It seems that every ethnic
group in America
seems to stick together, except for the African American. We need to get rid of
that hate one another slave mentality and band together. That means buy black,
support black, recreate our communities, educate our children, and love
ourselves. We have endured a lot, and still are suffering. Though we built this
country in a wham bam no thank you man sense, we still bear the brunt - are
left picking up the scraps. Well its time for us to say to hell with the scraps
and reclaim our destinies as a nation - a Black Nation. A Black President of
the United States of America
cannot deliver us from the brink of extinction – as should we not expect him to. We must fight the norm and strengthen
ourselves. No one individual can do it
for us. So if it means spending more
money to patronize black owned businesses in our community, giving it that
extra effort to support black goods and services, so be it. Doing other than what comes so easy can speak
volumes. Supporting our own, when it is
cheaper and more convenient to spend our hard earned money elsewhere would be a
start. Step around the temptations that
have been conveniently laid at our doorstep and we will move toward the empowerment
of the black race in America . We would become an economic force, as well as
a social one. Our issues no longer will
be ignored, but addressed. We are our
second worse enemy, second only to the system designed to keep us in the lower
tier of society. Stop trying to emulate
what we think we would be accepted as and return to our roots. A tree with strong roots will eventually yield
sweeter and more plentiful fruits, as a tree with its roots not embedded deeply
in the soil will eventually fall. You
cannot expect to grow and cultivate a banana tree as you would an apple tree,
as they have different requirements to reach their full potential. We, Black America, must dig deep inside and
sew our own seeds of success, and spread those seeds until we have a self
sustaining community as does every other ethnic group in America. We need lenders, property owners, goods and
services. Then the buck would stop here.
The time for talk is over,
we have come a long way - Slavery, Slave Resistance, Freedom, Segregation,
Integration, Back to Africa Campaign, Civil Rights Movement, Black Panther
Party, Black Power Movement, Voting Rights, and a Black President. We must end our regression. When we were slaves, segregated, entered into
a second class once we left our homes with the Jim Crow laws, being beat in the
streets by the so called authority figures, etcetera, we united as one. It is us that allowed that progress to be
thwarted by being pitted against one another.
The Black Panthers splintered into the Bloods and Crips, who were
provided with drugs to sell in the community.
When the crime associated with drug infested areas started spilling into
well-affluent neighborhoods, it became a problem. Instead of cutting the head off – the
suppliers of these drugs, our government targeted the body – the small scale
dealers and users, who were predominately black. Liquor stores that sell crack pipes, needles,
chemicals known to cut drugs, and other drug paraphernalia dot the black
community. You do not find that stuff
elsewhere. Targeted were those who cried
out and acted to provide a platform of progression. Our government effectively provided a stiff
opposition to those wanting progress in the black community. Our neighborhoods stand testament to what became
of that stiff opposition.
In the urban areas Blacks
found work and formed communities, while Whites left – creating the term White
Flight. They sold their properties at a
huge profit, purchased cheap farmland and settled that land in what was to be
the suburbs. Now, with it no longer makings
economic sense to live in these suburban communities, they are selling to us
again at large profits and buying up cheap urban land – land made available due
to the exploitation and encouragement of the decline of our community. We need not fall back into this trap and
redevelop our existing community, supporting all who encourage positive change. We need to get rid of the multitudes of
liquor stores, the drug paraphernalia being sold in these areas, and put in
place a system to heal the sick, industry to employ the impoverished, and
centers of recreation and learning for our children.
Before we were consolidated
in urban areas, we were robbed of lands we owned. The single farmer was pushed out as a concept
of mega farms took root. They formed
coalitions. The whites refused to work
with the black farmers and got better treatment from banks and the government,
thus taking us out of our rural existence.
When the red tape did not suffice, sometimes the threat of violence and
lack of knowledge of the laws of this nation, our land was taken from under
us. My grandfather owned land in a rural
area in Missouri
and we were shot at when we visited it and the cabin was burned down. Eventually that land went into foreclosure
and we lost it. Another of my ancestors
owned a farm in southern Missouri . They were not too far from the times of
slavery and had forged an existence with a family farm. Not knowing the laws of the land, they were
forced to sign over the deed to the property to a white man. These and other obstacles were put up to
deter now free Black farmers and entrepreneurs from owning land in rural areas,
directing them toward the inner-city.
Now, we as a people are
lost, but not out of it. The steps that
we have taken toward the advancement of our people have been negated by a
mentality that we must eradicate. Some
accept mediocrity and applaud complacency and ignorance. While others are making gains in education,
we accept having the highest dropout rate in the nation with a sense that it’s
cool. While others are organizing and
sticking together, solidifying a sense of community, we kill one another,
degrade our women, ignore our elders, and poison our own community, with a
mentality that it’s cool. The free black
man is an endangered species. When these
things that tear our community apart threaten white society, it is met with
opposition from the government. We use
our tax dollars and military might to bail out their relatives in Europe , and share our information and technology with
them, while we use those same resources to oppress Africans and any nation that
questions white supremacy. Whites have
settled and stolen land in Australia ,
New Zealand , South Africa , and Canada ,
in addition to America ,
exploiting their resources, and subjecting the original inhabitants of those
lands to a second class citizenship.
We, Black America need a wake up call, and our near
extinction doesn’t seem to be the rock bottom that will make us take a look in
the mirror at ourselves. Maybe our
re-slavery will. A slaves worth is the
economic gains he or she can cause.
Considering the fact that we are unproportionately leading the nation in
convicted felons due to a direct targeting by the authorities, we are
effectively being led back into slavery.
To stay out of prison, one may be considered for probation and
parole. A stipulation to probation and
parole is to pay court costs and intervention fees. This is economic gain obtained off the labor
of an individual that is of no benefit to the individual, thus a form of
slavery. This is not buying a juice that
can quench ones thirst, or a new car that can be driven, but fees meant to pay
the salaries of ones oppressors. The
labor of slaves went toward empowering their oppressors, not to the benefit of
the slaves, thus my argument that we are being led back into a form of
“civilized” slavery. By any means
necessary we need to turn the tide and re-establish a sense of community and an
advanced standing in this nation, taking notes from Europeans, Arabs, Asians,
Hispanics, and almost every other ethnic group that has migrated to