment of black people. On the contrary. I don’t think blacks are any better or worse than anyone else on the planet or in the country.
That being said, I put pen to paper on this topic because of a series of disturbing headlines I’ve seen over the last month combined with something Walter Williams recently said on John Stossel’s show. Over the Memorial Day weekend Drudge ran a series of headlines about chaos breaking out across the country: Chicago, Charlotte, Boston, Miami, Nashville… The common factor across each of these melees was that the problems involved large groups of black teens and young adults. These stories dovetailed with numerous recent accounts of “Flash Mobs” across the country (Washington, Las Vegas, St. Paul) where similar groups of black youths descended on a store of one sort or another and brazenly walked off with hundreds or thousands of dollars of merchandise.
Something struck me about the people whom I was reading about or watching on video… they seemed to have no appreciation for personal property. It seemed to me that the violence and mayhem being displayed was the result of people who had an entitlement mentality where they felt they could do whatever they wanted, could take whatever they wanted, regardless of the consequences on anyone else, simply because they could. One asks how do people end up with this type of mentality. The answer was obvious: the government’s nanny state.
Then Walter Williams crystallized my thinking when he made the observation that government programs had accomplished what slavery could not do and what Jim Crow laws could not do… they destroyed the black family. The numbers are stark. Williams points out that up until the 1940’s between 75 & 90 percent of all black children were being raised in two parent homes while today the number is less than 1/3. He continued, pointing out that the illegitimacy rate amongst blacks was 18% in 1940 but ballooned to 72.5% in 2008. In a 1985 documentary he suggested that government programs, with their “good intentions” had led America’s black families into Hell.
(Excerpt) Read more at floppingaces.net...
They dd it by denying them self-determination and destroying their self esteem.
Self esteem is a by product of having done something well.
“Good intentions” my ###. The goal of the marxists was to create a dependent underclass beholden to them for their subsitence. And then to keep them dependent. Why? Because that’s an easy was to guarantee a large voting block.
It’s the same reason the marxists are currently doing their best to drive the middle class under and to make it dependent of the government. Can you say “Obamacare”?
Ditto with their immigration policies.
Sadly, it’s working...
If anyone is interested, Walter E Williams did a fantastic PBS special on this Liberal destruction of the black neighborhoods in 1985. This is the one that put him on the Rats enemies list. Even though it is 26 years old, the message and examples are still true today.
His own site is also a treasure trove of great info. Williams is a great Economist.
http://econfaculty.gmu.edu/wew/
Years ago, my Mother worked for what became the welfare office as a case worker. She was an outstanding Christian woman who loved everyone. Her mandate was to get people OFF of government assistance and working and prospering WITHOUT handouts - basically the American dream.
If she were still with us, she would be shocked by what government handouts has done to not only the Black family, but all people who have now lived, sometimes 4 generations deep, completely dependent on government handouts.
With the economy being destroyed daily, it will be even harder to break the dependence. Thankfully, there is hope within the charismatic churches and evangelists sprouting in minority communities - many of which I have had the pleasure of reading and hearing in person their message. I truly think the message of faith, responsibility and honor is the only hope for this country. Liberals have encouraged laziness, irresponsibility and have even promoted the racist notion that certain ethnic or social groups are unable to make it without the government. The bigotry of low expectations is an insidious monster that needs to be slain for us all to prosper.
Self esteem is a by product of having done something well ... which can be as simple as surviving another day. Soldiers know what I’m talking about.
NUTSHELL———The democrat plantation basically paid blacks to destroy themselves.
Not only that, but black people are totally convinced that government handouts are their salvation, or beyond that, social justice- a way of making the white man pay.
It’s working as well as it has worked in Detroit.
There is no government program that would prevent me from being my sons father. Sorry, other excuses are needed.
Stossel resurected some of it on his FNC weekend show.
There is nothing wholesome in cradle-to-grave government largess. No matter how well-meaning it is, if you do not have positive results in two generations, it is doing more harm than good.
“However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.” Winston Churchill
Thomas Sowell has made this point, with the research to back it up, many times.
Blacks were well on their way to overcoming the legacy of slavery when leftists decided to destroy them with the legacy of welfarism. We need a new emancipation proclamation that destroys poverty pimps and welfarism. Even then, it will be decades before welfare classes can regain the dignity they had before they were scammed by the left, including RINOs.
I agree with this article, but I would like to remind people that there are many black families (I know them) that have withstood this assault. With that being said, more black people need to make sure that we get off of the plantation instead of trying to scramble for the massa’s crumbs. We need to stop throwing our votes away to the Democrats.
I’ve got news for you, folks. The government is well on its way to destroying the white family, too. The US federal government has declared war on its citizens.
Honestly, I think that while government certainly was complicit in this, I don’t think that for once it deserves all the blame.
Why? Because look at black America. There are black people who are wealthy, middle class and poor. Educated and uneducated. Polite and criminal. Religious and atheist. Moral and immoral. But through it all, there is something *wrong* there.
The knee-jerk response says that it is racism, or a reaction to racism; but that is not right. That’s an *excuse*, it’s not a cause.
I’m not going to give it a label, and you shouldn’t either, because it’s not that easy or simple. But it haunts black Americans like a curse.
Until black America discovers what it is, across the board they are going to be tormented by it. It is not anyone else’s problem, either, so there is little or nothing that can be done by others to alleviate it.
And it is obvious to black Americans that they do have a problem, though even they haven’t properly identified it, either. Yet it is real, tangible, and murderous, and they will continue to suffer terribly until they can rid themselves of it.
Dr. Williams understands and has been teaching, speaking, and writing about the tragic consequences of the so-called "progressive" policies which Democrats have inflicted upon America--all in the name of "helping" them.
Slavery to government is no better than slavery to individual masters. Yet, the "regressives" continue to buy power and influence by promoting policies that destroy opportunity, prosperity, and freedom for our own and future generations.
Yup. My extended family has some of those and the problems are the same.
bkmk
I've mentioned it before, but I'll do it again. Its not just government mandated minimum-wage laws, its also that the government has been complicit in abetting, and aiding, the invasion of 20+ million illegal intruders into this country. Jobs which normally would go to teenagers, or people starting out - are going to non-citizens.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.