by Jack Roviere

Created on: June 23, 2007

Black America has come so far considering its roots. No longer are we enslaved; no longer are we second-class citizens; no longer do laws and traditions allow people to treat us as if we are second-class. We are able to do whatever we want when we put our minds to it. Sure, the world today isn't flawless, but for a people whose purpose once was only to be field hands or house slaves, there is no doubt that we have definitely made leaps and bounds in progress. We have had doctors, lawyers, engineers, even candidates to run for Presidential office (including one now who is impressively staying until the very end!)

However, this is an important point: the world today isn't flawless. In proportion to the the percent that blacks make up of the entire nation, blacks are still more likely to be in prison. Proportionally, we still aren't as successful as what we statistically should be. Worst of all, some of us still harbor mindsets that hold us back.

What is a black student supposed to think when his black peers shun him for talking or acting white? The de-emphasis on education that has somehow lingered and festered in certain parts of the black community threatens all the progress we have made. Somehow, we have allowed some of our brothers and sisters to believe that academic success, hard work, the corporate ladder, and all of these "traditional" modes of success, are all things reserved for "white America"...and to be an authentic black person, one must speak substandard English, focus on sports or music more than academics, and view life as a pursuit of these kinds of pleasures.

At this time when we need to look at ourselves, our culture, and the state of ethical bankruptcy and insolvency that they are soon approaching the greatest, we are kept back again. This leads to the second thing 'wrong' with Black America. Now, we are accustomed to finding no fault with ourselves, even if we inadvertently suggest our inferiority in the process.

To bring up this cultural disease of Black America - the de-emphasis of education and the emphasis of sports, music, partying - is deemed to be catering to the white world. To bring up the abandonment rates of black fathers for their wives and children or the levels of single mothers raising children is blaming the victim; it is becoming a racial traitor; it is nothing more than a Clarence Thomas or an oreo. The leaders of Black America would like affirmative action to be ensconced in the educational system, but they fail to realize that this sometimes implies that black students don't have to push themselves to the highest standard or...even worse...that they cannot.

In our golden era of civil rights activism, we believed firmly in working hard for our rights. We wanted to be equal to everyone else. We didn't want special privileges, and yet now, our motivation has given way to a battle for preferences, quotas, lowered requirements, and so forth. If we can't realize that this degrades our people, then dire consequences lay in store for the future of Black America.

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