The Decline of the Civil-Rights Establishment

Wall Street Journal ^ | July 21, 2013 | Shelby Steele

[NotYourAverageDhimmi]

The verdict that declared George Zimmerman not guilty of murdering Trayvon Martin was a traumatic event for America's civil-rights establishment, and for many black elites across the media, government and academia. When you have grown used to American institutions being so intimidated by the prospect of black wrath that they invent mushy ideas like "diversity" and "inclusiveness" simply to escape that wrath, then the crisp reading of the law that the Zimmerman jury displayed comes as a shock.

On television in recent weeks you could see black leaders from every background congealing into a chorus of umbrage and complaint. But they weren't so much outraged at a horrible injustice as they were affronted by the disregard of their own authority. The jury effectively said to them, "You won't call the tune here. We will work within the law."

Today's black leadership pretty much lives off the fumes of moral authority that linger from its glory days in the 1950s and '60s. The Zimmerman verdict lets us see this and feel a little embarrassed for them. Consider the pathos of a leadership that once transformed the nation now lusting for the conviction of the contrite and mortified George Zimmerman, as if a stint in prison for him would somehow assure more peace and security for black teenagers everywhere. This, despite the fact that nearly one black teenager a day is shot dead on the South Side of Chicago—to name only one city—by another black teenager.

This would not be the first time that a movement begun in profound moral clarity, and that achieved greatness, waned away into a parody of itself—not because it was wrong but because it was successful....

[Uncle Chip]

Yep — you got it.

[Uncle Chip]

Has anyone asked for an accounting of those coffers er trashcans yet???

[Uncle Chip]

BTW — here is the Orlando Slantinel shilling for the race baiters in Orlando.

If I had a guess I would bet that their editor is AA and deeply involved with the NAACP in Orlando, right Rene and Jeff????

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/seminole/os-trayvon-martin-naacp-seminole-meeting-20130722,0,7572054.story

[hoosiermama]

Precisely !

[Truth2012]

Yes, true. I mean that I used to be a civil rights community organizer, many years ago.

[Yardstick]

*bump*

[Steve_Seattle]

"The old race pimps are like old movie idols from the silent film era - wondering why the phone doesn't ring anymore."

They grew up in an exciting but dangerous era when the civil rights movement was at the center of everything and forged a new national consciousness on race. They succeeded, as Steele says, and now exhibit a nostalgia for that excitement and sense of purpose, so need to fabricate issues to re-live the glories of the past and maintain their sense of relevancy. They are like blacksmiths who think that every automobile breakdown is a sign that we need to go back to the days of the horse-and-buggy.

[MestaMachine]

Perpetuating racism to enrich oneself to the detriment of those you claim to serve is not success. It is hypocrisy of the highest order.

[Oatka]

I used to be full of empathy for blacks and their “plight”, but no more.
My reservoir of empathy has been been sucked drier than the Sahara Desert.

I've posted ths before, but your comment(s) bear it out:

I've travelled a little bit around the world, courtesy of the 1950s U.S. Navy and a 1980s rent-a-rig oil company. It has been my observation that when a minority reaches parity or power, rather than roll up their sleeves and show the bigots what they can do, they yell "It's PAYBACK TIME!" and squander any good will the majority had for them.

It's being played out in Spades right now. Hopefully the reaction to the Martin/Zimmerman trial is a watershed and the majority finally stands up and says "ENOUGH of this crap" and acts accordingly.

[Unrepentant VN Vet]

Nobody has yet said those exact words out loud, but the silence is becoming plumb deafening.

(Remember that old saw about “Bit**ing sailors....”, shipmate?)

[spankalib]

“The movement was successful, but then its people were co-opted into a life of compensatory indolence. With all the tools of success arrayed before them, much of black America and particularly its urban cohort, chose the path of indentured constituency, and thence to failure as a people.”

Eloquent writing.
A two-sentence diagnosis of decades-old dysfunction.
WELL SAID!

[Servant of the Cross]

"If there is anything good to be drawn from the Zimmerman/Martin tragedy, it is only the further revelation of the corruption and irrelevance of today's civil-rights leadership Jackson & Sharpton."

[Theodore R.]

It looks to me like the civil rights “establishment” is on the upswing, not the decline. Same with organized labor; no matter how few members labor has, it seems to have big impact with the liberal lawmakers. The American people can’t understand.

[LongWayHome]

No kidding.....we are fooling ourselves if we think this country is center-right any longer.

[iowamark]

Steele is excellent.

[FreedomPoster]

Wow! I am amazed, not that an article like this is out there, but that it was by someone of such note and published by such a prominent publication.

The playing of the Race Card is wearing very, very thin.