Posted on 11/12/2002 7:47:14 AM PST by H8DEMS
Remember the e-mail that posed the question, “What would this world be without Black people?” It was really a history lesson on all of the things Black people invented, and suggested that if Black people had not been here, our traffic lights would disappear, many of the machines we depend upon would not work and many other conveniences we enjoy everyday would not be here. It was a nice reminder of the importance of Black people to this country. However, even though Black people invented a great deal of the items we use today, with a few exceptions of course, they could not get patents on them or they were simply relieved of their inventions by White people.
Now, let’s take a look at what Black people would do without White people. First of all, some of us would simply throw up our hands in exasperation and call it a day—no, we would call it a life. Some of us would feel so bad, so lonely, so dispossessed, so depressed that we would not know where to turn. “What are we going to do now?” some would ask. Others would lament the loss of all of those stores and all of those products and services they are so use to purchasing. Some would cry, “Where will we buy our clothing, our cars, our houses and our food?” “For whom will we work? What about our jobs?” Others would just go insane trying to figure out how they would get their banquet tables sold for their annual dinners and soirees. What a sad day it would be for many Black folks.
On the other hand, rather than complaining and crying, some Black folks would immediately get to work on those issues. Some would say, “Let’s do for ourselves.” Others would rally the people and call for new businesses and new products and services and efforts to support our people. Some Black folks would even have the audacity to think they really could run major corporations, industrial farms, airports, states, and even this country. But then, what other choice would we have?
What would you do without White people? Would you suffer from a lack of the essentials of life? Would you wilt under the pressure of having to figure out this thing called life all by yourself? Could you successfully navigate through the swirling waters of life’s uncertainties? Could you survive? Marcus Garvey told us we are living on borrowed goods, and we must get something of our own. So instead of us wondering what this country would do without Black people, just imagine what we would do without White people.
Suppose they closed all of their supermarkets to us, could we feed ourselves? Imagine them denying us the right to use their banks, would we pool more of our money and start more Black banks? If Whites said we would no longer be allowed in their department stores, would we create our own? You get the picture, I am sure. What would we do?
It’s nice to call for “Black Out Days” and “Stay Home From Work Days” and “Don’t Spend Any Money Days,” and all of the rest of the Black absentee efforts we hear about. But what would we do if there were a “White Out Day?” Maybe even a “White Out Month?” Would we panic? Or, would we finally start doing more for ourselves? Would we finally start preparing an economic future for our children, the same way other groups in this country are doing for their children?
You know, sometimes I wish it were so. Maybe if White folks stopped doing what they are doing for us, we’d be more inclined to do more for ourselves. Maybe if they would back off a bit and we would step up a bit, better relationships would exist between the two groups, because there would be more reciprocity, more leverage available to Black people, and a greater likelihood of positive responses from White folks when we really do need their support. Maybe, if Black people get our economic act together by recycling our dollars, supporting our own businesses, and building income-producing infrastructure, maybe Whites would be knocking on our doors asking to play ball with us.
What would we do without White folks? The same thing our fathers and mothers did before integration; that’s what we’d do. We would develop economic enclaves second to none in this country.
But a similar question was probably asked by some of the Children of Israel about Pharaoh. While Moses was telling Pharaoh to “Let my people go,” he should have also told the people to “Let Pharaoh go.”
James E. Clingman, an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati’s African-American Studies department, is former editor of the Cincinnati Herald Newspaper and founder of the Greater Cincinnati African American Chamber of Commerce. He hosts the radio program, ''Blackonomics,'' and is the author of the book, “Economic Empowerment or Economic Enslavement–We have a Choice.” He can be reached at (513) 489-4132, or by e-mail at jclingman@blackonomics.com.
Maybe, but I don't see how that kind of conclusion can be drawn from the article anyway.
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