Back in the early 1960s, when JFK and LBJ were well into their plan to purchase the allegiance of African Americans with what they sold as a “war on poverty,” I wrote an editorial for a Young Republican newsletter in Tulsa, Oklahoma. My message was a simple one. I suggested that, with a full array of political and economic opportunities now open to them, it was critically important how African American parents responded to the new opportunities for their children.
The attitude of most thoughtful conservatives and Republicans was best articulated by Richard Nixon, who said, “No man can be fully free while his neighbor is not. To go forward at all is to go forward together. This means black and white together, as one nation, not two. The laws have caught up with our conscience. What remains is to give life to what is in the law: to ensure at last that as all are born equal in dignity before God, all are born equal in dignity before man.”
In my editorial I suggested that, with the road to the American Dream cleared of all statutory obstructions, it would be up to black parents to teach their children the importance of getting out of bed each morning, getting to school on time, behaving themselves in school, paying attention to what their teachers were saying, and doing their homework every night. And when young blacks entered the workforce, it was up to black parents to teach them that, in spite of the prevailing attitude among many white trade union members, their goal was not to obtain the maximum amount of pay for the least amount of work. Instead, it was up to them to be at work on time every day, to respect the authority of their superiors, and to give their employers at least eight hours of their best effort in exchange for eight hours pay.
Sadly, that’s not what happened. A new breed of black leaders emerged who were not in the same mold as George Washington Carver or Booker T. Washington. The new breed of black leaders were clearly more interested in creating lucrative leadership careers for themselves than they were in improving the lives of those they purported to represent. And since the Democratic Party was offering an endless array of “free lunches,” a whole new cottage industry of racial exploitation was created in which “race-hustling pimps” sold out to white liberals in exchange for fame and fortune. As the self-appointed go-betweens with Democratic elites, it was the job of the new black leaders to deliver an endless array of hollow promises to the black community, raising their expectations for a quick transition to the middle class. The only thing expected of blacks was to show up on Election Day to pull the Democrat lever.
If leaders such as Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and Julian Bond could keep black people on the Democratic plantation, convinced that they were victims of white racism in every aspect of their daily lives, the opportunities for fame and fortune were limitless. And when it became evident that welfare programs such as Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) were being taken advantage of by able-bodied recipients, Democrats responded with new rules that drove black men out of their homes and the destruction of the black family unit was pre-ordained.
So how has all of this worked out for us? We now have a black population characterized by an upper class comprised largely of business owners, professional people, executives, highly-paid athletes, and stars of the entertainment industry; an ever-expanding middle class, characterized by the belief that education and skills is the pathway to achieving the American Dream; and an underclass increasingly characterized by lawlessness, violence, illegitimacy, and hopelessness.
The evidence is clear. African Americans with skills and education ventured outside the tent to find a world that was totally accepting of them… a world that judged them not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character and their willingness to earn their own way. They found that, while there were no instant riches waiting for them, educational opportunities and job opportunities were there, as promised. Many of them are now fighting against the Jesse Jacksons to carry their message of success to young people to break the stranglehold of liberal policies.
However, far too many black families did not challenge their children to pursue the American Dream. Instead, they taught their children that, because of the color of their skin, they were destined to be the victims of a cruel and racist society. Far too many black parents stood at the door of the tent, coached by white liberals and Democrats, cautioning their children not to venture out into the larger world because, given the color of their skin, they were sure to be trampled underfoot in the dog-eat-dog social and economic world of white America.
Today, with the predictable destruction of the black family unit all but complete, nearly three out of four black babies are born to single mothers. A Heritage Foundation report tells us that, “… compared with children born to married couples, those born outside of marriage score lower on tests, have increased chances for committing a crime, have higher chances of living in poverty, experience more emotional and behavioral problems, are more likely to abuse drugs or alcohol, and have higher chances of becoming pregnant as teens.” Is there any need to show otherwise when one in three black males is likely to serve time in prison during their lifetime?
Nevertheless, by 2008, racial attitudes across the American population had evolved to the point where the Democratic Party nominated the first black man with a reasonable chance of being elected to the nation’s highest office. Unfortunately, the candidate they selected was a man who had never known what it was like to live in the real world. He was educated in the best private prep schools and Ivy League colleges… all at someone else’s expense… and when it came time for him to enter the workforce he spurned the private sector where he might have at least learned the fundamentals of the capitalist system. Instead, he entered upon the dead-end road of leftist extremism and Chicago-style Democratic Party politics. And when he was finally successful in getting himself elected to the presidency of the United States, he was a man with no real world experience and only one noticeable skill: the ability to read a speech well from a teleprompter.
It was this man to whom liberals and Democrats entrusted the reins of power of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful nation. In his nearly four years in office he has proven time and time again that he has no concept of how our economic system works. Yet the black community, having pinned all of their hopes and aspirations on him and having given him 95% of their votes in 2008, continues to believe that he is a credible president and deserves to be reelected.
They are about to be confronted with the stark reality that, as much as most Americans… black and white… had hoped that he would make a success of it, we are learning much too late that they simply picked the wrong man for the job. If we were to prepare a list of the 100 black men with the credentials, the qualifications, and the executive experience to be president of the United States, Barack Obama’s name would not even appear on that list. And when voters turn him out of office on November 6, 2012, in a defeat of landslide proportions… a massive repudiation of his failed presidency… most blacks will fail to understand why he was fired. Predictably, their anger may very well result in massive urban violence.
Today, there is already great pent-up anger in the black community, related in large part to the Trayvon Martin murder case in Florida. From what we know of the evidence in that case, it seems clear that his killer, George Zimmerman, acted in self defense. In charging Zimmerman with second degree murder, the prosecution will have to prove “willful intent.” It is unlikely that they will be able to reach that standard of proof and a jury will likely acquit Zimmerman.
That pent-up anger, coupled with what many blacks perceive as a lack of respect for the most powerful black leaders in the country… Barack Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, and the Democratic members of the Congressional Black Caucus… cannot possibly inure to the benefit of racial harmony in our country. The fact that none of these individuals merit our respect is lost on the vast majority of black Democrats. However, because of this lack of respect, and because it is unlikely that Barack Obama will be reelected, a number of respected pundits… including black conservatives Thomas Sowell and Larry Elder… have predicted massive urban violence in the days, weeks, and months following the election.
The pent-up anger in the black community is already evidenced by hundreds of incidents in major cities across the country where gangs of black youths stage unprovoked attacks on defenseless whites in what has come to be known as the “knockout game.” As the “game” is played, after a target victim has been identified, one of the youths will attempt to sucker-punch the victim, knocking him or her unconscious with a single blow of the fist. If he is unsuccessful, the entire gang then proceeds to kick and punch the victim until he/she is rendered unconscious. That senseless epidemic of violence, coupled with the defeat of Barack Obama, could easily lead to widespread urban violence… violence that will catch most law-abiding Americans off guard.
As matters now stand, it is unlikely that such violence can be totally averted, but there are things we can all do to avoid it. To protect ourselves and our families we must always be fully aware of our surroundings, avoiding confrontations with groups of young black men.
Because of the unwise social welfare dictates imposed on the black community for partisan political purposes, liberals and Democrats have promoted the creation of the “two nations” that Richard Nixon (and John Edwards) spoke of. As a result, much of the trust that has developed between the races since the civil rights era has been lost. And if widespread racial violence does occur, it will take a long, long time to rebuild that trust. A major portion of two generations of black Americans may already be irretrievable. Surely, the Statue of Liberty is weeping.